Psychiatrist For A Child: Don't Miss The Moment! - Society

Is the child capricious, stubborn, withdrawing into himself? Anything can happen - each of us will answer. Sometimes, however, “bad behavior” lurks early signs of mental illness. And parents do not notice this and go to the doctor late. The earlier the disease is recognized, the easier it is to treat it, and the more favorable the prognosis. For what symptoms is it necessary to consult a child psychiatrist? Let's figure it out.

Up to one year

• 1. The child stares at one point on the ceiling for a long time; on leaves, shadows of trees. At the same time, his attention is not attracted by bright toys, voice and mother's presence.
• 2. The child bends when trying to pick him up, avoids physical contact. Turns away from her mother when she approaches.
• 3. Does not react to wet diapers, can be alone for a long time without attracting attention.
• 4. Shows strong anxiety about changes in the mother's appearance (new clothes, hairstyle).

From one to three

• 1. Narrowing the diet to one or two foods. The child refuses to chew, takes food only in liquid form.
• 2. "Dressage run", or running in a circle, may be accompanied by artsy movements. At the same time, attempts to stop, switch attention cause resistance, anger.
• 3. Aimless wandering from one object to another. Attempts to take away, attract to the game cause a negative reaction.
• 4. The emergence of stereotypical movements: shaking hands, swinging, twisting strings, rags.
• 5. Loss of previously acquired skills and functions. For example, he ate solid food and stopped, neatness skills were formed - and again the baby began to get his pants dirty; spoke in sentences - suddenly fell silent, the vocabulary decreased. A rollback can be a reaction to a stressful situation, or it can be the debut of a mental illness. An important factor in such changes is surprise.
• 6. The child arranges toys, shoes in a certain order, and if the order is violated, hysteria, aggressive excitement follows.
• 7. Attempts to change the route of the walk cause anxiety and panic.
• 8. Does the game remain primitive for a long time? (pouring, pouring, tapping with an object on an object). The story-driven game does not develop.
• 9. The kid does not show interest in people. During the walk, he tries to take mom away from the playground. May hit or run away when other children try to get close.
• 10. Sudden bouts of excitement, which may be accompanied by screaming, running, chaotic movements. Episodes appear unexpectedly and just as suddenly stop.
• 11. Sleep disorders. Awakening with a cry, in which the baby looks around, jumps up and runs. Or the child walks at night, and does not react to attempts to put him to bed, "does not hear" and "does not see" you.
• 12. Carrying out hygiene procedures, cutting nails or hair causes a negative emotional reaction. The child goes into hysterics as if you were trying to cut off his hand or ear.

In my practice, there was a case when a child categorically refused to cut his nails. Mom decided to cut off the nails while the baby was sleeping, and the next morning she said that they just fell off. The child was seized with intense anxiety, the fear that he was falling apart in pieces. There was a need for hospitalization. Fear was a symptom of an endogenous disease.

Three to six years old

• 1. "Freezing", "freezing", the child suddenly stops his activity, his gaze is directed to one point. Often perceived as episodes of reverie and daydreaming.
• 2. Kalomazanie in the absence of a critical attitude to what is happening on the part of the child.
• 3. The child mainly expresses his needs with gestures.
• 4. Repetition of words, whole sentences and phrases. The child borrows text from a commercial, cartoon, computer game, etc. Repeats what he heard (more often the last phrase) or something related to a long time ago. Repetitions are characterized by a certain intonation, isolation from the context of what is happening.
• 5. When going to bed, anxiety increases, the child refuses to sleep in the usual place. Asking and persuading only increases the fear. Insomnia is a symptom that requires close attention at any age group.
• 6. Special interest in stereotypically repetitive games, where the child identifies himself with a fictional character, a cartoon hero. In this case, the game becomes obsessive. The child is completely captured, obsessed with the process. The offer to change the occupation causes aggression.
• 7. Cruelty and aggressiveness towards insects and animals. At the same time, the child does not feel the difference between living and nonliving (toy). Can push a baby, hit a dog, strangle a hamster without feeling guilty, but with interest in it.

A four-year-old boy was brought in for counseling due to difficulties in establishing contacts with peers. The parents said that about a year ago, the child had a "game" that began with running in a circle, after which he lay down on the bed and began to shake his legs, imitating running. As a rule, attempts to interrupt this action caused aggression. This condition requires a differential diagnosis between catatonic agitation, epileptic paroxysm and normal play.

Six to fifteen

• 1. The emergence of obsessive movements, turning into rituals. For example, before leaving the house, a child touches the door handle, stands on one leg, tugs at his ear, etc. The appearance of monotonous movements: fingering, crossing fingers, twisting a button, etc. Actions can become more complicated over time. but they can disappear and be replaced by others.
• 2. Obsessive pulling out of hair, eyebrows.
• 3. The appearance of fear associated with visiting public places, circles, schools. It is important to consider whether the child can talk about the cause of the discomfort that has appeared.
• 4. Frequent complaints of abdominal pain, headache. Repeated in the form of seizures, accompanied by fear, motor restlessness.
• 5. The emergence of a sense of their "dissimilarity", a sense of physical change. Most often, the expression on the face, the smile seems to have changed. The circle of communication is shrinking. Appetite decreases, the teenager refuses to eat in order to improve the physical condition of the body.

In each age category, a sharp “change in character” of a child with apathy, withdrawal, tearfulness or, on the contrary, malice, aggressiveness, the presence of anxiety and fear, a change in well-being during the day with changing affects is a reason to sign up for a consultation with a child psychiatrist.

Myths about psychiatrists

There are many myths about psychiatrists. The most common ones claim that these specialists “like” to prescribe heavy drugs (and they will make the child worse or turn into a “vegetable”), that contacting a psychiatrist at the place of residence will lead to registration, and then you need to forget about your future career.

A girl was brought to the reception, who at the age of three and a half years did not have phrasal speech, outbursts of aggressive behavior were observed, and there was no motivation for learning. At the request of the mother, she was taken under dynamic observation and transferred to a specialized kindergarten. There, the girl received qualified assistance from a defectologist, speech therapist, and neuropsychologist. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of professionals, the girl successfully graduated from the first grade of a comprehensive school and was removed from observation.

When planning an appointment with a child psychiatrist, it is worth writing down everything that causes anxiety in the child's behavior. Reception of children under the age of fifteen is carried out in the presence of parents or legal representatives.

Asking questions of a clarifying nature and based on the age characteristics of the child, the doctor will suggest: collecting the pyramid, guessing the riddle or revealing the hidden meaning of proverbs. If necessary, the psychiatrist will recommend additional tests.

In my practice, I invite patients for a follow-up appointment in one to two weeks for a more detailed and objective examination. Sometimes at the first meeting a child, due to a stressful situation, "shows" himself on one side, and a week later it turns out to be a completely different child. And it happens that at the first visit the child is not ready to talk about the most intimate, and next time he talks about the “little people” living in his closet, or about the pleasure it gives him to torment a cat.

It is important to remind parents that without written consent, a psychiatrist has no right to take a child under dynamic observation; such a task is not faced by a specialist. The basis for taking under supervision is the established diagnosis of a severe mental illness. The information that you provide in the child psychiatrist's office is protected by the "Law on psychiatric care and guarantees of the rights of citizens in its provision" and cannot be disclosed to third parties without your consent.

Photo: © Sergey Novikov / Photobank Lori