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Pharmacological Approaches in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

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Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents

Part of the book series: Mental Health and Illness Worldwide ((MHIW))

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Abstract

While psychological therapies remain the first-line treatment for most child and adolescent mental health disorders, there is increasing evidence to support the use of medications especially where a psychological treatment has been ineffective. When using psychotropic medications in children and adolescents, it is particularly important to maintain good prescribing practice. This chapter highlights several key principles of prescribing including the importance of properly defining the patient’s problem and specifying the therapeutic objectives, working with a selection of preferred drugs that you are very confident with, giving good and clear information about potential benefits and risks, and closely monitoring outcomes. In addition to these general principles, there is also a discussion on polypharmacy and drug x drug interactions, the importance of changing things one step at a time, adherence to treatment, and initiation of treatments. Therapeutic options and strategies are discussed for the most common mental health disorders of childhood and adolescence covering attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, tics and Tourette’s, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Advice is given about approaches to measurement-based care and structured approaches to adverse effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Paediatrics and Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical School, Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    David Coghill

  2. Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    David Coghill

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  1. David Coghill
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Correspondence to David Coghill .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

  2. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    F. C. Verhulst

  3. National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    John Wong

  4. Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    Keiko Yoshida

  5. King's College London, London, UK

    Anula Nikapota

Section Editor information

  1. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

  2. Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore

    John CM Wong

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Coghill, D. (2020). Pharmacological Approaches in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. In: Taylor, E., Verhulst, F., Wong, J., Yoshida, K., Nikapota, A. (eds) Mental Health and Illness of Children and Adolescents. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_47-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_47-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0753-8

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