Vol 11, N°1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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ear Colleagues, The fact that we have devoted an issue of Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience to child and ado- lescent psychiatry reflects the fact that this is an area of psychiatry with features that differentiate it from that of young and older adults. Indeed, we are able to note that, though the great majority of symptoms remain the same throughout the different age groups, they are organized differently, and in this way lead to syndromes with different patterns. Moreover, the circumstances of onset, the triggering mechanisms, the reinforcing factors, and the types of therapeutic strategies used also set a particular tone for child and adolescent psychiatric semiology, and bestow certain features upon it. Finally, some classes of symptoms, though not entirely absent in adults, are nevertheless more characteristic of children or adolescents; for example, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, some types of sleep disturbances (nightmares, sleepwalking, sleep epilepsy, bruxism), anorexia nervosa, etc. We felt that it was important to place these disorders in their context, and to emphasize the clinical elements which distinguish psychiatry in this younger population. This is also an era in which the use in younger patients of treatments designed for adults and the elderly is being greatly questioned. Many authors are strongly emphasizing the need for studies to be carried out to validate these therapeutic strategies in children and adolescents, and for the devel- opment of therapeutic strategies for particular disorders. This requires a more profound clinical knowledge of children and adolescents, whether via spe- cific studies in younger patients when we wish to use treatments that are already available, or on the other hand via the inclusion of child and adolescent indications in the planning of product develop- ment. Nancy Andreasen, with the assistance of Debbie Morris-Rosendahl, agreed to coordinate this issue, which provides some responses to the questions discussed. It was a difficult task, and we thank them both very much for addressing it in such a clear and intelligent manner. We would also like to warmly thank the various authors who agreed to contribute their skills and knowledge to the production of this issue. Best regards, Jean-Paul Macher, MD E d i t o r i a l D