Psychological and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Youth with Serious Physical Illness
Sohail Nibras,
Rachel Kentor,
Yasir Masood,
Karin Price,
Nicole M. Schneider,
Rachel B. Tenenbaum,
Chadi Calarge
Affiliations
Sohail Nibras
Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Moursund St, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Rachel Kentor
Department of Pediatrics, (Primary) Texas Children’s Hospital, Psychology Service, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Yasir Masood
Department of Public Health, Brown School, Washington University in Saint Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Karin Price
Department of Pediatrics, (Primary) Texas Children’s Hospital, Psychology Service, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Nicole M. Schneider
Department of Pediatrics, (Primary) Texas Children’s Hospital, Psychology Service, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Rachel B. Tenenbaum
Department of Pediatrics, (Primary) Texas Children’s Hospital, Psychology Service, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Chadi Calarge
Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Moursund St, Houston, TX 77030, USA
An estimated one in six children in the United States suffers from a mental disorder, including mood, anxiety, or behavioral disorders. This rate is even higher in children with chronic medical illness. This manuscript provides a concise review of the symptoms that comprise mental conditions often observed in children with chronic illness or at the end of life. It further provides some guidance to help clinicians distinguish normative from pathological presentations. Evidence-based psychotherapy interventions, potentially applicable to the acute inpatient setting, are briefly summarized. Broad recommendations are made regarding both psychotherapeutic as well as pharmacotherapeutic interventions, with a review of common or serious medication side effects. Finally, delirium recognition and management are summarized.
