What Are the Psychological Disorders in Children That Require Consultation?

What Are the Psychological Disorders in children That Require Consultation?

Children inevitably experience psychological activities as they explore the objective and cognitive world. They also encounter a range of emotions. However, there are instances when psychological disorders arise. Consultation is necessary if the following symptoms are observed:

Sleep Disorders in Children: Children struggling with sleep face difficulties falling asleep, might cry before sleep, experience unstable sleep patterns, and wake up easily during the night. Night terrors, characterized by sudden awakenings during sleep with wide-eyed panic, distress, crying, breathlessness, sweating, are common. Sleepwalking, where children suddenly wake up during sleep, stare, sit up, and walk around, usually occurs within 2 hours after falling asleep. They have no recollection after waking.

Manipulative Behavior: Children might exhibit emotional outbursts, such as throwing tantrums, crying non-stop, or flailing their limbs, when their self-esteem is bruised, personality is insulted, or after arguments. In some cases, they might experience brief periods of temporary blindness or deafness.

Repetitive or Stereotypical Behavior: These unnecessary and inescapable repetitive behaviors (like repetitive handwashing, counting) are often accompanied by anxiety and fear.

Language Disorders: Stuttering, interruption, repetition, and difficulty speaking fluently are common language disorders in childhood. Around half of those who stutter exhibit this behavior before the age of 5, making correction more feasible.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): This is the most common childhood psychological disorder characterized by lack of concentration, excessive activity, impulsiveness, lack of self-control, and poor academic performance.

Enuresis: Occurs in children aged 5 and above who cannot control urination, leading to bedwetting at night and occasional daytime accidents. It is more common in boys than girls.

Tic Disorders: Localized muscle twitching involves actions like blinking, eyebrow squeezing, frowning, nose-twitching, lip-smacking, neck-stretching, head-shaking, lip-biting, or mimicking strange expressions.

School Phobia: Children experience fear related to school due to psychological issues. They might refuse or avoid attending school. Symptoms include anxiety, headache, stomachache, vomiting, and frequent urination before or during school, which disappear when they stay home.

Learning Disabilities: Children with learning disabilities struggle in areas like listening, reading, speaking, writing, and arithmetic despite having normal intelligence.

Exam Anxiety: Children develop anxiety and fear before or during exams, leading to symptoms such as blushing, sweating, trembling hands, dizziness, lack of focus, memory decline, ultimately resulting in exam failure.

Neurogenic Frequency: This involves a significant increase in urination frequency with minimal urine output. It disappears during sleep.

Mental Fatigue: Occurs due to high levels of nervous system tension or engaging in monotonous, tedious work. It reduces learning and work efficiency and can negatively affect mental health, causing anxiety, depression, restlessness, and exhaustion.

In addition, pediatric neurogenic anorexia, neurogenic vomiting, pediatric conversion disorder, pediatric phobias, and pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder are generally classified as mental disorders. Consultation with a mental health professional is recommended. Further details are beyond the scope of this text.