How early can a child be diagnosed with a mental condition? My 5-year-old nephew has severe mood swings and has a hard time making friends. This seems more extreme than just shyness and parenting issues. I think there's something more going on.
It is very difficult to diagnose a child before the age of 2, and the diagnosis of children is fraught with difficulty all along. Children typically express difficulties of any origin in behaviors such as mood swings that could be symptoms of many disorders. They may experience outbursts of anger and frustration or irritability as well as exuberance. It is important not to jump to conclusions about the source of a problem, but it is also important to keep a watchful eye and address any issues early, no matter the cause, before negative behavior patterns get entrenched.
And negative behavior patterns tend to get entrenched early and hard. Age 2 is the height of human aggression, for example, and children who are not taught better means of getting what they want experience many difficulties in life. Yet aggressive behavior patterns are often set by age 5 and are among the most resistant to change.
Severe mood swings could result from living in a turbulent emotional environment, such as where there is frequent parental arguing or threatened separation or divorce. They could result from frustrations the child is experiencing with friends. Undetected hearing problems or learning difficulties could cause them too. They could be caused by poor impulse control. You get the picture—there could be any number of causes.
By the time a child is 5, peers are beginning to assume an increasing importance. Most kids want friends and want to be liked by their peers. Having a friend—even one friend—is a great buffer in life and helps kids weather all kinds of upsets. Kids as young as 5 are getting a clear picture of the social universe they inhabit and don't like being left out of activities. Rejection is painful at any age. A child may lack social skills—but is not exactly likely to articulate the problem to parents, and he certainly doesn't know how to remedy it by himself. Most kids blame themselves; they think that something is wrong with them, and thus feel ashamed and even guilty for their lack. That can manifest both as an unwillingness to confide the lack to parents and in troubled behavior such as mood swings.
Social skills are important for children as for adults. What kids like in other children—kindness, helpfulness, and an ability to see another's perspective—is really a recipe for a good world.
One way to start the systematic exploration of what is going on with your nephew is to encourage his parents to talk to his teachers. Teachers are generally good observers of what goes on with kids. In an era where parents feel pressure to produce high-achieving kids, parents may feel defensive about a child's weaknesses. They may not even consider peer relationships that important. But kids know better. Questions for the teacher should include: Tell me what Johnny is like in school. Does he play with other kids? Do other kids like him? Does he have any friends in class? When there are group activities, do other children seek him out or welcome his presence? Does he know how to ask other kids to join them? When it is time to settle down and focus, does Johnny handle the transition well? What are his favorite activities?
It's time to start getting some answers.
Tags:
aggressive behavior,
behavior patterns,
children,
conclusions,
diagnosis,
emotional environment,
frustrations,
hard time,
hearing problems,
human aggression,
learning difficulties,
mental health,
mood swings,
negative behavior,
nephew,
parenting,
poor impulse control,
severe mood swings,
social skills,
watchful eye
