Every 10th child suffers from mental disorders

Every tenth child suffers from mental disorders in Germany

03/03/2011

Around one in ten adolescents in Germany suffer from mental disorders, reports the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at the beginning of this year's annual congress in Essen.

About ten percent of children in Germany have clearly recognizable mental disorders and every fifth child is psychologically conspicuous, the experts explained at the annual congress of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Prof. Johannes Hebebrand explained that mental disorders, for example, can also be expressed through school refusal. In the long term, there is a significantly higher risk of mental illness for the affected children, according to the experts.

Annual congress on mental disorders in children and adolescents
More than 1,300 child and adolescent psychiatrists, neurologists, paediatricians and other professionals are dealing with the mental health problems of adolescents at this year's annual congress of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. At the beginning of the congress, the experts made it clear how large the number of children suffering from mental illness is. The fact that every tenth has mental disorders and even one in five shows a psychologically conspicuous behavior, under which mental stress the adolescents nowadays stand. It was „Skip school“ often an indication of possible mental disorders. „School refusal must be seen as a warning sign of potential mental health problems and can cause significant development and integration problems for children and adolescents“, emphasized Martin Knollmann of the „Specialist child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic“ in Essen.

Accordingly, school refusal should be taken seriously as a sign of a possible mental disorder, because an adequate Therape can only be used if a corresponding diagnosis by a specialist. Without diagnosis and therapy, on the other hand, there is the danger that the mental disorders manifest themselves as serious mental illnesses and severely impair those affected in their further development. „If (...) school fears or phobias remain untreated, the psychological problems usually continue and can subsequently lead to additional disorders,“ stressed Martin Knollmann. This creates a serious cycle that later is difficult to break through therapeutically.

School refusal is a mental problem
According to the experts at the congress of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the causes of school-denying behavior can vary greatly depending on the age group. In early childhood anxiety-induced truancy prevails, causing e.g. through the separation of the parents or overstrain in school life. Often the mental problems are accompanied by abdominal and headaches. If the symptoms are not recognized and treated, it could bring further developmental problems to adolescence. As adolescents, those affected then often show disorders of social behavior, rule violations or depression, according to the presentation at the annual congress of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Various studies have also shown in the past that the consequences of mental disorders can extend into adulthood. For example, people who already had mental health problems as children and adolescents were more likely to be unemployed later in life. Also, those affected tend more to crime and often suffer from other mental illnesses such as depression, said the experts of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Take children's problems seriously
The Congress President Prof. Frank Hässler of the University of Rostock also stated that mental disorders today have less pronounced gender differences than just a few years ago. For example, boys are increasingly affected by eating disorders such as anorexia, reported Prof. Hässler. Above all, a strong self-esteem is helpful to the person skilled in the art in order to prevent or remedy the occurrence of mental disorders. According to the expert, parents can help their child gain self-confidence. So parents should trust their children to do something more difficult and make them honest compliments. The children should also be taught that no one is perfect to take the often barely portable pressure to perform. In addition, parents should not discourage unreasonable increases in performance pressure, as this can be counterproductive, especially with regard to school performance. It is important to take the children's problems seriously and to convey the feeling of being supportive. How far-reaching the problem is, a recently published Forsa study showed that every second schoolchild in Germany suffers from stress symptoms due to increased pressure to perform. Often, according to experts of the teacher union GEW, hide behind physical symptoms such as back pain or abdominal pain serious psychological problems.

In order to be able to help the children, more intensive basic research is necessary in the long term. Only with a discovery of first tendencies as well as further empirical research could the diagnostics and therapy begin and avoid possible consequences at an early stage. (Fp)

GEW expert warns of too high pressure to perform
Every second student suffers from stress
Many children go to school without breakfast
More and more children have back pain

Picture: Jens Weber