Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?

You thought it was bad enough to be a teen emo! Apparently, children are growing up faster in a lot of ways, and not just the fun sexual ways:

Kiran didn’t seem like the type of kid parents should worry about. “He was the easy one,” his father, Raghu, a physician, says. “He always wanted to please.” Unlike other children in his suburban St. Louis preschool, Kiran (a nickname his parents asked me to use to protect his identity) rarely disobeyed or acted out. If he dawdled or didn’t listen, Raghu (also a nickname) had only to count to five before Kiran hastened to tie his shoes or put the toys away. He was kind to other children; if a classmate cried, Kiran immediately approached. “Our little empath!” his parents proudly called him.

But there were worrisome signs. For one thing, unlike your typical joyful and carefree 4-year-old, Kiran didn’t have a lot of fun. “He wasn’t running around, bouncing about, battling to get to the top of the slide like other kids,” Raghu notes. Kiran’s mother, Elizabeth (her middle name), an engineer, recalls constant refrains of “Nothing is fun; I’m bored.” When Raghu and Elizabeth reminded a downbeat Kiran of their coming trip to Disney World, Kiran responded: “Mickey lies. Dreams don’t come true.”

In an affluent society, you would like to think that one can count on the luxury of fully enjoying being a kid, with post-modernism and existential angst being years away. After all, Western society is about never having to grow up. But I guess 'the emo' is part of the deal. Maybe LiveJournal should lower the age at which people can create a blog.

(Source: Pamela Paul for The New York Times)

Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?

You thought it was bad enough to be a teen emo! Apparently, children are growing up faster in a lot of ways, and not just the fun sexual ways:

Kiran didn’t seem like the type of kid parents should worry about. “He was the easy one,” his father, Raghu, a physician, says. “He always wanted to please.” Unlike other children in his suburban St. Louis preschool, Kiran (a nickname his parents asked me to use to protect his identity) rarely disobeyed or acted out. If he dawdled or didn’t listen, Raghu (also a nickname) had only to count to five before Kiran hastened to tie his shoes or put the toys away. He was kind to other children; if a classmate cried, Kiran immediately approached. “Our little empath!” his parents proudly called him.

But there were worrisome signs. For one thing, unlike your typical joyful and carefree 4-year-old, Kiran didn’t have a lot of fun. “He wasn’t running around, bouncing about, battling to get to the top of the slide like other kids,” Raghu notes. Kiran’s mother, Elizabeth (her middle name), an engineer, recalls constant refrains of “Nothing is fun; I’m bored.” When Raghu and Elizabeth reminded a downbeat Kiran of their coming trip to Disney World, Kiran responded: “Mickey lies. Dreams don’t come true.”

In an affluent society, you would like to think that one can count on the luxury of fully enjoying being a kid, with post-modernism and existential angst being years away. After all, Western society is about never having to grow up. But I guess 'the emo' is part of the deal. Maybe LiveJournal should lower the age at which people can create a blog.

(Source: Pamela Paul for The New York Times)