• 3-6 million suffer from clinical depression and are at a high risk for suicide

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people

• 57 children/teenagers try to kill themselves every hour; every day 18 children succeed

• Millions suffer from learning disorders associated with depression

From ages 6-12, one out of 10 children suffer from depression. Symptoms include:

• Sadness

• Fatigue

• Change in appetite

• Excessive guilt

• Low self-esteem

Some children show problems in behavior including:

• Lacking school performance

• Crying

• Expression of fear and anxiety

• Use of alcohol or other drugs

• Imbalance of biochemicals in brain

• Family history – children are 3 times more susceptible if parents had behavioral health problem

• Family environment

• Psychotherapy (child learns to express feelings and develop ways of coping with illness)

• Antidepressant medications

• Affects 3-10% of all children in America

• 10 times more common in boys than girls

• Often develops by age 7 and diagnosed between 8-10

• Parents of some children suffering from ADD also were diagnosed as having the illness

• Has difficulty finishing any activity that requires concentration

• Doesn’t seem to listen

• Acts before thinking and is excessively active

• Requires close/constant supervision, frequently calls out in class, serious difficulty waiting his/her turn in games or groups

• Insomnia, loss of appetite

• Irritability

• Stomach aches/headaches

• Between 70-80% of children with ADD respond to medications when properly used

• Special educational programs help academically

• Psychotherapy

• Overwhelming fears of specific objects

• Common among young children

• Fears often go away without treatment

• Some treatments can include: desensitization, medication, individual or group therapy

• Diagnosed when children develop intense anxiety as a result from being separated from parent

• Interferes with children’s normal activities:

• Won’t leave home alone, visit or sleep at a friends’ house or go to camp

• Many children have trouble falling asleep and may try to sleep in parent’s bed

• Children may refuse to attend school because they fear separation from a parent

• Need thorough evaluation before treatment is started

• Medications may reduce nausea, stomachaches, dizziness or other vague pains

• Psychodynamic play therapy and behavioral therapy have been found helpful in reducing anxiety disorders

• Largest single group of psychiatric illnesses in adolescents

• Afflict approximately 9% of boys and 2% of girls under the age of 18

• Young people suffering from this often have underlying problems that have been missed or ignored

• Most often diagnosed as schizophrenic when discharged from the hospital

• Psychological, sociological and biological theories are being investigated, but none of them fully explain why conduct disorders develop

1. Steals

2. Consistently lies to avoid abuse

3. Deliberately sets fires

4. Truant from school; absent from work

5. Broken into someone’s home, office, car, etc.

6. Destroys property of others

7. Physically cruel to animals and/or humans

8. Forced someone into sexual activity with them

9. Used a weapon in more than one fight

10. Often starts fights

• Behavior and psychotherapy in either individual or group sessions