Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Attention deficit and hyperactive disorder is a development disorder in the children. Children with ADHD have symptoms such as poor attention and concentration, impulsive behaviour and hyperactivity. The children with ADHD find themselves difficult to concentrate at studies and as a result their school performances get affected. They find difficulty in making and maintaining friendship at school and in the neighbourhood. They get in to trouble at schools and get disciplinary sanctions. ADHD is a treatable condition and with treatment children’s quality of life will improve. We provide medical management to control symptoms such as impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity. We give training to parents and teacher to use effective behaviour modification tools to improve positive behaviours through positive reinforcement and discourage negative impulsive behaviours through taking away privileges. Trained staffs at ARAM hospital teach the kids during the occupational therapy sessions the effective communications, identify their children’s interest and help the children, parents and teachers to further develop their skills along their line of interest. We use medical, psychological and social model to enhance the treatment outcome for the children.
Raising the children is rewarding, but it can also be challenging. Managing children’s behaviour is a skill which can be taught. Children should take responsibility for their behaviour which are not acceptable. Responsible children will grow out to be a responsible adult. So, it is important for the parents and the teachers to understand the behaviour modification technique to guide the children to learn good behaviours and unlearn bad behaviour. Children having bad behaviours are not bad kids, therefore, it should be born in mind it is only the behaviour are bad and not the children.
Children’s behaviour can be affected by number of factors such as:
- stress in the school
- Birth of the second child in the family
- poor surrounding at home
- Peer group influence
- Conduct disorder
- Poor parenting style
- Learning Difficulties
- Autism
There are number of tools and techniques used to modify the behaviour and they are:
- Positive reinforcement
- Rewarding
- Taking away the privileges
- Avoiding punishments
- Reflections and feedbacks
Stress is common for all of us in the busy world. Stress among children could be due to number of factors including, new sibling’s arrival, exam pressure, peer group conflicts, and improper behaviour management at school which can lead to depression, loss of interest in the academics, low self esteem, and low self confidence. The stress at school can affect the school life experience for children and there by the personality of children can also get affected over due course. The parents find sometimes helpless in managing children’s stress which can add further stress to the children. At ARAM hospital we assess the children comprehensively through interviewing the children, parents and schools in view to understand the causes of stress and then, we help the children and family to learn coping skills, relaxation techniques, reading skills, socialising skills and also give appropriate practical measures to deal with stresses. There are two types of treatment available for stress: talking therapies and medication. Psychotherapy, counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help understand stressors and help them learn more positive emotional and behavioural responses to stressful situations and feelings. Medication can also be effective if your stress is severe or goes on.
Our treatments for stress here at ARAM hospital Trichy can be as an outpatient, day patient or inpatient depending on the severity. We offer combination of therapies to tackle stresses efficiently and permanently. Through therapy and alternative approaches such as meditation, relaxation, sleep therapy and physical therapies we aim to give knowledge and coping skills for dealing with the stress effectively.
Autism is a common development disorder. It is a spectrum disorder and the severity of illness can vary from mild form severe form. Children with autism do not play with other children, their socialising skill is affected.
