Lists of child and adult mental disorders can be found in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Edition (ICD-10), published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
First seen in infants, separation anxiety in root of parental-child stress may lay the foundations for future disorders in children.
Historically, it was believed that mothers who had post partum depression might be the reason their child has mental disorders both earlier and later in development.
[7] Looking more closely at the data, the authors found that it was the chronic stress in the mother-child relationship and the child-related acute stressors that were the linchpins between child psychopathology and maternal depression.
Female children were more sensitive to pathological familial environments, thus showing that in a high- stress environment with both maternal depression and older- male sibling depression and anti social behavior, there is a higher risk of female children developing psychopathological disorders.
[12] Psychopaths states that up to 30% of the population exhibits varying levels of diminished empathy, a tendency towards taking risks, and an excessive sense of self importance.
Using an array of neurological scans and exams, psychological evaluations, family medical history, and observing the child in daily factors can help the physician find the etiology of the psychopathological disorder to help release the child of the symptoms through therapy, medication use, social skills training, and life style changes.
[10] Child psychopathology can cause separation anxiety from parents,[14] attention deficit disorders in children,[15] sleep disorders in children,[16] aggression with both peers and adults,[17] night terrors,[18] extreme anxiety,[19] anti social behavior,[20] depression symptoms,[21] aloof attitude,[22] sensitive emotions,[23] and rebellious behavior[24] that are not in line of typical childhood development.
[27] Children who fail to overcome acceptable ways of coping and emotion expression are put on tract for psychopathological disorders and violent and anti social behaviors into adolescence and adulthood.
[28] There is a higher rate of substance abuse in these children with coping and aggression issues, and causes a cycle of emotional instability and manifestation psychopathological disorders.
[31] As stated by Gabbard, an experimenter in this study: "A hyperactive amygdala may be involved in the predisposition to be hyper vigilant and over reactive to relatively benign emotional expressions.
As found in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study a short allele of 5-HTT predisposes the person to have hyperactivity in the amygdala in response to trauma, and thus moderated the impact of stressful life events leading to a higher risk of depression and suicidal idealities.
[32] In studies of the prefrontal cortex in ADHD children, which is responsible for the regulation of behavior, cognition, and attention; and in the dopamine system there has been identified a hidden genetic polymorphisms.
[34] Agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) is used to determine the frequency of social and behavioral problems in children with a prevalence rate of about 2-3%.
[35] In children ages six to eleven, ACC showed manifestation in problems with social function, thought, attention, and somatic grievances.
[36] Thousands of children each year are misdiagnosed[38][39] and put on the wrong treatment, which may result in the manifestation of other disorders the child would have not have gotten else wise.
There are hundreds of causes of psychopathological disorders, and each one manifests at different ages and stages in child development and can come out due to trauma and stress.
[citation needed] Multifinality refers to the idea that two children can react to same stressful event quite differently, and may display divergent types of problem behavior.
[44] A patient may need to go through several trials of medicines to find the best fit, as many cause uncomfortable and undesired side effects- such as dry mouth or suicidal thoughts can occur.
ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed disorder of child psychopathology;[46] however, the medications used to treat it have a high abuse rate, especially among college-aged student.
[49] Lithium has shown to be extremely effective in treating bipolar disorder, as it is affective for both mania and depression, and with chronic treatment it helps to prevent relapse.
Lithium is the only known intervention that is generically effective in reducing suicidal ideation and behavior, and is additionally the only agent known to affect suicide directly and specifically; this treatment effect is independent from the resolution of any other possible underlying cause, and so it is still observed even in, e.g., patients who continue to experience severe depression that is resistant to treatment.
(Indeed, even in those without BPD, these medications can produce states resembling mania, even in those who do not experience them otherwise, though such occurrences are extremely rare at the therapeutic dosages used to treat ADHD.)
[citation needed][51] Medications that act on cell membrane ion channels, enhance GABA inhibitory neurotransmission, and inhibit excitatory glutamate transmission have shown to be extremely effective in treating an array of child psychopathological disorders.
[citation needed][52] Pharmaceutical companies are in the process of creating new drugs and improving those on the market to help avoid negative and possibly life altering short term and long term side effects, making drugs more safe to use in younger children and over long periods of time during adolescent development.
[55][56] For children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, cognitive-behavioral therapy in combination with exposure-based techniques is a highly recommended and evidence-based treatment.
[62][63] Research and clinical work on child psychopathology tends to fall under several main areas: etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment.
Recognizing and addressing symptoms early can significantly improve long-term outcomes, potentially reducing the severity or even preventing certain disorders from developing fully.