Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood.  The CDC reports that parent reported childhood ADHD has a prevalence of 9.5% with some states with a rate as high as 15%.  According to the NIMH, as many as 4.4% of all adults are afflicted with ADHD, and a Dutch study suggests that the prevalence for those over 60 is the same as that for children.

Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity).  ADHD is characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention and hyperactivity resulting in functional impairment in academic, work, family, and social settings.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can actually be beneficial in some situations.  For some people, however, anxiety can become excessive, and while the person suffering may realize it is excessive they may also have difficulty controlling it and it may negatively affect their day-to-day living.  There are a wide variety of anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and specific phobias to name a few.  Collectively they are among the most common mental disorders experienced by Americans.

The NIMH estimates that  the lifetime prevalence of “any anxiety disorder” in studies with children or adolescents is about 15% to 20%.  Anxiety Disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18%) in a given year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty.

If you or a loved one has received a diagnosis of autism, perhaps you have heard of the DSM-IV.  The DSM-IV stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).  It was published by the American Psychiatric Association and was the primary manual used by clinicians to provide a formal diagnosis of autism and related disorders.

The DSM IV included autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PDD-NOS as separate conditions, each of which fall under the umbrella term of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD).  These disorders included impairments in in three domains; 1) Communication, 2) Social Interaction, and 3) Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behaviors.

On December 1, 2012, The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees approved the final diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).  These final criteria became available when DSM-5 published and released in spring 2013.

The DSM-V did away with the separate PDD diagnostic labels and the criteria has incorporated several diagnoses from DSM-IV including autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder (not otherwise specified), into the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  In the new edition, ASD now includes impairments in two domains; 1) Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behaviors and 2) Social/Communication Deficits (combining the previously separate Communication and Social Interaction domains). 

Further distinctions to the ASD diagnosis are made according to severity levels.  The severity levels are based on the amount of support needed, due to challenges with social communication and restricted interests and repetitive behaviors.  For example, a person might be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3.

Although ASD varies significantly in character and severity, it occurs in all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and affects every age group.  Experts estimate that 1 out of 88 children age 8 will have an ASD (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, March 30, 2012).  Males are four times more likely to have an ASD than females.

While everyone occasionally feels sad, these feelings will typically pass within a few days.  When a person has major depressive disorder, they experience a severely depressed mood and activity level that persists two weeks or more.  Their symptoms interfere with their daily functioning, and cause distress for both the person with the disorder and those who care about him or her.

The NIMH estimates that 6.7 percent of adults in the United States suffer from depression.   Of those suffering, 30% are severely depressed, that’s 2% of our adult population.  Depression is not limited to adults, depressive disorders have affected approximately 11.2 percent of 13 to 18 year olds in the United States at some point during their lives.  Girls are more likely than boys to experience depressive disorders. Additionally, 3.3 percent of 13 to 18 year olds have experienced a seriously debilitating depressive disorder.  According to the World Health Organization, Depression is projected to become the leading cause of disability and the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease by 2020.

Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person’s ability to read.  Estimates of prevalence depend on the particular definition of dyslexia used in the study.  Depending on the definition used, 5% to 10% of the population is considered to have dyslexia.

Dyslexic individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence.  Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds), spelling, and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.  In individuals with adult onset of dyslexia, it usually occurs as a result of brain injury or in the context of dementia; this contrasts with individuals with dyslexia who simply were never identified as children or adolescents.  Dyslexia can be inherited in some families, and recent studies have identified a number of genes that may predispose an individual to developing dyslexia.

Learning disability is a general term that describes specific kinds of learning difficulties.  A learning disability can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills.  The skills most often affected are: reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and using math.

As many as 1 out of every 5 people in the United States has a learning disability.  Almost 1 million children (ages 6 through 21) have some form of a learning disability and receive special education in school. In fact, one-third of all children who receive special education have a learning disability.

Psychological disorders are common among children, and can be particularly difficult for the children themselves and their caregivers.  While Psychological disorders are widespread, the main burden of illness is concentrated among those suffering from a seriously debilitating mental illness.  Just over 20 percent (or 1 in 5) children, either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental disorder.  A recent study by the CDC showed that developmental disabilities (DDs) are common: about 1 in 6 children in the U.S. had a DD in 2006–2008.  This data also showed that prevalence of parent-reported DDs has increased 17.1% from 1997 to 2008.  This study underscores the increasing need for health, education and social services, and more specialized health services for people with DDs.

Commonly, psychosocial screenings are utilized to facilitate the recognition of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems so that appropriate interventions can be initiated as early as possible.

According to the CDC about 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep problems.  Sleep deprivation is associated with injuries, chronic diseases, mental illnesses, poor quality of life and well-being. It’s economic ramifications include increased health care costs, and lost work productivity.  Sleep problems are critically under-addressed contributors to many emotional and physical disorders in children and adults.

A sleep disturbance can be a sign of a more serious disorder, sleep screenings are commonly used to assess whether more in-depth sleep analysis is indicated.