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Affective Disorders—Current Status and Controversies

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Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

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Abstract

Affective disorders are common during childhood and adolescence and often pose a challenge in clinical settings. The clinical presentation of affective disorders varies with the developmental age of the child and the classical symptoms increase with age and severity. From a developmental perspective, the disruptive mood dysregulation disorder as a new diagnostic category in DSM 5 addresses this concern as well as the unparalleled increase in pediatric bipolar diagnoses. Use of developmentally appropriate assessments has helped address some of the controversies centred around diagnosis of depression in the young. However, there is sparse evidence of effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological means of treatment and controversies continues to exist regarding effective management of affective disorders in children and adolescents in bringing about a more favourable outcome. This chapter focuses on the current status and particularly controversies related to diagnosis of preschool depression, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, pediatric bipolar and the differences in pattern of comorbidities across western and Indian literature; current insights into the course and outcome of affective disorders and controversies regarding management of affective disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, NIMHANS, P. O. Box 2900, Bangalore, 560029, Karnataka, India

    Kandasamy Preeti & Shoba Srinath

  2. ICAMHS, Mental Health, SWSLHD
 Campbelltown Hospital, Therry Road, Campbelltown, NSW, 2560, Australia

    Rajeev Jairam

Authors
  1. Kandasamy Preeti
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  2. Rajeev Jairam
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  3. Shoba Srinath
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Correspondence to Shoba Srinath .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India

    Savita Malhotra

  2. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Serv., Centre for Interventional Paediatric(CIPPRD) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Serv., London, United Kingdom

    Paramala Santosh

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Preeti, K., Jairam, R., Srinath, S. (2016). Affective Disorders—Current Status and Controversies. In: Malhotra, S., Santosh, P. (eds) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3619-1_4

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