Mental disorders in children are often times not spoken of or given attention to.  However, with the shifts that are taking place rapidly in every day life, it has caused several children to react to the changes by developing a mental disorder.  Over twenty percent of children today are affected by a mental disorder.  Following are the five most common disorders that may be found in children. 

1.  Anxiety disorders.  This includes a consistent change in anxiety and mood.  If your child has gone through severe changes or a trauma, it often moves into an anxiety disorder.  It can also be a result of emotional stress.  If there were feelings of fear, anger or low self-esteem associated with a situation, it can move into anxiety by the child.  Anxiety disorder is often highlighted by different phobias that your child may have.  If your child seems to be secluding themselves continuously, are having problems at school or their attitude has changed, then they may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.  Counseling, as well as medication is available for anxiety disorders. 

2.  Attention-deficit disorder. Attention-deficit disorder is also known as ADD or with hyperactivity, ADHD.  This is becoming a more common problem in many children.  It often includes the characteristics of hyper-activity, a lack of a retention span, and the inability to concentrate.  Often times, this mental disorder will cause disruptions in school and family life.  It will most often be seen by the child’s continuous movement at school and at home.  They will also not be able to stay on one task for long and often times cannot complete it.  The child, because of the inability to concentrate and the amounts of energy that accompany this, will disrupt the order and culture of the school, social and home environments.  This disorder can be diagnosed and treated with medication. 

3.   Autism and development disorders.  These types of mental disorders have several levels of functioning and problems.  Often times, children with these disorders will have a hard time understanding language, feelings, and the culture and world around them.  Learning difficulties are often accompanied by autism and development disorders. If your child has a hard time reading, writing, communicating, or functioning at school, they may have autism or a development disorder.  There are several special programs that are available for those with autism and development disorders.  Those who have studied this disorder have several programs that they can offer for severe or normal cases in order to allow your child to learn and function at a normal level. 

4.   Mood Disorders.  This includes things like depression, anger, fear and sadness.  It is natural for a child to have these feelings and express them.  However, if it is a mood disorder, than these different feelings are out of control.  As a result, they are either oppressed or expressed in destructive manners.  They will often have a hard time being consistent in functioning at home or in school because of the mood swings that they are going through.  This can also be solved through medication and therapy.  Often times, mood disorders are caused by constant shifts and changes that are happening at home and school.  By allowing your child to express this and make them feel secure about these changes, it can help in eliminating mood disorders. 

5.   Depression disorder.  This is similar to mood disorder; however, it is one of the most common types of mental illnesses that children are faced with.  Many times, this comes from a child going through a tragic event, such as a loss in the family or a natural disaster.  Usually, the child will become quiet and not be as sociable.  Their grades in school may also drop and repressed feelings will begin to show up in ways that are not controlled.  If your child seems to be showing behaviors that are not normal, then they may be having a problem with depression. 

There are several different behaviors that affect both adults and children.  It is becoming more apparent that these mental illnesses are apparent in children.  If you are finding that your child is not acting as they ordinarily would, or are being disruptive with daily activities, then it is possible that they could have a mental disorder.  If you believe this is true, then it is best to take them to a physician to get the disorder diagnosed.  You will then be offered a variety of options, depending on the disorder, from psychotherapy to medication. 

If you believe that your child is having problems functioning in home or school life, or is repressing feelings, then it is best to act accordingly.  By defining the mental disorder that your child has, you will be able to move in the appropriate ways in order to allow them to have a normal childhood. 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS