Stress and Anxiety

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of neuropsychiatric and developmental disorders, as well as behaviour abnormalities in children and adolescents, are all covered by child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. The need for a separate psychiatric discipline for children and adolescents stems from the age-related characteristics of mental diseases, which are heavily influenced by the rapidly alternating stages of neurobiological and social development throughout this time of life.

The child and adolescent psychiatrist uses a defined set of diagnostic criteria, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or the International Classification of Diseases, to make a diagnosis based on the pattern of behaviour and emotional symptoms.

While the DSM system is extensively used, it is possible that it does not fully account for social, cultural, and environmental aspects, and that a tailored clinical formulation may be more effective. A case formulation is a process of integrating and summarising all important aspects implicated in the development of the patient's problem, including biological, psychological, social, and cultural perspectives, and is standard practise for child and adolescent psychiatrists. The applicability of DSM diagnoses in the assessment of very young children has also been questioned: it is argued that very young children develop too quickly to be adequately described by a fixed diagnosis, and that a diagnosis also unhelpfully locates the problem within the child when the parent-child relationship is involved.