Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives0 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Dr. Shannon discusses when you should consider taking your child to a psychiatrist to help resolve mental health issues.
Dr. Shannon:
Typically psychiatrists are involved when there are severe, significant mental health issues that don’t resolve within a week or two.
So whether these are tensional problems that the child might be having problems focusing, performing in school, the child might be having mood anxiety issues, they are fearful leaving the home, they can’t separate from the mom easily, they are depressed, they are crying, they are isolating from their friends, things have changed dramatically, something has shifted in the child’s life and it looks like it’s not going to resolve in a week or two weeks, then you might want to think about having a professional involved to look at this and to see if anything can be done to help and support that child.
Well I have seen kids as young as three or four years of age but more typically we start seeing kids at 6 or 7 when they hit the school and then that’s when problems often first appear all the way up at any point.
So obviously better to intervene sooner than later if it’s a significant problem and it’s not going away. So I really encourage moms to pay attention to their child, notice what’s going on and not to live in denial, because if the child’s having significant issues and they are not thriving in their world then that’s an indication that something might need to be done.
About Dr. Scott Shannon, M.D.:
Dr. Scott Shannon, M.D., graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Following a psychiatric internship he worked for four years in rural Arizona as a general practitioner. Dr. Shannon then completed a psychiatric residency at a Columbia program in New York. After his child psychiatry fellowship at the University of New Mexico he moved to Colorado. His practice includes a wide variety of approaches including herbs, supplements, medications, nutrition, and acupuncture. Dr. Shannon served as the Principle Investigator on a recent research grant exploring the value of acupuncture in the nausea of chemotherapy.
Visit Dr. Shannon at his Web site