Reply to Need some guidance on my 4 year old who seems depressed

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Need some guidance on my 4 year old who seems depressed"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Hugs, OP.  My oldest (now 14) wasn't as bad as your DS but he, too, focuses on the negative rather than the positives.  He also internalizes his emotions and if there's a way something can be interpreted as negative/bad, that's what he does. While he's not had a full blown depressive episode, he has demonstrated signs of depression for a couple weeks at a time and we expect at some point, he will.  We've been working with a psychiatrist/psychologist for some time. You're on the right path - although I know it's really hard to wait.

When DS is overly negative, we require him to identify X number of positive/good things for every negative thing he says (X depends on his age, with your DS, I'd start with 3 things).  We did this most frequently when he was in elementary school.  When he came home, we would ask about their days.  It wasn't enough for them to say 'it was good' or 'we didn't do anything'.  They (all my kids) had to tell me something more.  With my oldest, in early ES, it was hard to get him to say anything so I usually asked him 'who got in trouble today?'  (not because I cared but that's something he always remembered).  I went to lunch with him enough to learn the names of all of his classmates and I'd then ask him about them. Initially, we had to model some positive statements for him.  At meals, we all had to say something we were grateful for.  When your kid gets older, a 'gratitude journal' will likely be helpful.  One of the issues we've had is that he can go to an activity, have a great time yet the next week (or day) he'll remember it very differently.  So, we started having him do YouTube style reviews and recorded him.  When he starts talking negative about it or resist doing it again, we'll replay it.  Sometimes we'll do a 'pre-show' and an 'after show'.  The pre-show is typically negative.  The after-show isn't.  It's also helpful to help us all learn just want he likes, doesn't like.

Keep your DS physically active.  Exercise improves mood.  We got a dog when DS was 8 and it's his job to walk it twice a day.  When he got a little older, we started fostering dogs.  Being able to 'help' the dogs has helped him.  The dogs can need a lot of work and I think he could relate to some of their negative behaviors and better understand how his own negative behaviors are seen by others.  Now, I'm not expecting you to start doing that (it's a lot of work and your DS is much too young) but we've also gone to the shelter on a regular basis to read to the cats, play with them, etc.  Being able to help others has made a difference for him and with animals, you don't have to worry about 'judgment'.

HTH.  Good luck.  I know how troubling these behaviors are.  Hugs.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics