For any parent who is adopting from an agency or from a state program, there are things you need to be aware of. One is "Childhood Depression."

What was once thought to be just an adult onset illness has now been studied and it is vastly spreading in our child population.

Depression occurs when you experience a life altering change. A death of a loved one, loss of family stability, illness, parental divorce, break up of boy/girl friend.

In the case of an older child adoption, you can be sure that depression can be an issue. For whatever reason they have lost the only family they have ever known. It is devastating and hard for a child to understand. They often cannot choose words to communicate their true feelings and thus they act out and draw negative attention to themselves.

Children deal with grief and personal blame. They wonder, "what is wrong with me?" or "what did I do to cause this?"

Even though there is no place for blame in the child it still does not stop them from feeling those emotions.

I found a wonderful web site that helped me understand some of the issues of childhood disorders. I would like to share with you some of the wisdom the site has to offer.

Of 12 million American children suffering from mental illness, fewer than one in five receive treatment of any kind. That means that eight out of 10 children suffering from mental illness do not receive the care they need. By comparison, 74 percent or nearly three out of four children suffering from physical handicaps receive treatment.

Research conducted since the 1960s, however, shows that children do suffer from depression and manic-depressive and anxiety disorders, illnesses once thought to be reserved for adults. From 3 to 6 million children suffer from clinical depression and are at high risk for suicide, the third leading cause of death among young people. Every hour, 57 children and teenagers try to kill themselves; every day 18 succeed.

The key is to recognize the problem and seek appropriate treatment. As with other types of illnesses, mental disorders have specific diagnostic criteria and treatments, and a complete evaluation by a child psychiatrist can determine whether a child needs help.

You can find extensive information on this web site:

http://www.healthyplace.com/site/childhood_psychiatric_disorders.asp

Depression along with other disorders should always be diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional. However by reading a little and observing your child, you can pinpoint behaviors and be a great help in getting your child on the right road to healing.

This site gives in depth information on several issues children may face and the type of medicines that are used in the treatment of some disorders. It gives insight to fear and anxiety in children and
forums or chat rooms to discuss your concerns. If nothing else it provides help and understanding.

There are a ton of web sites to help research and understand ADD, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder and other illnesses. http://aolsearch.aol.com/child disorders offers a list of web sites that can be sought out for the average parent.