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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that can continue throughout the developmental periods, can present with different problems in each period, may persist into adulthood, and is characterized by persistent inattention and/or excessive activity and impulsivity.

The core feature of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that impairs functioning or development. Inattention can be defined as attention span and intensity being lower than expected for the person's age and developmental level. It may show itself with symptoms such as a short attention span, attention easily distracted by external stimuli, inability to focus, inability to finish or keep going with tasks that have been started, planning problems, organizational difficulties, frequently losing belongings, or forgetfulness in daily tasks. Although children/adolescents with inattention can pay attention to a subject, they have difficulty sustaining their attention, remembering and following rules and instructions, and finishing the tasks they have started. For this reason, over time they begin to avoid, or to be reluctant about, tasks that require attention, such as doing homework. Attention span and intensity may vary depending on the type of stimulus and environmental conditions. For example, they may sit at a computer game for a long time without attention problems or watch a favorite film from start to finish. While they have more difficulty when studying in environments with many external stimuli, they may be able to focus for longer during one-on-one study, in environments where stimuli are controlled, and on a subject that interests them. Attention skills develop with age, so each child's attention skills should be evaluated according to their own age characteristics.

Hyperactivity is being more active than expected for a person's age and developmental level. It shows itself with symptoms such as being unable to stay in one place, fidgeting, being unable to sit for long, talking a lot, and being constantly on the go. Activity tends to decrease with age; however, particularly in adolescents, it can be described as a kind of inner restlessness, a desire to move. Parents describe these children as never keeping their hands and feet still, and as moving from seat to seat even while watching a favorite film; teachers describe them as constantly on the move, playing with things even while sitting at their desk, with their hands and arms always in motion.

Impulsivity can be defined as the person's inability to show the self-control skills expected for their age and developmental level. It shows itself with symptoms such as haste, being unable to wait their turn, interrupting conversations and being unable to wait, acting without thinking, saying whatever comes to mind the moment it comes to mind, and immediately doing whatever they think of. Children diagnosed with ADHD because of impulsivity are very likely to experience some social difficulties due to impulsivity.
For these symptoms to be regarded as a diagnosis of ADHD, it must be determined whether the symptoms and their level are consistent with what is expected for the child's age and developmental stage. If it is thought that the child has symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, these symptoms must have continued for a long time, for at least 6 months, and must be seen in more than one setting, both at home and at school.

These symptoms may continue with different presentations as the person ages. Inattention is the symptom that persists the longest among them. Because attention and self-control skills develop and increase with age, it can be quite difficult to make a diagnosis at preschool ages, when these skills are weakest. Because impulsivity increases during adolescence, symptoms resembling ADHD may be seen developmentally; for this reason, a well-taken history and a detailed clinical evaluation become even more important in the process of diagnosing ADHD.

There is no laboratory test that can be used to diagnose ADHD. Because it is a clinical diagnosis, the diagnostic process involves evaluations by a specialist physician, interviews with parents and teachers, and the use of rating scales.

Children and young people diagnosed with ADHD may present with many complaints such as school problems, planning difficulties, impulsivity, anxiety, self-confidence problems and substance use. When diagnosing ADHD, it is necessary to distinguish many medical and psychiatric conditions that can cause symptoms resembling ADHD. For this reason, it is important to take a detailed medical and psychiatric history and to carry out the necessary developmental and medical evaluations during the diagnostic process. Almost anything can be considered in the differential diagnosis of ADHD.

Suicidal behavior is a public health problem all over the world. Suicidal behavior can be seen in children and adolescents, more so during adolescence. It is among the leading reasons for inpatient psychiatric treatment in adolescents. While suicide attempts are more common in girls, completed suicides are more common in boys at almost every age.

