Disorders

Childhood Disorders

In America, one in ten children have a diagnosable mental disorder such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression or anxiety. The severe emotional and behavioral difficulties that can accompany mental disorders in children may interfere with many aspects of a child's life—family, school, ability to learn, friendships—and may lead to difficulties that persist throughout the lifespan. Early intervention efforts are believed to be instrumental in reducing the difficulties associated with many childhood psychiatric disorders. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment is extremely important.

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder  (ADHD): It is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders, affecting 3-5 percent of all children -- boys more often than girls.
• Autism: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), representing a range of brain disorders, are characterized by impairments in social communication and interactions, and include restricted patterns of behavior.
• Childhood Anxiety Disorder: Children and adolescents experience anxiety in their lives, and can suffer from anxiety disorders in much the same way as adults. 
• Childhood Bipolar Disorder: Although once thought rare, research findings, clinical experience, and family accounts provide substantial evidence that bipolar disorder can occur in children and in adolescents.
• Childhood Depression: When feelings of sadness persist in a child's life and begin to interfere with his or her ability to function, one must consider clinical depression to be the cause. 
• Childhood Schizophrenia: Although rare in children, it does occur and takes a heavy toll on patients and their families.