CHILD AND ADOLESCENT

MENTAL HEALTH AND

WELL-BEING
Definition (WHO)
• “Child and adolescent Mental Health is the capacity to
achieve and maintain optimum psychological functioning
and well being. It is directly related to the level reached
and competency achieved in psychological and social
functioning”
Reasons why • The current shortage of child and
adolescent psychiatrists
children with • Low-income families have no
transportation to travel to a health
Mental Illness facility.

are left • Parents are afraid that they will be

blamed for their child’s health issues.
untreated

• Family conflicts
• Becoming a bullier
Future of • Poor Grades in School
children left •
•
High School Dropout
Criminal activity
untreated • Suicide
 Broad Classification
1. Emotional Disorders:
❖ Anxiety Related Disorders: GAD, Agoraphobia, OCD
❖ Somatoform Disorder: Somatization Disorders,
Conversion disorders
❖ Depressive disorders and suicide.
2. Behavioral Disorders:
❖ ADHD
❖ Conduct Disorders
❖ Oppositional Defiant Disorder
3. Other mental Health Problems: Mental Retardation,
Learning Disabilities, Speech disorder, Eating Disorders,
Epilepsy
 Depression: A Global Crisis
• Depression is a common mental disorder that presents with
depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt
or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and
poor concentration. (WHO)
• Interferes with cognitive, emotional, and social development
occurring at a young age
Adolescents Depression:
❑Mood and Anxiety Disorder
❑Substance Use Disorders
⮚Depression can also lead to the ultimate tragedy — almost
90,000 young people commit suicide each year across the
world
Symptoms
Infancy Childhood Adolescence

Distress Anhedonia (cannot feel Depressed or irritable

pleasure) mood
Crying, screaming Low self esteem Anhedonia

Sleep disturbance Feeling of Hopelessness

worthlessness
Weight loss Hallucinations Feeling of guilt

Separation Anxiety Increased appetite,

Hypersomnia
Withdrawal and Delusions, suicidality
Dejection
 Mental Retardation/ Intellectual Disability :
• “A condition of arrested or incomplete development of the mind
characterized by impaired developmental skills that contribute to the
overall level of intelligence” (Kaplan &Sadock, 1998).
• Cognitive, language, motor, social, and other adaptive behavior skills
are affected and thus should be used to determine the level of
intellectual impairments.
• Etiology: Genetic, Biological, Environmental

Beliefs related to MR:

“...It’s all related to our doings (karmo ka natiza hai)..Don’t know what
bad deeds (burre karam) we have done in the past life (pichle
janam) that we are bearing the brunt in this life..”(Father of 7 Year
old son with MR)
“I have done a lot for my child took him to allopathic and homeopathic
hospitals but there was no benefit…. I kept a dua and I used to come
to this shrine in karjan from handod after walking bare foot for 10 kms
for 9 Thursdays….we also took him to our ancestoral God (kuldevi) but
nothing happened” (Mother of 8 year old son with MR)
 Learning Disabilities

• A term for a wide variety of learning problems.

• LD is not a problem with intelligence or motivation.
• The difference only is how they receive and process
information.
• LD can lead to trouble with learning new information and
skills and putting them to use.
• The most common types of LD involve problems with
reading, writing, math, reasoning, listening, and speaking.
 Learning Disabilities

Common Types of Learning Disabilities

Dyslexia Difficulty reading Problems reading, writing, spelling,
speaking

Dyscalculia Difficulty with math Problems doing math problems,

understanding time, using money

Dysgraphia Difficulty with writing Problems with handwriting, spelling,

organizing ideas

Dyspraxia (Sensory Difficulty with fine Problems with hand–eye coordination,

Integration Disorder) motor skills balance, manual dexterity

Dysphasia/Aphasia Difficulty with language Problems understanding spoken

language, poor reading comprehension

Auditory Processing Difficulty hearing Problems with reading, comprehension,

Disorder differences between language
sounds
Visual Processing Difficulty interpreting Problems with reading, math, maps,
Disorder visual information charts, symbols, pictures
 Substance Abuse

Substance abuse
• Out of risk taking behaviour/ adventure
• Peer pressure
• Stress

Commonly used substances

1. Alcohol
2. Tobacco
3. Cannabis
4. Heroin
5. Prescription drugs-opioids, CNS stimulants, CNS
depressants
 OCD

(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)
(OCD), usually begins in adolescence or young adulthood and is seen
in as many as 1 in 200 children and adolescents.

OCD is characterized by recurrent intense obsessions or

compulsions that cause severe discomfort and interfere with day-
to-day functioning. they interfere with the child's normal routine,
academic functioning, social activities, or relationships.

Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images

that are unwanted and cause marked anxiety or distress. Frequently,
they are unrealistic or irrational.

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or rituals (like hand washing,

hoarding, keeping things in order, checking something over and over) or
mental acts (like counting, repeating words silently, avoiding).
Impact of HIV/ AIDS on children and adolescents mental health, Shankar Das et.al,
2012

Adapted from Bailey, 1992, p. 669