Episode Transcript
Dr. Gellner: 儿科医生看到的有心理健康需求的儿童数量似乎在增加. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner, and we will discuss that today on The Scope.
Announcer: Keep your kids healthy and happy. You are now entering the Healthy Kids Zone with Dr. Cindy Gellner on The Scope.
Dr. Gellner: Nearly five million children in the U.S. 有某种严重的精神疾病，严重影响了他们的日常生活. 每年都有20%的美国儿童被诊断患有精神疾病.
对于卫生保健大发娱乐提供者来说，确定儿童的精神障碍可能很棘手. Children differ from adults. They experience many physical, 随着他们的自然成长和发展，他们的心理和情绪会发生变化. They're also in the process of learning with how to cope, adapt and relate to others in the world and around them.
有几种不同类型的精神障碍可以影响儿童和青少年. These include anxiety disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, disruptive behavior disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, eating disorders, 排除性障碍他们的行为与上厕所的习惯有关, learning and communication disorders and mood disorders.
儿童的症状因精神疾病的类型而异. In general, 症状包括无法处理日常问题和正常活动, changes in sleeping or eating habits, and excessive complaints of physical ailments. 通常父母会说，他们会带孩子去看医生，孩子身体没有问题，这种情况一次又一次地发生.
他们可以违抗权威、逃学、偷窃或破坏财物. Their frequent outbursts of anger, again, above and beyond what is normal for their age group, 对以前喜欢的朋友和活动失去兴趣, excessive worrying or anxiety, 过度活跃或持续的不服从和攻击行为.
The exact cause of most mental disorders is not known, but research suggests that a combination of factors, including heredity, biology, psychological trauma and environmental stress, may be involved. Many mental disorders run in families. As in adults, 儿童的许多精神障碍都与控制情绪的特定大脑区域的功能异常有关. 一些精神障碍可能是由严重的情感创伤等心理创伤引发的, physical or sexual abuse. 压力或创伤性事件可以在易患精神障碍的人身上引发疾病, for example, 如果一个孩子的生活中有很多家庭不和，而且这个家庭有精神病史, you're more likely to see problems in the child.
儿童的精神障碍是根据症状和行为来诊断的. 然而，诊断儿童的精神疾病可能特别困难. 许多行为被视为精神障碍的症状, such as shyness, anxiety, strange eating habits and temper tantrums, can occur as a normal part of a child's development. Behaviors become symptoms when they occur very often, like daily, last a long time, occur at an unusual age, 比如接近青少年的孩子表现得像五岁的孩子, 或者对孩子或家庭生活造成严重破坏, such as if the child refuses to go to school.
If the symptoms are present, 你的儿科医生将通过执行一个完整的医疗和发展历史和检查开始评估. There are no lab tests that can diagnose mental disorders. If no physical illness is found, 大多数儿科医生会为你的孩子制定一个行为计划，可能还会开一些药物. 你的孩子也可能被转介给儿童或青少年精神病医生, 经专门训练诊断和治疗儿童精神疾病的心理学家或社会工作者.
精神病学家和心理学家使用专门设计的访谈和评估工具来评估儿童的精神障碍. 他们可以做很多其他的测试而不是你的儿科医生在办公室能做的. Whether it's a pediatrician or a mental health professional, 医生必须经常依靠孩子父母的报告, teacher or other adults, 因为孩子们经常很难解释他们的问题和理解他们的症状.
精神疾病就像糖尿病或心脏病等医学疾病一样. 他们需要持续的治疗，而对儿童的治疗还不是很了解. The most common treatment options include medication, psychotherapy which is a type of counseling, 还有创造性疗法，比如艺术疗法或游戏疗法，在孩子很小的时候.
Without treatment, 许多精神障碍会持续到成年，并导致一个人成年生活的各个方面的问题. 这包括酗酒或滥用药物，暴力或自我毁灭行为，甚至自杀. 如果及早得到适当治疗，许多儿童可以成功地控制自己的症状.
Most research on mental illness has centered on adults. However, 随着患病率的增加，心理卫生界开始更加关注儿童的心理健康. Researchers are trying to figure out nature versus nurture, or a combination of both, 导致儿童心理健康障碍增加的因素是什么.
大多数精神健康障碍是由无法预防的多种因素共同造成的. 如果发现症状并及早开始治疗, 精神障碍的许多痛苦和致残影响是可以预防的，或者至少是可以最小化的.
如果你认为你的孩子有精神障碍，请和你的儿科医生谈谈. 同样，你的儿科医生可能会治疗它，或者你可能会被转介到精神科医生那里. 最重要的是你要遵循儿科医生建议的所有建议，为你的孩子带来最好的结果.
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