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Australia doing harm to young minds; deadly medications; brain injury sets back social skills…Wednesday’s stories from the international child mental health conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre include: Child brain injury sets back social skillsA study more than 200 children who suffered severe head injuries – often in car accidents – shows they do not recover as well as adults, says director of psychology at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, Professor Vicki Anderson. While mobility and speech can improve, children’s social skills do not get better, unlike adults who have established skills and networks. “The areas of the brain affected are very much the areas important to good social skills, so if you have an injury your social skills will be impaired.” The 10-year study of patients has led researchers to give parents and families increased skills to cope with the affected child, and understand why their child is struggling and behave in a certain way. How deadly are medications for children?There is no evidence that stimulant medications given to children with ADHD increase the risk of deadly heart complications, says the Honorary Professor of Child Psychiatry at Sydney University Joseph Rey. But older drugs given as anti-depressants can have cardiotoxic effects, and anti-psychotic medication can lead to weight gain, diabetes and cardiac risks. For all medications, it is important to have close monitoring, Professor Rey says. “One can never assume a drug is completely harmless because sometimes it takes 20 years to identify a problem.” Terrorism, disaster and child mental healthHow prepared is Australia for disaster and terrorism, and how will children cope? A key session will describe the preparation for and response to potential terrorism, and ask whether the child and adolescent mental health system is adequately prepared. Serious harm to child refugees detained by AustraliaThere is clear evidence that serious harm is being done to children detained by the Australian Government’s mandatory detention policy, says the director of the NSW Institute of Psychiatry Louise Newman. Since 1991, about 3000 children, including unaccompanied minors, have been detained. “The price that is being paid in psychological and emotional harm is too great,” Dr Newman said. “This is a policy that will not go away. We need a radical rethink from a penal model to a health and welfare model.” A perplexing disorder – parents fabricating illnessMunchausen syndrome by proxy - a condition in which a person (usually a parent) fabricates medical illness in another (usually their child) - is difficult to comprehend, often missed clinically and very difficult to manage when it eventually is diagnosed. When the condition is missed it often leads to unwarranted and intrusive investigation or hospital admission. When it is diagnosed, the suspected parent invariably denies involvement, may either temporarily cease the behaviour or find another medical service, and is very resistant to psychiatric involvement. This is an update of what is known and guidelines for treating patients.
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