A free e-book by Michael Fitzgerald and Maria Lawlor

This book aims to examine the minds of Irish children and adolescents – those minds
under major stress. It will explore why these children and adolescents are under stress
from a personal, family, and wider societal perspective. It will explore this from a
scientific perspective – exploring psychiatric, psychological and social perspectives
but will eschew ‘socio babble’ and ‘psycho babble’. It will give readers both lay and
professional understanding of the different types of psychiatric problems that afflict
Irish children and adolescents. It will help families to identify potential children and
adolescents with psychiatric problems and in need of referral to their G.P. as well as
the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric and Psychological Services. The book will also
give information on interventions and the various treatments now available to children
and adolescents under stress. The styles of parenting helpful for reducing stress in
children and adolescents will be identified. The critical importance of early
identification of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism and
Asperger’s syndrome and depressive conditions will be emphasised. In Ireland there
is a history of serious delays in identification of these conditions with serious if not
catastrophic results including suicide, death by misadventure, or indeed undiagnosed
and untreated persons in childhood committing murder as adults. Critical factors
associated with children under stress include genetic factors (grossly neglected in
previous Irish books on this topic), marital disharmony, domestic violence, poverty,
poor education, inadequate schools, bullying, sexual abuse, and gross family neglect
as well as poor institutional care and the effects of violent television programmes on
vulnerable children and adolescents at risk. The important defect of ‘street drugs’ on
children will be examined. Racism is a factor of increasing importance and will be
explored as well as the gross intolerance of traveller families. Interventions that will
be focussed on will include psychotherapeutic – individual and family therapy
approaches. There will also be emphasis on cognitive behavioural and psychoanalytic
approaches. The hugely important and controversial psychopharmacological
approaches will also be detailed. The critically important need to reduce child
poverty and the unhelpful political agendas of recent years will be explored.

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