Physical comorbidity in mental illness in paediatric population: need for an integrated health care approach to paediatrics and child psychiatry

Excerpt

It has long been recognised that adult subjects with severe mental disorders have more medical needs than the general population. In many instances, this is paired with greater difficulties accessing health care services, constituting an added burden to the mental disease. Mental disorders are complex disorders that often affect not only the brain, but also other parts of the body. This, along with other factors such as more common unhealthy life styles, may be one of the causes that explain the higher medical morbidity in subjects with mental disorders. It is also clear that difficulties in detecting and correctly diagnosing them are an added problem in patients who have cognitive impairments, are disorganised, have verbal communication problems, have a higher pain threshold, complain of atypical symptoms, and experience difficulties describing subjective experiences and symptoms. …