How Active Play Can Help in Child Depression? Generally, academic and peer pressure is blamed for the depression in children, but many researchers believe that lack of physical activity is the main culprit behind a child's mental strain. Did you know that depression is the most common mental ailment in America? Every year, more than 17 million people of all age groups suffer from mild and chronic depression. According to Gavin Baylis (a spokesman for Young Mind) “In the past 20 years, mental health problems have got worse, they are being shown in younger children and they are getting more complex.� Why do you think that mental problems in children are getting worse?
Who's to Blame? It would be convenient to just place the blame on the myriad external factors that impact our daily life, but it is hard to mask the fact that we are responsible for the elevating stress levels in our children. This might sound preposterous, but think about it. Are we not letting our kids take on a sedentary lifestyle by introducing them to high-tech video gaming devices? Are our kids not glued to the couch for hours with their eyes fixated on the screens? Parents forget how technological gadgets impact children's overall health and mood.
A growing body of research suggests that children who spend more than 18 hours on indoor, desk bound activity develop stress that usually takes the form of childhood depression. Physical activity promotes the growth of enzymes and hormones that play a key role in boosting mood. Active play is known to be a mood lifter as it promotes the intensification of serotonin, prolactin, and oxytocin-three key hormones associated with the better mood.
How can Active Play Help? For those who do not know, active play is a form of play that is free from any structured play rules and instructions. In general, active play can be anything that makes children 'huff and puff.' In other words, anything that can get a child's heart racing. There are various types various types of unstructured activities that can help children, these activities are mentioned below:
Active play: This type of activity can include any form of play that involves structure-less physical activity such as riding a bike, building a sand castle, engaging with the school playground equipment or simply running around in the park. Cooperative Play: This type of play involves interactive pretend play, board games, soccer and basketball, to name a few. Creative Play: This type of play activity includes painting and creating arts and crafts projects. Dramatic Play: Dramatic play involves role-playing games that children can devise by themselves. Most children engage with dramatic play activity through their toys such as dolls.
Creating Opportunities for Active Play Most parents find it challenging to create opportunities for active play. However, it is not that hard as it seems. All you have to do is make a schedule that allows children to have ample time to run around the backyard or engage with a commercial playground equipment. If you do not have much time on your hands, then simply take your kids out for a walk. Sometimes simple things can make all the difference.
Dr. Sharmistha Barai is a leading Child & Adolescent psychiatrist based in Saint Louis, Missouri, using her talents and expertise to treat clients for depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar and personality disorders. She completed a MBBS degree (medical degree equivalent) at Lady Hardings Medical College, in New Delhi, India (2002). To read more, please visit here: http://sharmisthabarai.edublogs.org/