Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Nature and Scope of Mental Health – looking at difference between adult and child and adolescent mental health. What we mean by mental health? Mental wellness etc.
   • INTRODUCTION
   • UNDERSTANDING NORMAL CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
   • GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
   • UNDERSTANDING CHILDHOOD MENTAL ILLNESS
   • PREVALENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
   • DIFFERENCES TO ADULT MENTAL HEALTH
   • AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MENTAL HEALTH INDUSTRY
2. Childhood Depression also how this changes when reach adolescence. signs and symptoms and treatments.
   • INTRODUCTION
   • TYPES OF DEPRESSION IN CHILDHOOD
   • DIAGNOSIS OF DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN
   • CAUSES OF CHILDHOOD DEPRESSION
   • ASSESSING RISK OF SUICIDE
3. Anxiety Disorders – separation, generalised etc. school phobias, social phobias etc. signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION
   • SCOPE AND NATURE OF ANXIETY DISORDERS
   • DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANXIETY DISORDERS
   • CHILDHOOD ANXIETY DISORDERS
   • ADOLESCENT ANXIETY DISORDERS
   • OTHER ANXIETY RELATED PROBLEMS
4. Tic Disorders – Tourette’s etc. signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION TO TIC DISORDERS
   • TYPES OF TICS
   • GILLES DE LA TOURETTE SYNDROME (TOURETTE’S DISORDER)
   • TRANSIENT TIC DISORDER
   • CHRONIC TIC DISORDER
   • TIC DISORDER (NOS)
5. Brain Disorders (Injury & Disease) signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION
   • DIFFERENCES TO ADULTS
   • TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
   • CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS
   • GENETIC DISORDERS
   • TUMOURS
   • INFECTIOUS DISEASES
   • CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE
   • EPILEPSY
   • ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS
6. Other Disorders – Motor Disorders, Elimination Disorders, Feeding & Eating Disorders; signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION
   • ELIMINATION DISORDERS
   • ENCOPRESIS
   • ENURESIS
   • FEEDING AND EATING DISORDERS OF CHILDHOOD
   • REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER
   • SELECTIVE MUTISM
   • STEREOTYPIC MOVEMENT DISORDER
7. Environmental Problems – Abuse and Neglect, Relationship Problems signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION
   • CHILD ABUSE
   • DEFINITION OF CHILD ABUSE
   • FACTITIOUS DISORDER BY PROXY
   • THE EFFECTS OF ABUSE
   • ATTACHMENT ISSUES
   • LIFESTYLE
8. Problems of Adolescence – Anorexia, Bulimia, Substance Use, Family Conflict signs/symptoms/treatment
   • INTRODUCTION
   • SIGNIFICANT DISORDERS OF ADOLESCENCE
9. Holistic and Alternative Approaches to Treatment – this should be a general approach to dealing with children & adolescents i.e. not directed at specific conditions
   • DRUG TREATMENTS
   • FOOD AND MENTAL HEALTH
   • ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES – homeopathy, art therapy, music therapy, counselling/psychotherapy, craniosacral/biodynamic osteopathy, kinesiology, aromatherapy, sensory integration, behavioural optometry, hearing and mental health, movement therapies.
10. Special Project – student chooses something of interest

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

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MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS ARE COMMON IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

  Children, teenagers, and adults alike should remember that everyone is unique, and that everyone experiences different states of mind occasionally.

• Although though some people seem content all the time, this may occasionally be a front.
• Some individuals might always come across as pessimistic, sober, or even melancholy, although this may not always be the case.
• External looks can be deceptive.

It is challenging to estimate the number of children (and adults) who experience mental health issues. There is, however, still some stigma associated with having mental health issues, so people may be reluctant to report their conditions. For instance, it’s believed that women report greater mental health issues than do men. As a result, the statistics we use to estimate the prevalence of mental health problems in adults and kids may be biassed.Another problem is that children’s behaviour will change over time as they mature and develop. Simple alterations may be the cause of this. Younger children, for instance, could experience issues with eating and sleeping. Clinginess or separation anxiety when the parent leaves them alone are two more frequent issues. They may occasionally act aggressively, have tantrums, or behave in an adversarial manner. All of these things may take place throughout typical development.Similar to how many kids between the ages of 12 and 16 may begin to rebel against their parents by skipping school, etc. As a youngster learns the laws and restrictions that govern their world, this may be considered to be typical behaviour. Nonetheless, a youngster could occasionally exhibit behaviour that signals the beginning of a mental health problem. Mental health disorders may not initially be apparent due to the rapid changes that occur in childhood and adolescence, which again might have an impact on the prevalence statistics.It would appear that behavioural and emotional disorders are relatively common among youngsters in the general community, although the frequency of mental health diseases varies greatly depending on the demographic being studied. For example, rates are observed to be higher in urban than in rural populations. Also, the sorts of illnesses identified vary with age group and may be more prevalent overall in some age groups. Rutter (1970a; 1976b) reported a one-year incidence rate of 20% for psychiatric problems among children under the age of 14 in a well-known study of schoolchildren on the Isle of Wight, UK. Since then, rates between 15 and 20% have been recorded by several research.Many kids who have been given a mental diagnosis also appear to have co-occurring problems. Co-morbidity is the co-occurrence of two or more illnesses in one person. This can sometimes be because one condition leads to another, but it can also signify a blending of the numbers because certain behavioural patterns, per diagnostic criteria, are shared by multiple disorders.

Reasons to Take This Course

 Children are just as susceptible to mental health issues as adults are. The distinction is that while some diseases, like separation anxiety, are specific to childhood, others, like depression symptoms, manifest in children in somewhat different ways. Children frequently deal with mental health issues differently than adults do, and they may struggle to express their needs at times. This course assists in illuminating the causes and aggravating variables of mental health issues in children and adolescents.People working in, or hoping to work in, the following fields:

• Youth work
• Child and adolescent counselling
• School counselling
• Teaching
• Child psychology
• Caring roles
• Youth coaching

 

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