Let’s talk children's mental health: signs, symptoms, and disorders (Part 3)
For Part 3 of our Children’s Mental Health Week series, School and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Heidi Kiefer dives into the last disorders on her list.
Depressive Disorders
Plenty of parents can’t tell if their child is depressed or just “moody.” The difference, Dr. Kiefer says, is that depression affects the body and mind in ways that impact people’s ability to function.
Some examples of Depressive Disorders include:
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder: characterized by severe, repeated verbal and/or behavioural outbursts
- Major Depressive Disorder: diagnosed when a person exhibits 5 or more depression symptoms, including mood changes, loss of interest and/or pleasure, for at least 2 weeks
- Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia): a person has a mostly depressed mood, in combination with two or more depression symptoms, for at least 2 years
- Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: marked mood and physical symptoms in the week before the onset of menses that interfere with daily life
Gender Dysphoria
This is not the same as “gender nonconformity.” Gender nonconformity describes behaviours that don’t match gender norms. A very stereotypical example would be boys who want to play with dolls. Gender nonconforming people may even purposefully bend the “rules” as a means of self-expression, a form of resistance, or just because.
Gender dysphoria is different. Dr. Kiefer defines it as “a marked and persistent incongruence between a child’s experienced or expressed gender and the gender they were assigned at birth.” Often times, children with gender dysphoria will feel extremely uncomfortable in their own bodies. For example, a child who has been labelled a girl since birth may feel, look, act, speak, dress and so on in ways that don’t align with female gender norms. People who experience gender dysphoria, therefore, feel extremely conflicted.
Feeding and Eating Disorders
Dr. Kiefer explains that these include longstanding difficulties with eating that significantly affect food consumption and impair physical and mental health.
Examples include:
- Pica: persistent eating of nonnutritive, nonfood substances
- Rumination Disorder: repeated regurgitation of food
- Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: persistently not meeting nutritional and/or energy needs due to lack of interest in eating, or concern about the adverse consequences of eating
- Anorexia Nervosa: intense fear of gaining weight and restriction of energy intake leading to very low body weight
- Bulimia Nervosa: recurrent binge eating and inappropriate behaviours to prevent weight gain
- Binge-Eating Disorder: recurrent episodes of binge eating
Any of these signs and symptoms warrant a discussion with a health care professional.
At the Y, our vision is to make our communities home to the healthiest children, teens, and young adults. On May 23rd, more than 20,000 kids across the GTA will be walking in the YMCA Kids Challenge to raise money for their communities. With a fundraising goal of $250,000 this year, our kids need your support! To learn more about Kids Challenge or to donate, please visit our website.
About Dr. Heidi Kiefer Ph.D., C. Psych.
Dr. Heidi Kiefer, Ph.D., C. Psych., is a clinical child and adolescent psychologist. At Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital of Toronto, she primarily works within the Child Development Program. Her focus is developmental assessments with children under 5 years of age to explore queries related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, and other delays. Dr. Kiefer also works in private practice within Toronto and Oshawa, where she engages in individual and family therapy, parent counselling, and consultation services. She is an advocate for reducing the stigma related to mental health and advancing public funding for universal access to mental health services. Knowing how brave children and families are in seeking support, Dr. Kiefer is mindful of using creative and empathic practices to build rapport, understand experiences, and help them feel that they are not alone. To stay up to date with Dr. Kiefer or to connect with her, please follow her on Twitter.
