Common Mental Illnesses in Children: The Symptoms and Ways to Deal with Them

Mental illness can be a difficult condition with which to deal no matter what the age of the individual who suffers from it. For the parents of children who are diagnosed with a mental illness, it can especially be a great challenge.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, approximately 20% of American children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness during a given year. Nearly 5 million American children and adolescents have a serious mental illness that causes significant disruptions in their everyday life.

Because of the prevalence of mental illness in children and adolescents, it is important for parents, teachers, and others who work with young people to understand what mental illnesses are common among this population, what symptoms can be indicative of a possible mental disorder, and how to deal with a child or adolescent that is diagnosed with one of these mental disturbances. By having this knowledge, those who care for and deal with children and adolescents can assist them in getting the proper treatment that they need.

Most Common Mental Illnesses in Children

The most common mental illnesses that are diagnosed in children are anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, pervasive development disorders, eating disorders, elimination disorders, learning and communication disorders, affective (mood) disorders, schizophrenia, and tic disorders.

Anxiety disorders involve the child responding to certain objects and situations with great fear and physical signs of anxiety. An example would be a child who shows signs of anxiety at the presence of a spider or some other type of animal.

Children who are diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders have a tendency to defy rules and laws and cause disruptions within such structured environments as school. Examples of these disorders would include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

Children who suffer from pervasive development disorders tend to experience confusion in their thinking and have difficulty understanding the world in which they live. Examples of these disorders are autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Eating disorders involve the child having intense emotions and bizarre behaviors regarding food and/or their body weight. These disorders would include anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Elimination disorders have to do with unusual behaviors involved with the expelling of the body's waste products (i.e. urine and feces). An example would be a child who withholds his or her feces for an emotional reason.

Learning and communication disorders deal with a child's difficulty in storing and processing information and his or her inability to relate his or her ideas and thoughts effectively. An example of this type of disorder would be mental retardation.

Affective disorders (also known as mood disorders) include those that are characterized by continuous feelings of sadness and/or rapidly changing moods. An example of this type of disorder is depression.

Children who suffer from schizophrenia typically experience a distorted perception of reality and the world around them. Hallucinations (i.e. hearing voices, seeing things that are not there, etc.) and delusions (i.e. paranoid thoughts, grandiose thoughts of importance, etc.) are characteristic of this disorder.

Tic disorders cause a child to carry out repeated, sudden, involuntary movements and sounds. These tics often interfere with a child's ability to function properly in his or her everyday life.

General Symptoms of Mental Illness in Children

Diagnosing mental illness in children can sometimes be a challenging endeavor due to the fact that children undergo many physical, emotional, and mental changes during their development. However, certain general behaviors that can be indicative of the presence of mental illness do exist. The behaviors to be described can be defined as symptoms if they occur frequently, last for an extended period of time, occur at an age for which they would be deemed unusual, or significantly disrupt the child's and/or family's day-to-day functioning.

These behaviors include:

-abuse of drugs and/or alcohol

-inability to deal with everyday problems and activities

-changes in sleeping and/or eating (i.e. not sleeping and/or eating or excessive eating or sleeping)

-excessive complaints of physical problems

-defying authority, skipping school, stealing or destroying property

-extreme fear of gaining weight

-persistent negative moods, often paired with poor appetite and thoughts of death

-frequent angry outbursts

' -changes in performance at school, such as poor grades

-lack of interest in friends and hobbies that the child or adolescent used to enjoy

-noticeable increase in time that the child spends alone

-excessive worrying or anxiety

-hyperactivity

-persistent nightmare or night terrors

-continuous disobedience or behavior that is aggressive in nature

-frequent temper tantrums

-hallucinations (seeing things that are not there)

Ways to Deal with Children or Adolescents Who Have Been Diagnosed With a Mental Illness

If a child does exhibit the possible symptoms of a mental illness, the parent should mention these to the child's health care provider. The health care provider will perform a complete medical exam and use such tests as blood work and x-rays in order to rule out physical illness or medication side effects as a possible cause of the symptoms.

Once a biological basis has been ruled out as the reason for the symptoms, a child is referred to a child and adolescent psychiatrist or psychologist who will use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate the child or adolescent for mental illness. The child's diagnosis is based on reports of his or her symptoms by his or her parents, teachers, and other adults who are close to the child as well as the psychiatrist's or psychologist's observations of the child's attitude and behavior.

If the child is diagnosed as having a mental illness, he or she may receive medication, psychotherapy, and/or some type of creative therapy, such as art therapy or play therapy, to treat the disorder.

To deal with a child or adolescent who has been deemed as suffering from a mental illness, a parent or teacher will want to educate himself or herself about the mental disorder in order to know what behaviors can be expected. Parents and teachers will want to work together in order to provide guidance and understanding for the child and to assist the child in functioning within the home and school environments.

Parents may want to participate in counseling with their children who have been diagnosed with a mental illness and even become members of support groups that are composed of other families who are dealing with the same disorder. Parents also can take part in parenting skill training in which they learn how to handle difficult situations and behaviors, how to share pleasant and relaxing activities with their child, how to point out what their child does well and praise their child's strengths and abilities, how to arrange family situations in such a way as to lessen stress and to promote more positive interaction, and how to manage frustration and respond calmly to their child's behavior.

Lastly, but certainly not least, parents of children who battle mental illness must maintain their own physical and mental health. How can a parent be there to support and care for his or her child if his or her health is not what it should be?

Sources:

http://www.medicinenet.com/mental_illness_in_children/article.htm

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/treatment-of-children-with-mental-illness-fact-sheet/index.shtml

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-illness-children