The term psychological disorder is sometimes used to refer to mental disorders or psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are behavioral or psychological symptoms that affect multiple areas of life, and these disorders create a state of distress or distress for the person who suffers from them.
Children can have the same mental illnesses as adults but they sometimes express them differently. For example, depressed children often appear more irritable than depressed adults who usually appear sad.
Psychological conditions that children may suffer from:
Anxiety in children:
Anxiety occurs when children cannot overcome fears or when there are too many fears that interfere with children’s activities at school or home.
Examples of anxiety disorders:
- Extreme fear when being away from parents (separation anxiety).
- Intense fear of something or a specific situation such as dogs, insects, or going to the doctor (phobia).
- Extreme fear of school and other places around people (social anxiety).
- Extreme worry about the future and thinking that bad things will happen (generalized anxiety).
- Having recurring episodes of sudden fear that are accompanied by symptoms such as increased heartbeat, difficulty breathing, feeling dizzy, or sweating (panic disorder)
Depression in children:
Some children feel sad or lack interest in things they previously enjoyed. When children feel sad and hopeless, they are diagnosed with depression.
Examples of behaviors of children suffering from depression:
- Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable most of the time.
- Not enjoying fun things.
- Changes in eating patterns – eating more or less than usual.
- Changes in sleep patterns – sleeping more or less than usual.
- Changes in energy – fatigue, stress, and anxiety a lot of the time.
- Feeling worthless, useful, or guilty.
- Engaging in self-harming behavior.
Severe depression can lead a child to think about or plan suicide. For young people between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the common form of death.
Oppositional defiant disorder in children:
When children act persistently (oppositional or defiant), it can cause serious problems at home, at school, or with their peers, including:
- He is often angry.
- Often argues with adults or refuses to comply with rules or requests.
- Intentionally annoying others or becoming annoyed with others.
- Often blames others for their mistakes or misbehavior.
Conduct disorder in children:
Conduct disorder is diagnosed when children show a persistent pattern of aggression toward others and violations of social rules and norms at home and school.
Examples of conduct disorder include:
- Breaking rules and laws, such as running away, or staying awake at night when asked to sleep.
- Is aggressive in a way that causes harm, such as fighting or cruelty to animals.
- Lying, stealing, or intentionally damaging the property of others.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children:
People with ADHD may have difficulties concentrating and controlling impulsive behaviors (they may act without thinking about the outcome), or be overly active. Although this disorder is not curable, it can be managed successfully and some symptoms may improve as the child gets older.
Post-traumatic stress disorder in children:
Children may experience very stressful events that affect the way they think and feel. Most of the time, children recover quickly and well.
However, children who experience severe stress such as injury or death of a close family member or friend, or violence, will be affected in the long term.
When children develop long-term symptoms (longer than one month) of this stress, which disturb or interfere with their relationships and activities they are diagnosed with PTSD.
