...The REsource for Advancing Children's Health

Children are in a state of rapid change and growth during their developmental years. Diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders must be viewed with these changes in mind. While some problems are short-lived and don't need treatment, others are persistent and very serious, and parents should seek professional help for their children. Primary care providers should not be reluctant to make a referral to a specialist if there is concern or uncertainty about the child's mental health status.

Not long ago, it was thought that many brain disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression, and bipolar disorder began only after childhood. We now know they can begin in early childhood. An estimated 6 to 9 million children and adolescents in the United States suffer from a serious behavioral or emotional disturbance. Perhaps the most studied, diagnosed, and treated childhood-onset mental disorder is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but even with this disorder there is a need for further research, most especially in very young children.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are illnesses that cause people to feel frightened... (Read More)

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Imagine living in a fast-moving kaleidoscope, where sounds, images, and thoughts are constantly shifting... (Read More)

Autism

Isolated in worlds of their own, people with autism appear indifferent and remote and are unable to form emotional bonds with others... (Read More)

Bipolar Disorder

At least 2 million Americans suffer from bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness... (Read More)

Conduct Disorder/Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Children with conduct disorder, CD, are those children who show persistent and serious patterns of misbehavior... (Read More)
Children with ODD show extreme levels of argumentativeness, disobedience, stubbornness, negativity, and provocation of others... (Read More)

Depression

Depressive disorders come in different forms, just as in the case with other illnesses such as severity, and persistence... (Read More)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), one of the anxiety disorders, is a potentially disabling condition that can persist throughout a person's life... (Read More)