I think my almost five-year-old is depressed.
She cries all the time. Over everything. There are times I ask her why she's crying, and she flat-out says she doesn't know.
You know how the week before you start your period, you're emotional over absolutely nothing? That's what she reminds me of...except last time I checked, two weeks away from turning five years old is entirely too early to be PMS-ing.
Is it possible for a child this age to be depressed? Or bipolar or have anxiety? How do I fix this?
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I'm hoping it's just normal behavior from some factors, does she have access to a touch screen or laptop? Do you watch TV together only in the living room? There's been a long standing study that's proven to give children anxiety, depression & overall unhealthy behaviors exhibited from too much screen time. I hope that helps. She needs to be reminded what's important in this life. Play with her, take her outside, set aside 20 minutes a day to spend time with her doing anything she wants to do. I hope all of that curbs this or atleast slows it down so she may talk to you & identify why she is crying. I'd pick up a book on emotions one that's really good is "My heart" & each page is beautiful depictions of a girl & how her heart is feeling. See if she's interested in a sport! Get her active & see if anything changes from this first. I don't want to think the worst so that's the best advice I personally have.
The 5 year old is worse then “terrible two” it is normal for your child to be feeling so many things.
What happens normally is : at this age they start to have new feelings, but they still don’t understand them very well. It’s important at this phase to always name the feelings to her. So for example if you see that she is angry/frustrated you can say “I can see that you are angry/frustrated , and that’s okay. Being angry/frustrated is part of your feelings and you can talk to mom about it.”
You can do that with all the feeling that you recognize that are going on in that moment, it will help her address and understand what those feelings are. Don’t pressure her to talk but show the support saying you are there to help her.
It’s a tough phase but it will get better.
Send lots of love for both of you ❤️
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