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| Home > Healthy People > April 2004 |
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Spring 2004
 Children's Health Q&A
By Joyce Noble, Ph.D.
Child Psychologist
Q. When should I seek behavioral health services for my child?
A. It's a good idea to seek the help of a behavioral health specialist
after a traumatic event or major life change such as a divorce, the death
of a family member or friend or a natural disaster such as a tornado or
fire if a child is showing a severe reaction or if the reaction doesn't
improve after a month or so. If the entire family is going through a
traumatic time, and the parents are stressed, depressed or have mental
health issues themselves, they are often not as equipped to help their
children during that time, and may want to seek the help of a professional
to help their child cope.
Other reasons to seek help
Other reasons to seek professional help for your child are if the child
exhibits sudden, severe changes in mood, sleeping or eating habits,
regresses to younger behavior, has a sudden drop in their grades, or has
unexplained, recurrent physical complaints such as stomach aches or
headaches. The more of these “red flag” behaviors the child exhibits, the
more the parent needs to seek the help of a professional to get to the
bottom of them. It's always important to compare the child's behavior to
what's normal behavior for him or her. Sometimes, parents will also seek
professional help for their child if the child has an ongoing behavioral
concern, such as temper tantrums, that isn't resolving with the measures
the parent has taken to help the child.
Q . Are there certain times during a child's development when he or she
might be more vulnerable to adjustment problems?
A. Yes. Kindergarten, going from second grade to third grade and going
from elementary school to middle school are considered the transition
years for children. Some children often have trouble adjusting during
these years because there are higher expectations of them and they aren't
as mature or ready for them as their peers may be.
Extracurricular activities
When children get into middle school and high school, parents should keep
an eye on their child's extracurricular activities to make sure they're
not overloaded. Sometimes children have so many after-school activities to
attend to, that they have to stay up until 11 p.m. or midnight to get all
of their homework done. Lack of sleep can lead to a depressed mood and
irritability. Why go through therapy or consider putting your child on
medication when what they really need is more sleep? High schoolers also
sometimes have trouble adjusting when they get their first job and have to
juggle school and work. Planning for college is also difficult for some
high schoolers because they may feel that they're not ready for it or that
they're not getting the scholarship offers or ACT scores they had planned
for. Leaving home before they're ready also weighs heavily on a lot of
high schoolers' minds as they get closer to graduation, even though they
may have expressed excitement at the prospect of being on their own.
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