Page 49 - Resource-PartB_v3

Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health

This kind of experience affects every aspect of a person’s life and makes it difficult for
them to concentrate on their usual activities.

Some of the symptoms of psychosis include:

• Having hallucinations

• Having delusions – believing things that are obviously untrue to others

• Muddled and disordered thoughts – not being able to think straight

• A strange feeling of being cut off from the world and everything moving
in slow motion.

How to recognise a range of mental health conditions in
children and young people

The parents or carers of the child or young person are the most likely to be able to
identify a mental health condition, but unfortunately, they are not always best placed
to do so as they may not know how to recognise the signs or distinguish them from
‘normal’ fears and reactions.

Behavioural problems are often indicators of mental health conditions and can leave
parents feeling confused and unsure about what to do. The child will often not have
the ability to say what is wrong.

Research has shown that many mental health conditions in children and young
people go unrecognised and therefore the care that is needed is not provided. For
example, the effects of traumatic stress may not appear immediately after an event,
but manifest themselves a few days later. All children react in different ways
depending on their age and other factors, but some of the signs include:

• Bedwetting or thumb sucking

• Inability to concentrate

• Irritability and disobedience

• Preoccupation with the event

• Becoming overly anxious and fearful of being separated from parents.

47