Warning Signs of Mental Illness
Home > About ChristieCare > Our Challenge > Warning Signs of Mental Illness
In younger children:
- Changes in school performance.
- Poor grades despite strong efforts.
- Excessive worry or anxiety (i.e. refusing to go to bed or school).
- Hyperactivity.
- Persistent nightmares.
- Persistent disobedience or aggression.
- Frequent temper tantrums.
In older children and pre-adolescents:
- Substance abuse.
- Inability to cope with problems and daily activities.
- Changes in sleeping and/or eating habits.
- Excessive complaints of physical ailments.
- Defiance of authority, truancy, theft, and/or vandalism.
- Intense fear of weight gain.
- Prolonged negative mood, often accompanied by poor appetite or thoughts of death.
- Frequent outbursts of anger.
Source: National Mental Health Association
