children s health issues
Overview of Mental Health Disorders Children and Adolescents
Introduction
Several important mental health disorders, such as Depression and Mood Dysregulation Disorder in Children and Adolescents , Schizophrenia in Children and Adolescents and related mental health disorders (sometimes referred to as psychotic disorders) are much less common in childhood. When they do occur, they typically start anytime during the middle of adolescence through young adulthood (into a person's mid-30s). As many as 20% of children and adolescents may have a diagnosable mental health disorder that causes some sort of impairment. The risk of being diagnosed with a mental health disorder increases with age. By some estimates, about 30% of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 meet the criteria for two or more mental health disorders. Environmental stressors (eg, the COVID-19 pandemic) may disrupt critical routines and relationships enough to make even otherwise resilient children and adolescents more vulnerable to mental health disorders. With a few exceptions, symptoms of mental health disorders tend to be similar to feelings that every child experiences, such as sadness, anger, suspicion, excitement, withdrawal, and loneliness. The difference between a disorder and a normal feeling is the extent to which the feeling becomes so powerful as to overwhelm and interfere with the activities of normal life or cause the child to suffer. Thus, doctors use clinical criteria and judgment to determine when particular thoughts and emotions stop being a normal component of childhood experience and represent a disorder. The difference between a mental health disorder and a normal feeling is whether the feeling becomes powerful enough to overwhelm the child, interfere with the child's activities of normal life, or cause the child to suffer. In addition to mood disorders (eg, depression, anxiety) and eating disorders, there are other types of behavioral health issues.Disruptive behavioral disordersaffect mainly behavior. The behavior is not intentionally disruptive but may disturb others, including teachers, peers, and family members. These disorders include Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (the most common one) Oppositional Defiant Disorder None Less commonly, Conduct Disorder None Neurodevelopmental disordersaffect both mental health and overall development in children. These disorders include Autism Spectrum Disorders None Rett Syndrome None Fragile X Syndrome None DiGeorge Syndrome None Mitochondrial Disorders None Autism spectrum disorders may involve some combination of impaired social relationships, a restricted range of interests, abnormal language development and use, and in some cases, intellectual impairment. Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder, causes some similar symptoms, including difficulties with social skills and communication. 