Childhood is the stage of life when health is a major concern. The little ones do not always know how to express very well what kind of discomfort they are feeling, and furthermore, since childhood is the time when more disorders and diseases in general emerge, it is very important to pay attention in case symptoms are detected.
The same thing happens with mental health. The appearance of a large part of the most frequent neurological disorders and disorders occurs during the first years of life, and it is very important knowing how to detect mental illness in boys and girls to intervene as soon as possible so that there is less chance of its negative effects gaining strength and posing a threat to the child’s well-being.
It must be clear that knowing how to detect signs of mental illness is a task that always has to lead to medical and psychological examinations. Diagnoses of mental disorders can only be made by professionals accreditedand neither the concern of the parents nor the complaints of the child are a valid reason to initiate improvised treatments outside the health system.
At the same time, we must also keep in mind that it is normal for little ones to feel bad from time to time or to perform behaviors that may seem strange to us from time to time. The chances that this has to do with mental illness has to do with:
When considering whether the child may be developing a mental illness, it is important to apply common sense and be clear that clinical psychologists and psychiatrists always have the last word.
Some of the symptoms to look out for are:
1. Tendency to self-harm
The fact that a boy or girl try to injure yourself or hit your head against hard objects It is a reason to go to a specialist. However, it is necessary to first reflect on the extent to which causing injuries is the final intention of a behavior. For example, just because a baby tries to crawl down stairs does not mean that he wants to fall down them; She simply doesn’t know that it can be dangerous.
Self-harm usually has to do with an inability to manage stress adequately, which leads to causing pain to distract oneself from other thoughts that are even more unpleasant overall.
2. Sudden mood swings
Very sudden mood changes are also indicators of mental illness, especially if it is not possible to relate them to objective events that occur around them and they occur erratically. However, we must also consider that the little ones cry very easily, since this is part of their level of neurological maturation.
3. Rejection of one’s own appearance
Not accepting one’s own body at an early age can be a symptom of mental illness in boys and girls. However, in cases such as gender dysphoria, the causes are considered to be fundamentally biopsychosocial and not caused by a discomfort that has to do with the functioning of your body itself.
Complaints about one’s own weight may also be indications of developing eating disorders if they are persistent and have implications for the amount of food one accepts.
4. Irregularities at mealtime
Eating very little or binge eating occasionally It can be a sign of psychological functions that function abnormally if this poses a risk to the child’s health. Starting at puberty, the pressure to build an identity that is socially acceptable can push young people to make great sacrifices to look good.
5. Explosions of violence
Frequent outbursts of anger may be the result of a neurochemical imbalance in the nervous system that affects mood, or, seen from another perspective, they may be the result of a behavioral pattern that has been involuntarily learned despite not being useful or effective.
6. The tendency to hurt others
Inflicting bullying or injuring or killing animals is also a cause for concern, and it is necessary to implement corrective programs so that this behavior cannot continue to develop. It may be due to an inability to empathize with others, or it may also be that there is some problem that generates so much stress that it leads the person to act impulsively.
7. Symptoms of disconnection from reality
This is a group of symptoms that is difficult to detect, since children They tend to show magical thinking and enjoy fantasizing about fictional situations.. The key here is to know if that magical thinking that will disappear as your brain matures poses a risk to your well-being or that of someone else, and if the fantasies you use to play are something more than that or not.
In the case of imaginary friendsit is easy for the boy or girl to refuse to admit that he or she does not really exist despite being aware of the truth, simply so as not to break the appearance of fantasy. In these cases it is good to find out if the imaginary friend does things that the little boy or girl finds unexpected, that cause problems that cannot be controlled.
8. Tendency towards isolation
Many boys and girls prefer to play alone, but some of them do so not out of shyness, but because they feel bad if there are people around, in any context. These cases may be reason for psychological consultation, since it could be a sign of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
9. Serious difficulties at school
Having difficulties in school may have to do with learning disorders such as dyslexia or dyscalculia, or also can be the consequence of serious mental illness (although, of course, in many cases it is a false alarm in this regard). Childhood is a stage in which developmental disorders can leave a very negative mark on the person’s subsequent development if they are not addressed effectively.
10. Lack of motivation
The existence of an extremely passive attitude and a clear lack of initiative to carry out very basic actions It can be a sign of mental illness. Specifically, it is associated with depressive disorders.
11. Constant complaints about pain or discomfort
Of course, pain is an element that has a lot to say in the detection of diseases. Sometimes they can refer to a headache that may be caused by an abnormal functioning of certain psychological functions related to perception or concentration.
