Pediatric Psychiatry In NYC Is An Essential Service

By Nelda Powers


Many families require help from the medical practitioners of pediatric psychiatry in NYC. These doctors treat young children and teenagers. The same mental illnesses that affect adults can also befall children. It is harder for the parents and teachers to notice since children are always changing as a part of the natural growth they are going through.

There are, however, over five million children with a serious mental disorder. It disrupts their life and makes school difficult. Twenty percent of the children in the US are stricken in a year.

Mental illness often has physical components such as brain chemistry and genetics. Children are hard to diagnose because of the many changes that occur as part of the natural growth process. A teen, for example, may appear to have a mental disorder when he is just acting like a teen.

Some children only act out at home and others only show signs of mental disorder in school. He may find it difficult to fit in with other kids. A school counselor does not see every child and thus cannot be of help.

The education of any psychiatrist takes more than eleven years. Additional time is added when he pursues a specialty. Unlike the psychologist, he can prescribe medication for those patients who need it to maintain stability.

Using his diagnostic abilities, he can evaluate the mental condition of the child. The medication that works best will be prescribed. There are some conditions that are easy to spot. One of these is disruptive behavior disorder. This child breaks rules in school and is not orderly when at home.

The child who has a developmental delay perceives the world as a confusing place. He has a difficult time understanding what goes on around him. In the case of an anxiety disorder, a child may appear nervous and afraid of many things.

It is common for teen girls to develop eating disorders. A passion for slenderness may turn into anorexia and bulimia. In the case of schizophrenia the thoughts are jumbled and often paranoia exists.

The child psychiatrist will see patients in his office and provide outpatient care. If he works in another setting it is likely to be a hospital or residential care center. In many of these positions he works with other mental health professionals.

The Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders is a manual that defines all acknowledged mental illnesses and lists the symptoms that they entail. It is a publication of the American Psychiatric Assoc. A child or adult must have a specific set of symptoms and have them for a specific length of time before an illness can be diagnosed.

Effective treatment may be a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is also known as talk therapy. It may help a child to understand her own condition and learn how to cope with it.

The case of bipolar disorder may require medicine to control it. It is a matter of brain chemistry that is regulated by medication. The mental health practitioner of pediatric psychiatry in NYC uses the lowest effective dose of the type that is required.




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