Why Do I Read The Times, Again?

[flea]

Now I am concerned that Casper is depressed: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29preschool-t.html?hp

She was actually a jolly 3 year old; PreK was stressful and that was the year of finishing the dissertation and moving, so plenty of opportunities for situational anxiety. As an about-to-be-7-year-old she's a bit high-strung; prone to saying, "I'm stupid" and rather more tantrum-inclined than, for example, her brother. Her temperament is quite a bit like mine (though her intellect is much more like mr. flea's).

I was in talk therapy for depression at 10 (in 1982). I had post-divorce issues but also a fundamental existential angst (which I still have; I just ignore it, with the help of Prozac.) Therapy didn't help, but I suppose it's possible the right talk therapist could have been better. (The one I had told me about the "shit sandwich." He also dated my mother. Bad choices.)

Comments

[cofax7]

He also dated my mother.

THE FUCK? How on earth did that pass the laugh-out-loud test? How unprofessional.

I have, I fear, nothing but sympathy for Casper's issues. I hope she can find her way to some confidence in herself.

I do think sometimes that Not Reading the Times is a healthy lifestyle choice.

[meara]

Dated your mother, while being your therapist?? That can't be ethical.

[sara]

(1) Wow, that was extra-super-skeevy of your mom and your therapist.

(2) If you knew for sure she was depressed, would you be doing anything different? And if so, what?


My own suspicion is that given the high level of structural oppression and powerlessness experienced by children in our society, any thinking child is going to have bouts of depression, because depression is a reasonable human reaction when a person lacks control over their own life. But my experience is as someone who had major depressive periods in childhood, rather than as someone who's studied them, so my tendency is probably to externalize the problem rather than otherwise. *shrug*

[loligo]

Chuckles definitely has a tendency to catastrophize. We keep trying to explain other ways of thinking to her -- ways to put failure or other negative events in perspective. I have no idea if it's starting to sink in or not. But she seems to enjoy her life, in general; she just makes her road bumpier than it needs to be.

In retrospect, it is pretty clear that I became seriously depressed starting around age 10 or 11, but no one did anything about it. I just suffered through it until it started to lift around 15 or 16. I am definitely going to be keeping a close eye on Chuckles once she hits puberty.