Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magaz ... ted=1&_r=1

In Sunday's NY Times Magazine.

They forgot ask one little important question....How did the child sleep at night?

Or did they look down his throat to see how large his tonsils were.... which, in turn, may be keeping him from sleeping deeply.

My letter to the journalist and editor:

As a parent with a two-year-old child who was recently diagnosed with pediatric OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea), I read your timely article closely to see if you would address the link between OSA and depression. If only you would have asked the most important question—How does Kiran sleep at night?—you could have identified another potential cause and possible cure for childhood depression.
Perhaps Kiran’s doctors have asked this question or examined the anatomy of his airway, but I am willing to bet not. My daughter’s pediatrician and her pediatric ENT both dismissed my concern that she might have OSA, despite the fact that I have suffered from it since I was her age, and that it is known to run in families. After all, we look alike and the condition is largely based on physical and anatomical features. Despite suffering the symptoms from an early age, I wasn’t diagnosed with extreme sleep apnea until I was thirty five. My mother was just recently diagnosed with OSA in her late sixties; my father died at sixty-three from Alzheimer’s and previously had heart disease starting at thirty-eight years old. Something has to stress the body for all of these conditions to emerge.
In my case and that of my daughter’s, a growth spurt triggered our apnea. Kiran’s depression could be directly linked to his airway growing narrower and prone to obstructions while he sleeps, thereby interfering with the normal sleep cycle that a child should experience. He could literally be deprived of oxygen in the most formative times of his life doing untold damage to his brain and therefore his psyche.
There are many studies that correlate the effects of major sleep deprivation with our personalities. I was dragged from psychiatrist to psychiatrist most of my life until I decided they were of no help and proceeded to self medicate for most of my twenties. At that time, I almost killed my best friend while I fell “asleep at the wheel” going sixty miles per hour, even though I was completely sober and my eyes were wide open.
Children who suffer from depression and other behavioral issues tied to OSA, should be evaluated by a reputable pediatric sleep center like Stanford to avoid having to put him on any meds or labeling him with a handicap. OSA is most undiagnosed but at the same time the most curable of all diseases today. Within twenty-four hours of my daughter’s surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids, we had our child back—a lively, spirited, curious little girl. If caught early who knows what greatness and happiness Kiran and others like him could achieve and contribute to this world in a positive manner.

Wonderful letter!! I hope it gets the attention it deserves.....