8 year old anxiety/depression???

[beckieperk]

Hi all.
My little boy has recently started having these feelings of complete sadness and not wanting to be alone. It makes me sad to see him. It normally starts around dinner time until bedtime when he is normally now in floods of tears at bedtime.
He says he can't explain the feelings to me. I stay with him at bedtime until he is asleep when I can (I also have a 2 year old so not always possible). Other nights he asks me not to come into his room as he gets sad because he knows I will leave him there.
Until recently he has been pretty good at going to sleep at night.
We leave the landing light on now, which has helped a little. But a few times now, last night included, he has come into my room saying he's hearing whispering and his eyes feel funny. Again, he is struggling to explain it to me.
I don't really know what to say to him. I tell him to think of happy things and try and relax. I know that may be easier said than done.
What should I be saying/doing to help?
I'm hoping it's a phase which will soon pass, but i don't want to make him worse or enable these feelings further.
Has anyone experienced this? Any advice??

Get him some proper help.

My oldest went through this at a similar age and so did her best male friend. There’s a hormone surge at around this age and it didn’t seem uncommon among her peers to feel ‘sad’. I took her to gp who did blood tests (all fine) and her school sorted some extra pastoral care. It passed - year 6 now- no anxiety or sadness, it did seem a phase. But I recommend taking to the GP

You can contact the early help hub who can put you in touch with services or pay for private therapy as the waiting lists are obscene. I pay for private therapy for my 5 year old and it’s been amazing.

Also I bought a journal for her and done books that dealt with sadness, they personified sadness and worry as a thing that happens then goes. It helped her to see that she FELT sad not that she WAS sad if that makes sense.

Done = some

Could you also try playing an audio book or even white noise for him to go to sleep to? It might lessen the whispering voices he hears

Thank you all. It makes me feel better just knowing he's not the only one. It seems so young to be having these emotions. I'm going to use that - he feels sad but that doesn't mean he is sad.

I thought about the white noise thing. I used the headspace app during pregnancy as I had trouble sleeping. I'll see if there's something similar for kids.

Oh - one last tip - put his pillows at the wrong end of the bed and get him to sleep updated down - as in his head at the feet. Trust me, it works to break the cycle of negativity in the bed! Or move the room around.

Hi @beckieperk, My 9 year old DS is having some of the same issues. It is manifesting in anxiety about his health and makes his breathing go shallow and rapid but probably a similar source for it. I've just come on here to ask for advice as well because I'm very worried that he will get in the habit of it and not be able to break the cycle.
I've been doing some of the sleep meditations on the insight timer app. He really likes them but mostly it's because I do it with him. If I'm not there he will stay awake in his bed for hours and is thus chronically underslept. Insight timer is free and has loads of recorded meditations to choose from.
I'm so sorry that your son is feeling low. I hope it's as a previous poster said that there is a hormone surge around this age and that it settles down.

DS had this too about that age - I think hey start thinking about death and get themselves all upset (especially at night). Lots of hugs and reassurance, lots of patience.