Child Psychological Disorders & Symptoms

The array of psychological disorders in the world today is vast, and so is the number of children who are affected by these disorders every day. There are also various symptoms for each disorder. It's important for parents to know about the psychological disorders that can affect children and the symptoms to identify them, so they can help their children in a quick and efficient manner.

Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety disorders are the most common type of psychological disorders affecting children. The main symptoms of an anxiety disorder are excessive worry, fear or uneasiness.

  There are many different types of anxiety disorders, such as unrealistic fears of situations, most commonly referred to as phobias; generalized anxiety disorders, which tend to make children worry excessively about unrealistic things; panic attacks; obsessive compulsive disorder, which causes children to repeat patterns of thoughts and behaviors, such as hand washing; and post-traumatic stress disorder, which usually occurs in children who have experienced a traumatic event in life. Post-traumatic stress disorder causes painful and scary flashbacks of that traumatic event.

Severe Depression

• Depression is another very common psychological disorder in children. Depression affects children's emotions, making them feel sad or worthless. They may lose motivation for activities that they used to greatly enjoy, and may have changes in their appetite and sleep patterns. They may start to look at the world as being a hopeless place, and they seem to not care about anything at all. All of these symptoms are important to be aware of because when they combine, a child may consider suicide and his life may be in danger.

Bipolar Disorder

• Bipolar disorder is often seen in symptoms of exaggerated mood swings that seem to change quickly and go from low to high rapidly. These moments of exaggerated mood swings are sometimes moderated by regular moods in between, but during a period of intense moods, children may exhibit signs such as talking non-stop, showing poor judgment and not seeming to need very much sleep. If left untreated without medication, bipolar disorder can lead to severe depression.

Autism

• Symptoms of a child with autism include the child not interacting or communicating with others. This disorder is usually evident before a child turns 3 years old, and can make children act very inappropriately, such as banging their heads on things.

Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia is seen in children with symptoms of hallucinations, losing contact with reality and withdrawing from those around them. Other symptoms may include being delusional, experiencing disordered thoughts and not having the ability to experience pleasure.