A patient showed me a picture of her one year old little girl and her book. She was pointing at the page and it looked like her mouth was shaping sounds. I told the mother she was reading the pictures at a very early age and how proud of her we should all be and of her parents who read with her.
This encounter started me thinking about the following statistics.
- In our country more than 50% of students graduating from public, private and catholic schools graduate without being able to read at their grade level. (National Report Card)
- The suicide rates between 10-24 year old young people is fastest growing age group. (CDC)
- Eighty percent of students with a diagnosable anxiety disorder and sixty- six percent of depressed students are not receiving treatment. (ADAA)
- Forty Four percent of students who go on to school after high school dropout. Persistence and completion is the number one problem facing students in education after high school. Often, the schools do not even learn the student is leaving until they are gone. While there are many reasons for this, academics, and emotional state (isolation and loneliness with the associated anxiety and depression) are important factors.
The truth is all kids grow and develop in opposition to their parents. That is normal and natural. This is how young people separate and develop their own identities. Problems occur when the parents cannot manage their own reaction to the opposition, if there are unresolved problems in the family (like abuse, alcohol or drug abuse, marital conflict), or if the child becomes identified as the problem.
One of the earliest indicators regarding anxiety and depression in students of all ages is in school functioning. When a young person is in trouble, either internally or with things around them, they will begin having difficulty with school, such as: failing, acting out, skipping school and being either aggressive or withdrawing, saying they hate school, bullying or being bullied. Remember the statement above they may not be able to read or do math at the appropriate level, this is an early symptom of trouble. Anxiety and depression is the most common symptom not ADHD.
Probably the most serious concern has to do with neuro-functioning. Anxiety and Depression both cause chemical changes in the brain that left untreated create permanent shifts in brain structures and functioning. One of the areas of study most focused on this is epigenetics. This is an area of study about switches which cause the changes. Anxiety and Depression both create the conditions for the “epigenetic switching” to occur. This form of switch flipping is fundamental to the development of cancer, heart disease and many of the contemporary illnesses we are seeing in healthcare. It often has origins in childhood.
There are things to do right away. Pay attention to diet, vitamins, exercise, social involvement and your child’s state of mind. Stay close to the child, engage them, listen to what they say, if they are depressed or demonstrating anxiety, or if you are, get help.
And about my patient’s little girl. When I looked at the photo, the book was opened to a page with an adult caterpillar and a little caterpillar on its back. The words were: “my dad tickles me.”
