Counseling Child Teen Depression Mom w History of Depression
Monday, November 4th, 2013A mom’s mental health during pregnancy can impact a child later in life. A teen is more likely to be depressed if a mom was taking antidepressant medications and or was depressed during the pregnancy research states. When a pregnant women is depressed stress hormones can move across the placenta and impact a child’s development. The research shows that adolescent teenagers were almost fifty percent more lily to be diagnosed with depression than from mothers whom were not depressed during pregnancy.
The study followed over four thousand five hundred children in the study and it was written up in the Journal Of American Medical Association. The thought is that the stress hormone cortisol is released and passes through the placenta. The hormone impacts the brain during the gestation period. There are still concerns about women taking psychiatric medications during pregnancy. Many children are being born pre-maturely do to the anti depressants and the risks are not solidified and more information will come regarding using medications during pregnancy.
It is vital that mom’s put their mental health first before pregnancy if possible however obtaining therapy and managing stress is vital for your child’s future mental health. Many women have symptoms of depression that include and are not limited to: disturbed sleep, a loss of interest in activities once enjoyable, loss of appetite, a tendency to over eat, feelings of guilt, feelings of shame, low energy, and lack of vitality, challenges focusing and concentrating, crying a lot, and at it’s worse suicidal thoughts or a plan to harm themselves.
Instead of looking at a depressed mood as a sign of weakness mom’s must get help to alleviate their depression from a professional as soon as possible. A distracted mom may neglect their child’s emotional needs and need to be nurtured not in an intentional manner however it may have a devastating impact on a child later on in life. Over twenty percent of women experience depression at some point during their life. It is nothing to be ashamed about however their are a number of psychotherapies and counseling tools that help regulate , and manage depression. A few research based therapies include : Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, DBT, and more.