Children are affected with psychiatric illnesses but are not so apparent because they do not talk about it or bring it to the attention of their family.
However, it is important for the parents and care-givers to notice that something is the matter with the child and then have the problem addressed with the help of a health professional or family physician.
Some of the common psychiatric illnesses affecting children are:
Anxiety disorder for e.g. selective mutism
Eating disorder
Childhood schizophrenia
Mood disorders
Pervasive developmental disorders
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Elimination disorders
Tic disorders
Disruptive behaviour disorders for e.g. avoiding school, delinquent behaviour, stealing
Anxiety disorders
The child may experience anxiety due to environmental factors like watching parents fight or argue repeatedly or arguments within the family. Also if both parents work late hours, the child may wait for them to come home and till they arrive he might be anxious or in a bad mood. The child may be withdrawn and not want to go to school; this is termed as separation anxiety disorder. Whatever the cause, the child must be reassured and comforted time and again. Anxiety disorders may also be manifested as a refusal to eat or sleep in his own bed, he may insist on sleeping along with the parents or nanny.
Another important anxiety disorder is called selective mutism and is generally diagnosed between three to eight years of age. Either parents notice it as early as in toddlers or teachers complain that the child is not interacting with others in school and bring it to parents' attention. In selective mutism, the child may speak at home but is mute in social situations due to underlying anxiousness.
Eating disorders
This may manifest as repeated vomiting or abdominal pain in small children or anorexia nervosa or bulimia in adolescents. They may be a result of anxiety or some other behavioural disorders, very few cases are due to a genuine medical problem. Sometimes, forceful feeding by a nanny may lead to vomiting as the amount of food given is too much for the child's stomach and the child cannot retain it. In case of eating disorders in adolescents or older children, negative self-image or the need to be accepted by peers provokes such extreme behaviour. This must be noticed and treated early otherwise the child may become underweight, constipated and may have several nutritional deficiencies.
Childhood schizophrenia
It usually occurs in teens and is called disorganised schizophrenia, and the important features are inappropriate social behaviour, childish behaviour, lack of grooming and even violent behaviour like throwing things in the house or
Childhood psychiatric disorders Types and symptoms is a post from: mDhil