Does your child have a mood disorder? No doubt, manyparents of teens and tweens would emphatically answer,“ yes,” without waiting to hear more. AccordingtoEileen Schneider, a clinical social workerwith apractice in Tenafly,“ the defining factorofamood disorder is that it is asignificant disturbance in one’ s emotionalmake up that is persistent; sortofhow someone sees the world.” Dysthmia( persistent depression), major depression, bipolar disorder( the cycling between depression and more elevatedmoods) and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder( apersistent angry, irritable mood with frequent temperoutbursts) are all examplesofmood disorders. Anxiety and depression can be manifestations of mood disorders.
Schneiderexplains that in order to
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treat and cope with mood disorders, it is importanttolook at their origin.
“ Mooddisorders can be caused from an imbalance of brain chemicals that regulate mood as well as environmental factors. Repeated and serious stress is known to seriously affect mood. This could be something like the death of a close family member, divorce, asudden move, etc.,” she says.“ Thisisnot to say that every child who experiences these changes will develop amood disorder, but if the child is having trouble coping and doesnot have the support of aparent or outside help, the combination of several factors and the repeated stress could lead to amood disorder.”
She says there is also ageneticcomponent with mood disorders and certain childrencould be predisposedtotheir development.
“ Living with aparent with amood disorder is also achallenge,” she says. Teachers may be the first ones to
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notice signs that achild has amood disorder. Dr. Jen Altman, aclinical psychologist with aprivate practice in Ho-Ho-Kus, acknowledges that“ because teachers see so many different behaviors, sometimesitisdifficult to understand what is driving aparticular behavior, but if it is taken together with anumber of different factors, teachers can notice certain signs.”
For example, she says, there may be achange in academic functioning – any kind of drop in grades or change in attitude toward learning.
“ There may be achange in the quality of classroom functioning – isthe child no longerparticipating? The student may seem more distractible, distracted, morefatiguedand irritable. The child may be over-reacting to situations or may be lethargic, exhibiting muchlower energy than usual,” she says.“ Socially, these children might isolate themselves; theymay not want to communicate or
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18 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017 |( 201) FAMILY |
201magazine. com |