CHILDREN, MENTAL HEALTH AND HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES - AUTISM & ADHD

A child is the heart of every home. It is indeed great joy for every parent to see their child healthy and growing heartily. Physical well-being helps the child grow and develop soundly. But at the same time, it is very important to understand that the emotional well-being of children is equivalently important as their physical health. Children are the young minds of today and the future of tomorrow, a healthy well-being today helps in the long term demands of tomorrow. A healthy balance between both helps children to cope up with the various challenges that life throws at them during different phases and even helps provide a strong ground for developing into healthy adults.

Environmental factors, surroundings, parent-child relationship, genetic inheritance, peer pressure, stress etc….are the different factors that usually affect a child’s emotional and behavioral health.
Today mental illnesses are very commonly found in children and young adults all over the world.

One in ten children usually suffers from some or the other emotional or behavioral aberration. It is very essential to recognize and treat these at the earliest, as once the pattern develops, it becomes a regular part of the child’s behavior and is then very difficult to treat. Let us have a look in to some of the most common disorders seen in children:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

This is one of the most common childhood disorders which can continue through adolescence and
adulthood. Despite being one of the most common disorders in children, its cause still remains a
mystery. The probable causes include those from interactions between genetic and environmental
factors. Children with ADHD usually have problems in paying attention or in concentrating. It becomes difficult for them to follow instructions. Often these children are restless, finding it difficult to be seated or concentrate for longer than a few moments. Impulsive behavior is also common in these children.

Symptoms of ADHD commonly include:

• Inattention (being easily distracted, daydreaming, confusion, changing frequently from one task to another etc)
• Hyperactivity (restlessness, talking excessively, running from one place to another or changing places frequently etc)
• Inability to learn and get along with others There is no specific treatment for ADHD. However
children with ADHD need attention, consistency and a clear communication. A healthy parent-child
relationship with lots of love and encouragement goes a long way in improving this condition.

Behavioral problems and Conduct Disorders:
Children usually have bouts of bad behavior. They may behave rudely, scream, throw temper tantrums, fight with siblings, steal things, bully other children, and behave mischievously in class.

These may manifest as disturbance in:
• Emotions - like anxiety or depression
• Behavior - like aggression and bouts of anger
• Mental performance - like problems at school or learning centers
• Physical function - like psychogenic disorders These disorders may be a result of various factors
such as the disharmonious parent-child relationship, family or marital problems, child abuse or neglect, chronic illness, injury, separation or bereavement.

Problems in children are often multifactorial and their manner of expression too varies in relation
to various stresses they go through, family issues, temperament and their surroundings. Children
usually do not express their behavior or reactions to different events at once; they build up often to be
expressed later. In stressful situations, young children usually tend to react with disturbed physiological functions such as eating and sleeping disturbances.

Older children may exhibit disturbances in relationships with friends and family, poor school
performance or development of various fears and phobias. These can pose a difficulty for the parents
to judge whether this behavior is normal or aberrant enough to require help. A doctor requires taking
into account the frequency, range and intensity of symptoms and the extent to which they cause
impairment.

Autism

Autism is a complex developmental disability. It usually presents itself during the first three years
of life. It is as a result of neurodevelopmental disorder which has an effect on the normal brain
function, affecting development of the individual’s communication and social interaction skills.
Children with autism have trouble communicating and understanding what other people think and feel which makes it very difficult for them to express themselves either through words and gestures, facial expressions or touch. Autism is said to progress with age, hence it is essential to seek help as soon as one notices its symptoms.

Early signs of autism in young child include:
• Does not make eye contact easily
• Does not smile when smiled at
• Does not respond to his or her name or to the
sound of a familiar voice
• Does not make use of gestures to communicate
• Does not make noises to get attention
• Does not initiate or respond to cuddling
• Does not reach out to be picked up
• Does not play with other people, or share interest and enjoyment

Children are like soft clay, they mould or shape the way they are brought up and treated. A healthy parent-child relationship, good surroundings and understanding are the few basic essentials that help in the development of the child’s mental well-being. Homoeopathy offers a very good treatment for children who have emotional and behavioural problems. Homooepathy focuses on the patient as a person and just not the behavioural anomaly, helping to heal the child overall. The behavioural and the emotional trends are studied in detail and the characteristic patterns are matched to the pattern of a remedy which is prepared from nature. The treatment in such cases based on this individualistic and holistic principles yields very encouraging results. There have been many cases of special children too that Homoeopathy has been helped successfully.

By. Dr. Arshia Khan, B.H.M.S, the other song

Autism - treatment with homeopathic medicines

Let us see one case of a special child who was seen at the other song by Dr. Rajan Sankaran, Head of the other song - Clinic and International Academy of Advanced Homoeopathy. This was a case of a 10 year old child, who had been diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder and was very hyperactive.

From birth, all his milestones were delayed. The parents and the grandparents were anxious. The behaviour of the child in social gatherings would be embarrassing for them as the child was extremely restless and would not sit still for a minute. His talks were very immature and disconnected. He was extremely poor at studies and could not focus. He would find it very difficult to read and write. When the child was asked to talk about himself, he was started off with disconnected talks, and then went on to describe himself. The patient had met with a grave accident when he was travelling with his family by car. Since then he was very afraid of travelling and even of crossing roads. This fear was reflected in his daily talks too, when he would abruptly describe the accident and talk about his fear concerning the same.

The child was very timid by nature and also had many other fears. He was very scared of firecrackers and insects. He would not go alone in the dark as he was scared of ghosts. He could not stay alone and would always require company. He was extremely scared of crossing the street and would cling to his parents when doing so. Many things scared him; he would also startle with the slightest of noise. This gave us a fair idea of him as a person. But what needed to be found out now was the underlying theme behind all these fears. When asked tactfully, it became apparent that the child was very sensitive to being injured and he was afraid he would hurt himself or die. The parents reported that the child was very sensitive to reprimands and would weep when scolded. The child had intense craving for sweets.

Taking into consideration his complaint presentation and also his nature as a person, with the  common theme of fear of being hurt, he was given a medicine which acted wonders. The child’s behaviour showed a marked improvement. After a year and half of starting the medicines, the child’s parents and the teachers observed that he was much well behaved.

His talks were now cohesive and comprehensive. His attention span improved resulting in an improvement in studies too. His fear too had reduced, he was calmer and not as restless too. The parents remarked that he was now almost normal and he seemed like other normal children only.

Thus Homoeopathy has the potential to bring about remarkable changes in cases of children
with behavioural problems. The primary requisite in such cases is a careful observation of the child’s
behaviour by the parents and a detailed case-taking by the homoeopath to carefully elicit the innermost disease, his experience by reaching beyond the obvious presenting symptoms.