July 15, 2015

expert reaction to childhood psychiatric problems reaching adulthood

Publishing in JAMA Psychiatry, a group of researchers have examined the long-term health impacts of childhood psychiatric disorders, even if those specific disorders do not themselves persist. They report that patients with such a childhood psychiatric illness were at a greater risk of financial, legal, health or social problems, compared to people without such psychiatric issues.

Prof. Celso Arango, President-Elect of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) and Professor of Psychiatry, Gregorio Maranon General University Hospital, Madrid, said:

“This is important longitudinal data which shows that the majority of mental disorders in adult population start in childhood or adolescence. It’s important to note this does not mean they are diagnosed then – only around 50% of cases are diagnosed before the age of 14.

“These findings are not surprising though, as it is unusual to see an adult with an anxiety disorder who did not have symptoms of anxiety in childhood. The reported prevalence of 25% of mental disorders commencing before adulthood fits with my own experiences fits with previous longitudinal studies conducted in Europe.

“Psychiatry has traditionally been based on tertiary-level prevention, which aims to reduce the impact of an ongoing illness and manage the symptoms. However, more recent evidence suggests that the field should move to the more ambitious secondary prevention and mental health promotion, reducing the impact of the disease by detecting and treating illnesses as soon as possible to halt or slow their progression.

“Many disorders in childhood and adolescence evolve into more severe disorders in adulthood. This means that as a discipline, we should try to intervene earlier; otherwise we intervene too late, and we end up in “palliative” psychiatric care, rather than reaching for something approaching a cure.”

‘Adult Functional Outcomes of Common Childhood Psychiatric Problems: A Prospective, Longitudinal Study’ by Copeland et al. published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday 15^th July. 

Declared interests

None received