Over 50 million children in India are suffering from some mental health disorders, and it’s a huge number, and it’s increasing. If you see any of these symptoms in your child then, you should consult a child psychiatrist or child psychologist for the treatment. Because if you don’t, then the symptoms might get worse.

Children under age 5-16 are most sensitive in nature. The tender age of kids when they are most vulnerable towards all the physical and environmental changes, they need constant support, motivation and guidance of parents. Being aggressive, not listening to parents, showing tantrums and lack of concentration are some common problems seen in Children.

Apart from these common problems, some children suffer from acute mental illness. Mental illness is also known as a mental health disorder. There is a wide range of mental health conditions, disorders that affect your thinking, behaviour, and mood. Depression, eating disorders, addictive, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, etc. are some types of mental illnesses.

To treat common psychological problems of children, parents need to keep extra patience, understanding and empathy towards their problems. Lending ears to your kids’ problems, and making him believe that whatever is happening to him is natural and common, can cure the common psychological problem in kids.

The acute mental illness problem in Children needs professional treatment. It is essential for parents to be more attentive to the change in behaviour of their kids and timely recognise the symptoms of mental illness and take the necessary decision to eliminate the mental problems in children’s life.

Child Psychologist or child psychiatrist is the professional doctor who specializes in giving the right treatment to children’s mental illness problems, psychological problems, eating disorder problems, anxiety problems, bedwetting problems, and many more. Getting the right treatment from the child psychiatrist, who is qualified , experienced, and has been offering the best results the best way to bring your kid’s life back to normal.

Lets understand what is Mental illness, common types of mental illness causes and symptoms of mental illness and what can be the right treatment of a certain mental illness.

Meaning of Mental illness

Changes in emotions, thinking, or behaviour or a combination of these and other health conditions are called mental illnesses. Mental illnesses are related to problems in work, social, or family activities.

Mental health illness is common.

• Around 19% of adults in the US experience mental illness problems, one out of every five experience mental illness in the US.
• In every 24 people who are suffering from mental illness, one 1 in 24 has a severe mental illness.
• One in every 12 people that is around 8.5% have a substance use disorder, which is treatable.
• Nearly more than 50 million Indian children are suffering from mental disorders at the given time, and it’s increasing day by day.

Every kind of mental illness is treatable. Most of the individuals who have the mental illness continue to function their daily life routine.

Most common types of mental illnesses in children

In children, mental disorders are common and sometimes critical. Around one-fourth of children and teens experience some kinds of mental health disorders in any given year and one-third of people at some point of time in their lives.

The common types of mental disorders are generalized anxiety disorders and separation anxiety disorder. Other kinds of mental illness in children are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, some mood disorders like depression, and alcohol use disorders. ADHD affects around 8-10 % of school-aged children. Over 2% of children are affected by depression, and during adolescence, about 4-7% of them get affected by depression, and the number increases to 20% in adulthood. Addictions, bipolar disorders, eating disorders, and schizophrenia are more likely to affect teens more than younger children.

Causes of mental illness in children

No one knows the exact cause of mental disorders in children, but according to researchers, a combination of factors are responsible for the origins of mental illness in children like biology, psychological trauma, heredity, and environmental stress. 

• Biology: As in adults, many times, abnormal functioning of the brain that controls the emotions, thinking behaviour, perceptions, etc. are the main reason for the mental disorders in children. Many times head traumas are also the main reason for changing mood and personality.
• Heredity: many mental disorders run in families if your parents have any mental disorders; then, you have higher chances of getting one through genes.
• Environmental stress: many times, stressful events in life can trigger a mental disorder in a person.
• Psychological trauma: psychological traumas like physical, emotional, sexual abuse, etc. can also trigger mental disorders in children.
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Symptoms of mental illness in children

Symptoms of mental illness in children are depending on the type of mental illness. Some general symptoms are:

• When you are not capable of coping with daily problems and activities
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• When you change eating and sleeping habits
• When you skip school, stealing, damage property for no reason
• When you have an intense fear of gaining weight.
• When you have long-lasting negative moods, getting thoughts of death
• When the children get poor grades despite good efforts
• When the child loses interest in friends and activities that they usually enjoy
•  Anxiety and worry for no reason
• Spending time alone

If you are from Jaipur or nearby places and want treatment for your children’s mental disorder problems, then you should visit psychiatrist Sanjay Jain. He has immense experience in this field as he has been working as a psychiatrist for the past 13 years. He is very experienced in using medications to treat children’s mental health problems. However, he also uses other options like therapies, psycho-education to treat children. He empowers his patients to be a part of the decision-making process to choose the best treatment option and plan.

Treatment of mental illness in children 

When it comes to the treatment of mental disorders in adults, there has been much progress done, but the treatment is not well understood in children. Experts are trying to find the best treatment according to the conditions in children.

The most common types of treatments used are:

• Medication: antipsychotics, antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants, and mood-stabilizing, etc. drugs are used to treat mental disorders in children.
• Psychotherapy: In this process, a trained professional helps children in dealing with their illness by giving them the strategies to deal with their symptoms and thoughts. Some therapies used are interpersonal, group therapy, family therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy.
• Creative therapies: Therapies like art therapy and play therapy are helpful for young children who have trouble while communicating their feelings and thoughts with others.

Every child should get treatment on time for their mental disorders because mental problems can get worse from time to time. Children with psychological issues can’t live life like other children. They should get treatment on time. You should visit a psychiatrist for treatment, and if you want treatment in Jaipur, then you should visit psychiatrist Sanjay Jain. He is treating all types of mental problems in children from the past 13 years. He provides treatment for all kinds of psychiatric problems like depression, OCD, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, etc.