Disorder of Infancy and Childhood: A Review

Abstract

During the last decade, a substantial scientific base has been established for psychopharmacology of adult patients. Diagnostic precision for treatment has been facilitated by the continuing revision of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders. The increasing confidence with the data thus generated regarding psychotropic drugs has also increased attention to child and adolescent psychotropic drugs in child and adolescent population have been conducted despite their frequent use. This review will focus on three diagnostic whose primary treatment is medication-attention deflect hyperactivity disorder, functional enuresis, and Tourette’s disorder. Using psychotropic drugs to treat children and adolescents often requires a very different approach than when the same drugs are used for psychiatric disorders among adults. Most adults given psychotropic drugs suffer from major and major depression. Despite well-defined diagnostic criteria, many children are given psychotropic drugs merely to control a group of symptoms or behavior in order to facilitate the child’s learning and development. The psychiatric assessment of a child requires obtaining information from the child, the parents or caretakers, and teachers. The overall diagnostic impression is formed from psychiatric, social, neuropsychologic, and educational evaluations. Before the initiation of psychotropic drugs, the child and family need to be familiar with the risks and benefits of drug therapy, any alternate therapies, and possible adverse effects including drug withdrawal. In addition, and idiosyncratic effects should be presented. The risks of untreated illness should also be discussed. Pharmacotherapy for children and adolescents is usually administered in conjunction with other therapies (e.g., psychotherapy, family therapy, or behavioral therapy). Medication should not be used in place of other therapies or because other therapies have failed. Careful documentation of baseline symptoms is necessary before initiating drug therapy to identify the responsive symptoms and established a realistic expectation for treatment outcome.