Children show different characteristics in different developmental stages from the time they are born. During this period, they gain certain abilities and skills. While gaining these skills, they need the attention, support and stimulation of their parents, and with this interest and support, they develop these skills from simple to complex. For example, the child who begins to babble says syllables, then words, then sentences. When the parents know the characteristics of the child in these periods and act in accordance with these characteristics, the child’s spiritual development continues in a healthy way. However, in the absence of appropriate support and approaches, problems may arise in mental development. Child mental health specialists guide parents in solving problems during periods of problems and ensure that the child’s development enters a healthy path again.
Some mental disorders can be seen in children due to genetic and environmental reasons. Sometimes, inappropriate parental attitudes and negative life events may trigger the emergence of these mental illnesses in children with genetic predisposition. Sometimes, mental symptoms that occur due to genetic predisposition can be exacerbated by inappropriate parental attitudes and negative life events. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, tic disorder, speech disorders, poop incontinence, autistic disorder, developmental delay, depression, bipolar disorder, suicide, obsessions, substance use, eating disorders, anxiety disorders (social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder) , separation anxiety, school phobia, panic disorder), post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, sleep disorders, psychotic disorders… are mental disorders seen in children, and these disorders affect the child’s harmony, relationships, academic skills and family life negatively. . When these disorders occur, when a child psychiatrist is consulted, after the evaluations, with appropriate support, approach and treatment, the negative impact of the child on school, social and family life can be reduced or corrected. However, if these mental disorders are not treated, they negatively affect the child’s present and future life. For this reason, it is important for families to be careful about the psychological symptoms of their children and to receive psychiatric support before these symptoms cause negative consequences in the child’s life.
In order to understand whether their children have mental problems, families should pay attention to whether they have different characteristics from their peers (such as speaking late, being too active, not being able to keep their attention in the lessons, having difficulty in learning, having difficulty in following the rules), and these problems should be noticed. It is important that they get help from a child psychiatrist for the solution. Again, their children are more irritable than usual (unlike their old characteristics), unhappy, reluctant, having sleep problems, obsessions, tics, distressed and anxious, more active, talking a lot, being energetic, having eating problems. When their complaints such as weight gain, substance use, being insecure, anxious, fearful, pee-poo incontinence, nail biting, harming themselves and their environment begin, they should apply for appropriate psychiatric support, realizing that these may be due to mental disorders. Children presenting with these complaints will most likely decrease or improve when a detailed evaluation is made, the causative conditions are investigated, and appropriate treatment support is provided. Families should be aware that spending a long time with the child with mental disorders will both cause this mental disorder to harm the child more and create a basis for the development of new mental disorders. For this reason, families should notice the behavioral and emotional changes in their children in a timely manner and seek psychiatric support without delay, and seek treatment quickly before mental problems become more severe and new mental disorders are added to the picture.
When children and adolescents have problems in their developmental characteristics or psychological reasons, their family, school and social relations are also adversely affected. Coping with these problems becomes difficult for the child and family. Families may feel helpless, exhausted, and experience intense conflicts with their children. Again, sometimes parents may have difficulties in how to treat their children in the face of problems. Likewise, children may quarrel with their families and develop an intensely problematic relationship style. These developmental and mental problems can become a stigma of family conflict and relationship problems. Informing the family about developmental and mental problems, guiding them on appropriate approaches, and solving the primary mental problem will also solve the problem of the relationship between the family and the child and the family. Therefore, families should be aware of the negative effects of both developmental and mental problems on the family relationship and should not delay in applying to a child psychiatrist to get appropriate psychiatric support.
In the child and adolescent mental health polyclinic, necessary psychometric tests and comprehensive psychological evaluations will be made in terms of developmental characteristics, developmental problems and all mental problems of children and youth, and support will be provided in reducing or correcting the mental problems of children and youth with appropriate treatment approaches.
