IMAGINE the scenario: your son is disruptive at home and at school, doesn’t
keep still or concentrate for more than a few minutes, speaks out of turn in
class and is learning next to nothing. Is this just naughtiness, you ask
yourself, or is it a symptom of mental illness? Do I let it pass and hope he
grows out of it, or should I send him on a course of therapy with a child
psychiatrist? Should I, perhaps, allow a doctor to prescribe him drugs to calm
him down?
As a child psychiatrist, I deal with questions like these…
