Signs of Mental Health Disorders Can Signal a Need for Help
Children and adolescents with mental health issues need to get help as soon as possible. A variety of signs may point to mental health disorders or serious emotional disturbances in children or adolescents. Pay attention if a child or adolescent you know has any of these warning signs:

A child or adolescent is troubled by feeling:

• Sad and hopeless for no reason, and these feelings do not go away.
• Very angry most of the time and crying a lot or overreacting to things.
• Worthless or guilty often.
• Anxious or worried often.
• Unable to get over a loss or death of someone important.
• Extremely fearful or having unexplained fears.
• Constantly concerned about physical problems or physical appearance.
• Frightened that his or her mind either is controlled or is out of control.

A child or adolescent experiences big changes, such as:

• Showing declining performance in school.
• Losing interest in things once enjoyed.
• Experiencing unexplained changes in sleeping or eating patterns.
• Avoiding friends or family and wanting to be alone all the time.
• Daydreaming too much and not completing tasks.
• Feeling life is too hard to handle.
• Hearing voices that cannot be explained.
• Experiencing suicidal thoughts.

A child or adolescent experiences:

• Poor concentration and is unable to think straight or make up his or her mind.
• An inability to sit still or focus attention.
• Worry about being harmed, hurting others, or doing something "bad".
• A need to wash, clean things, or perform certain routines hundreds of times a day, in order to avoid an unsubstantiated danger.
• Racing thoughts that are almost too fast to follow.
• Persistent nightmares.

A child or adolescent behaves in ways that cause problems, such as:

• Using alcohol or other drugs.
• Eating large amounts of food and then purging, or abusing laxatives, to avoid weight gain.
• Dieting and/or exercising obsessively.
• Violating the rights of others or constantly breaking the law without regard for other people.
• Setting fires.
• Doing things that can be life threatening.
• Killing animals.