Combat Holiday Blues with Prozac Alternative: Bluey the Blue Kangaroo Fun Australian Christmas Story AudioEbook Doubles as a Self-Help Book for the Young

Psychotherapy for toddlers? Prozac for preschoolers? It’s becoming a frightening trend in America, the United Kingdom and Australia according to the latest scientific studies and national surveys in those countries. Parents and caregivers are searching for ways other than the pill bottle to help their little ones overcome depression. Australian author and former Human Services Case Manager, Bernadette Dimitrov, answers their need through Bluey the Blue Kangaroo, Santa’s New Recruit, the first in a series of fun audioEbooks that highlights visualization techniques for children as a way to restore hope and build self-esteem.

Bluey singing Michele Blood’s 'I Can Do It!' song engages children and lightens their mental burden
With her Christmas story Ebook downloadable from her website. Dimitrov begins her series starring the protagonist Bluey the Blue Kangaroo at Christmas, an often gloomy time for depression sufferers.

Alarmingly high depression statistics in children are all the more surprising because as recently as fifteen years ago, mental illness was thought not to exist in bouncing babies and boisterous children. However, a recent Harvard University study revealed that depression in children is increasing annually by 23%. Now, mental health professionals are treating up to 33% of all American children who show signs of clinical depression, reports the National Mental Health Association based on an ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study. Signs include irritability, withdrawal, lethargy, excessive crying, chronic fatigue, changes in eating or sleeping habits, and aggressive or morbid play.

Increasingly, the treatment for depression in young children includes prescription drugs, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) such as Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft. A study published in 2004 in Psychiatric Services journal reports that the fastest growing segment of psychiatric drug users is preschoolers aged 0-5 years, with use among girls doubling and use among boys growing by 64%. The growth in drug use for this age group escalates despite warnings by the FDA of the potential dangers, including suicidal thoughts and suicide, even in very young children.

Caregivers and parents are rightly concerned, looking for alternative therapies. A 2006 article in Child magazine, a popular American periodical, describes the trends in various treatment protocols offered by mental health workers. Home and family therapy involving visualization techniques and self-affirming activities top the list.

Dimitrov’s audioEbook is one tool that parents and caregivers can use to lift their child’s blues. "Bluey singing Michele Blood’s 'I Can Do It!' song engages children and lightens their mental burden," states Dimitrov. "His trip to the Australian Barrier Reef and his Finnair mission for Santa to restore wish communications to the North Pole are adventure-filled parts of the eBook that will captivate listeners young and old. What better time to begin the healing process from depression than at Christmas, a traditional season of hope!"

The HoHoHo expert Bernadette Dimitrov incorporates enlightened spiritual and human development for the new millennium in her audioEbooks and soon-to-be-released Christmas board game, The HoHoHo Factor Board Game.