Children and adolescents with suicidal behavior may have psychiatric disorders such as mood disorders, above all depression and bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, alcohol and substance use disorders, psychotic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Apart from the biological causes of impulsive aggression, which can be related to suicidal behavior, a previous suicide attempt and self-harming behavior are among the risk factors. It has been shown that individual characteristics such as hopelessness, inadequate problem-solving skills, aggression, impulsivity and low self-esteem, as well as genetic factors, can be related to suicidal behavior. Stressful and traumatic life events, exposure to bullying or to emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and the presence of a chronic medical illness may be among the factors that increase the risk. Psychiatric illness and alcohol or substance use in the parents of children and adolescents, aggression in the family, chronic stress, a chaotic family environment, inadequate communication with parents and insecure attachment are also common in children and adolescents with suicidal behavior. In suicide attempts by children and adolescents, similar behavior among peers and inappropriate reporting of suicide-related news in the media may also be important. Low socioeconomic level, ease of access to means of suicide, weak attachment to the social environment and values, and inadequate social support can be counted among the risk factors. When risk factors are intense, situations such as school failure, relationship problems and legal trouble can trigger suicidal behavior.

Children, particularly between the ages of 2 and 6, often perceive unknown and new things as frightening and anxiety-provoking. Fear of the dark, being alone, doctors, loud noises, strangers and various animals can be counted among the most common fears in this period. Although fears of the unknown are expected in development, they can negatively affect life when their intensity increases. Fears are seen to decrease frequently with age and mental development. Calming children's fears in this age period may require different methods depending on the child's developmental characteristics and temperament.

The fact that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can stay at a computer or in front of the TV for long periods often leads parents to doubt the diagnosis or symptoms, thinking that this is proof that the children can concentrate. However, the core problem in ADHD is not so much that children are inattentive but that they have difficulty sustaining their attention in situations that require mental effort. Even children with ADHD can focus during activities they find easy or fun, but the problem is being unable to make the additional mental effort needed to sustain attention when they are given boring or difficult tasks.

Today the most important approaches to autism treatment are special education, behavioral therapies and parent training, but medication may also be necessary for some symptoms. Because autism is a lifelong disorder, treatment varies according to the person's age, development and level of functioning. In young children, the focus is on speech, language training and special education; parents are included in the training program, and medications are used when certain target symptoms are present.

Inconsistent achievements observed in their children, the child's ability to sustain attention in some areas, and adaptive behavior that changes from setting to setting and from day to day leave the parents of children with ADHD undecided about whether this is an illness or deliberate naughtiness or irresponsibility on the child's part. For these reasons, presentation to a clinic is delayed or sometimes does not happen at all. ADHD is a condition that can improve extremely well if it is recognized and treated early. But when it is not treated, it is a disorder that can lead to very serious problems. Although the form and extent of the problems change with age, it has extremely negative effects on educational life (achieving below capacity, difficulty following rules, being expelled from or dropping out of school), social relationships (relationship problems, destructive behavior, tendency toward crime, legal problems) and mental health (decreased self-confidence, smoking/alcohol/substance use, depression, anxiety). Speech and behavior without thinking lead to the person being excluded by peers and sometimes roughed up. They are subjected to more criticism at home, at school or at work because of their difficulties. Attention problems, together with hyperactivity and impulsivity like a car with failed brakes, lead to more frequent accidents and more risky behavior. Individuals with ADHD carry a greater risk than their typically developing peers of suicidal tendencies, injuries, traffic accidents, committing crimes, imprisonment, and alcohol and substance use. When ADHD is not treated, the risk of encountering these problems is much greater than in typical children, although some individual and environmental protective factors may mean that no problems occur at all. About 10-20% of untreated children with ADHD may pass into adulthood without serious harm from ADHD. However, in the remaining 80-90%, ADHD causes negative consequences of varying degrees up to adulthood.

Substance use is one of the most important public health problems threatening societies. The biological, hormonal, physical and emotional changes that emerge in adolescence, changes in relationships with parents, and social relationships, especially those with peers, reorganize the adolescent's mental structure. The impulsive turbulence of adolescence, overwhelming impulsive needs, and the large number of problems awaiting resolution cause the self to be relatively weak in this period. For these reasons, being able to identify the risk factors and protective factors that pave the way for substance use in adolescence is important in the prevention and treatment of substance use. Some of the protective factors are strong and positive family bonds; a warm, close relationship and, indirectly, parents being aware of the adolescent's friends and what they do; clear and consistent family rules, with everyone taking care to follow them; parents allowing the adolescent to become an individual while also being involved in their children's lives; ensuring school attendance; directing the young person's energy toward suitable activities; strong ties with organizations such as school and clubs; supporting appropriate peer relationships; and accurate information about drug use. Some risk factors that may push an adolescent toward substance use are a chaotic family with a parent who has mental health problems or an addiction, a broken family, domestic violence, an overly controlling or lax, unsupervised parenting attitude, lack of attachment and interest between parent and child, difficulties related to the adolescent and certain mental illnesses (learning difficulties, conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, etc.), delay in treating these mental illnesses, low school achievement, inadequate social skills, being an adolescent with poor judgment who is easily led, peer groups that engage in risky behavior, and approval of drug use in the school, work and/or family environment. Identifying these adolescents at an early age, treating them and trying to keep them within the system is very important in preventing additional problems in the future.

