Diagnosing on Children and Adolescents (part 2)

     Over-diagnosing or under-diagnosing may bring unwanting consequences to children and adolescents. The syndromes will go worse from the original. In other words, a seasonal depression may develop into a major depression. Another more fortunate case can occur is that the syndromes don't change at all. To picture the scene of under-diagnosing, imagine that a child has a fever but his mother only gives him vitamin. The mother in this situation lacks medical knowledge. It seems to be ridiculously obvious in the physical world for an individual who acknowledges some common medical knowledge. However, in psychological language, can that person identify what “fever" or “vitamin" is? That person might end up like the mother in the situation above when he or she tries to treat the child's mental problems. Over-diagnosing is similar but in the scene that the mother gives her child medicines for hemorrhagic fever. The chances of wrong diagnosing are not always low, especially to the people whose psychological knowledge needs more improvements.

     Let's say the parents have some basic psychological knowledge and find a proper treatment for their mentally ill sons or daughters. All they need to do is heading straight to the essential goal of reducing the syndromes with patience. However, both parents have jobs. How many people can balance families, who now need more attention,  and work, which always requires attention, at the same time? The unfulfilled treating process can affect the victims negatively. Specifically, the child might feel abandoned or even create a greater distance to his or her parents.

     Diagnosing is a thing that every parent should do to know their children better. Parents can also be great psychiatrists if they can guarantee positive outcomes for their patients. However, if they need more improvements and knowledge in the field, it's time for seeking help from the specialists. During the professional treating process, parents can stay involved and help their children overcome mental issues. Receiving positive effort from both professional psychiatrist and parent, it's more positive that the child will heal quickly.           

Eurus Thach.