Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Approximately 15% of young people experience depression by age 18 and these young people often have significant functional impairment and risk of harm. Bipolar depression is a common clinical challenge and its treatment has been studied much less in youth compared than in adults. Schizophrenia is rare in children but the incidence increases rapidly in adolescence. Algorithms for treating psychosis in children and adolescents are the same as those for adult patients. Anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents often improve with age, presumably in parallel to the development of the prefrontal cortex and, in particular, executive function. Treatment of anxiety disorders in pre‐school children must routinely focus on psychotherapy. The treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in children and adolescents follows the same principles as in adults. Discontinuing medication is very typically associated with a deterioration in symptoms of OCD or BDD.