Confused by this

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I heard of a mother named Denise whose four year old son just got diagnosed with having childhood depression.

Now how can a four a year old be diagnosed as having depression along with learning disabilities? What doctor would say such a thing?

It seems like a leap to me, but perhaps if the child were acting excessively melancholoy ...

I believe my 7 year daughter (NT) is subject to depression, since she has long periods where she simply cannot make herself happy about anything, despite trying, but I can't imagine going in for a diagnosis on it at this stage. For us, it is more like an advance warning, for as she gets older, to keep on the look out. She functions just fine, it is just frustrating to see her so sad so often, but we talk and talk and talk about it and her life and so on, and are considering doing family counseling with her as an outlet for her as well.

I guess if I could start seeing this in my daughter last year at age 6, enough to become concerned about it and worry for the future, it isn't impossible to imagine a 4 year old being depressed. But I wonder why a diagnosis is needed, and then, what sort of treatment is being recommended. I would never put my daughter on medication for it at this stage, and can't imagine considering it for a 4 year old. It's really about being tuned into the child and helping her through life, when they are so young. My theory, anyway.

I read an interesting article recently about how American culture has become too focused on happiness, and seems to be forgetting that a certain amount of sadness is a normal and important element of life. The official diagnostic criteria for depression requires only two weeks of symptons, which seems rather short to me, and it can be met in perfectly normal situations like experiencing the recent death of a loved one. So, it is also possible that the family of the four year old has encountered poor diagnostic criteria during a time when sadness should be OK.