Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Services
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRICS
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Services
Childhood is the period up to 6 years of age. In this stage, a multitude of basic processes are initiated and developed, such as recognition of other people and themselves, wandering, verbal expression, complete feeding, beginning of socialization, achievements of autonomy (toilet training) and continuous exploration. Childhood ranges from approximately 6 to 12 years old. During this stage, horizons broaden, encompassing school, friends and the extracurricular environment. In these stages there may be problems that seem unimportant, but that for children involve suffering in silence or maintaining certain behaviors that are difficult for their parents to understand, and that usually manifest themselves with behavioral changes. Adolescence is a stage of physical and emotional changes that accompany the transformation of the child into an adult. The main characteristic of this stage is the search for one's own identity. Thus, the adolescent acquires new concerns such as identification with the peer group, body image, sexuality, love, and increased demands on school performance. The World Health Organization defines adolescence as the stage between 11 and 19 years, considering 2 phases: early adolescence (12 to 14 years) and late adolescence (15 to 19 years).
The adolescent brain, despite having reached its maximum size, is in full transformation. There is a brain restructuring that affects the reward system (approximately 30% of dopamine receptors disappear) so that the small joys that attracted them as children are reduced, to become interested in other things. The relationship with friends takes precedence. They are attracted to risk and are generally challenging. They challenge their talent, sometimes obtaining successes and sometimes failures, this being the way to gain confidence with themselves. One of the dangers to which the adolescent is exposed is drug use. On the one hand, there has been a reduction in the receptors of the reward system in the brain, and on the other, they are exposed with relative ease to situations where alcohol and drugs are consumed, increasing vulnerability to these substances, and their purpose is to increase your mood. On the other hand, the body also undergoes a sudden transformation, before which the brain must adapt to the new somatic reality. Increase size from 30 to 50cm and weight by 30kg. For its part, the effect of sex hormones regulated by the hypothalamus, make the brain receptive to sexual stimuli. The main disorders that can occur within the child and adolescent stage: Anxiety: Separation Anxiety Disorder, Specific Fears and Phobias, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Crisis and Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Phobia. Depression Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder ADHD Disocial Disorders Addictions Psychotic disorders Eating Disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, Pica, Rumination Disorder, Binge eating disorder Sleep Disorders Learning disorders Enuresis and Encopresis School bullying (Bullying) Social disorders Problems Muthism Selective relationship disorders