Tics are sudden, intermittent, repetitive, non-rhythmic, stereotyped involuntary movements that result from involuntary contractions of certain muscles. Although these movements can be suppressed and postponed for short periods, they are generally experienced as irresistible. The frequency and severity of tics may worsen with stress, excitement or environmental changes, and may decrease during distracting activities. Tics are considered normal when they are not very severe and occur rarely, in other words under conditions in which they do not noticeably affect the person's life or impair their functioning. Tic disorders, on the other hand, are regarded as a neuropsychiatric problem to be taken seriously, because they cause a decrease in patients' self-esteem, deterioration in family, school or work life, and problems adapting to social life.

Treatment of tics aims to reduce or eliminate the symptoms. Even educating the patient's immediate surroundings, above all the family and school, about tics sometimes reduces them. Learning that tics are involuntary behaviors can reassure families and teachers and change their expectations. Psychotherapy approaches have an important place in the treatment of tic disorders, especially in children with mild symptoms. Cognitive behavioral techniques are among the most effective methods. In addition, regular exercise, rhythmic sports and swimming are among the supportive recommendations for patients with tic disorders. In some patients whose tics noticeably affect quality of life, certain medications may be needed in addition to behavioral and supportive approaches. Since these medications are generally used at low doses, they do not cause many side effects and they quickly reduce the severity of symptoms and increase the person's functioning.

Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by disruption of the fluency or rhythm of speech in a way that is inappropriate for the person's age (for example, repetitions of sounds and syllables, prolongation of sounds, broken words, pauses during speech, speaking in a roundabout way, saying words with excessive physical tension, and repetitions of single-syllable words). To diagnose stuttering, or childhood-onset fluency disorder as it is now called, the symptoms must begin at an early age, be severe enough to impair functioning (intense anxiety related to speaking, reluctance to speak, fear of making mistakes while speaking, restricting speech, etc.), and not be due to a neurological disease or the side effect of a medication.

Speech therapy is a treatment approach for children who stutter in which fluency-enhancing techniques such as slowing the speech rate and rhythmic speech are used. In this approach, techniques are applied that target speech itself, aiming to change articulation, phonation and breathing, or that alter the flow of speech. There are many different speech therapy techniques that can be used in this field. In addition to structuring approaches such as rhythmic reading and speaking with a metronome, speaking with prolonged syllables, adding a vowel to the beginning of words and relaxed breathing techniques, there are also regulating approaches such as increasing emotional resilience, producing different responses, and extending fluency into daily life.

Self-harming behavior consists of behaviors such as scratching or cutting with sharp instruments, burning and hitting, which knowingly cause injury capable of harming various parts of the body even though the person does not plan to inflict fatal harm on themselves. It generally appears after an event that makes the person feel bad or that causes anger, restlessness or self-criticism. After self-harming behavior, the person may feel a brief sense of relief.

Eating disorders in adolescents should be suspected in situations such as dieting to lose weight although not overweight; being unable to stop dieting after losing excess weight, even if overweight, and continuing the diet to lose more; being afraid of gaining weight; keeping oneself constantly on the move (for example walking or going up and down stairs) in addition to dieting in order to lose or not gain weight; and being unable to perceive oneself as "thin" no matter how thin one becomes, always thinking one is overweight.

The family should not interfere with the young person's not eating; it should be understood that this situation will not improve through pressure or persuasion, and it should not be forgotten that this is a serious condition that needs to be treated. Controlling attitudes on other subjects should also be avoided. Contact should be made with an adolescent health specialist and a child and adolescent psychiatrist, and the subject of eating or not eating at home should no longer be one that is raised every day in communication between family members.