Undiagnosed childhood disorders may lead to consequences in adulthood
It is important to notice signs of depression which is not an uncommon disorder among kids, as depression knows no age.
Childhood disorders, such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often go undiagnosed and unreported, leading to significant challenges in adulthood.
Sri Kota Specialist Medical Centre Consultant Paediatrician Dr Bernice Lim, urged parents to pay attention to diagnosing these disorders in kids at an early stage as it could potentially lead to abnormal behaviours during adulthood.
It is also important to notice signs of depression which is not an uncommon disorder among kids, as depression knows no age.
These mental conditions may not be commonly linked to childhood because many would think that - children being children - their job is to play and to be happy, she said.
Sharing signs that may distinguish children with depression while highlighting that most parents overlook this, Dr Lim said: "They might not have the usual symptoms like sadness, though they may manifest as being easily irritable or have a loss of interest in what they usually liked to do," she told Sinar Daily.
"They (the children) may become more disruptive and people tend to label them as being mischievous or naughty," she added while saying that those were the most common hints that parents give doctors when tackling children with mental health conditions.
CONSEQUENCES IN ADULTHOOD
When anxiety and abnormal behaviors go undiagnosed in childhood, they don’t simply disappear with age. Instead, they fester, evolve, and sometimes lead to devastating consequences in adulthood—sometimes even crossing the line into criminal activities.
She said that it would be necessary to explore further as some of them may have underlying conduct disorders.
"When you look at their background, some may have come from broken, dysfunctional families, which are contributing factors to how they eventually grow up to have a "dysfunctional" personality.
"Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia are also becoming more common in adolescents and even children," Dr Lim said.
PRESSURE AND HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Dr Lim said that the immense pressure to perform well academically, having a high expectation of oneself, on top of having a distorted self-image are all stressors.
"It is not surprising to see that it is usually the high performers who are the ones diagnosed with eating disorders; one common link between patients with eating disorders is that they are excellent students in school, besides being obedient child who usually do not pose any troubles to parents or teachers.
"They exert so much pressure on themselves and also discover that by restricting food or drastically changing their lifestyles, they have control over what is happening to themselves," she said.
She said that it also resonated with a fear of failure, which may later impact their self-esteem and overall well-being.
PAY ATTENTION
One of the most important things to do as prevention was doing early identification.
"Even though children spend hours in school, at the end of the day, it all falls back on how they are at home.
"Parents and guardians play a vital role. Sometimes we do not spend enough time with our children. At school, teachers are facing up to 40 to 50 students and may not be able to pick up subtle signs of difficulty in their pupils’ lives.
"Behavioural or neurodevelopmental issues can slip through the gaps because nobody is paying attention," she said.
