• Extreme distress and anxiousness
• Over-thinking and constant fear
• Withdrawn behaviors
• Little interest in playing with other children
• Poor body awareness that impacts relationships with peers
• Failure to initiate or to participate in activities
• Difficulty making eye contact with others
• Overly Aggressive Behavior
• Excessive clinginess or attention seeking behaviors with adults
• Difficulty with daily functioning (such as toileting, sleeping, and eating)

Every child experiences occasional sadness or a sense of helplessness. Some youngsters, though, experience sadness or disinterest in activities they once found enjoyable, or they may feel hopeless or helpless in circumstances they have the power to change. Children who experience prolonged sadness and hopelessness may be diagnosed with depression. Some kids might not express their feelings of sadness and helplessness, and they might not seem depressed to others around them. A child with depression may also act disruptively or act unmotivated, which could lead others to label him as a trouble-maker, stubborn, or lazy.

Most children may go through extremely stressful situations that have an impact on their emotions and thinking. Children typically make a full recovery rapidly. However, occasionally kids who go through a lot of stress, whether from an injury, the loss of a close family member, or are exposed to any form of traumatic, violent, or abusive situations, will be negatively impacted for a long time. The child might suffer this pain firsthand or see it happen to someone else. Children may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder if they have severe symptoms from stress that last for a long period of time (more than a month) and interfere with their relationships and activities. The signs of traumatic stress might be mistaken for those of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because children who have experienced traumatic stress may appear restless, fidgety, or have difficulties focusing and remaining organized.

Your child might be developing an eating disorder if you notice signs of obsessive food related thoughts, extreme concern about food intake, big changes in weight, obsessive thoughts regarding their body, or overall physical and emotional weaknesses due to lack of nourishment.

The most common disorders for children under 12 years old

• Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (AFRID): AFRID causes disordered eating in kids, which might include a lack of interest in food or an aversion to particular foods. A youngster might, for instance, dislike the texture of food they used to like or the act of swallowing. They might worry that eating a particular food might make them sick and cause them to experience nausea or vomiting.
• Pica: A child may consume non-nutritional or non-food items frequently. The behavior must differ from the child’s expected developmental level for it to be diagnosed as pica; for example, an infant who chews on objects would not qualify. These substances most commonly include mud, soap, chalk, sand, ice, and hair.

The most common disorders for children over 12 years old

• Anorexia Nervosa: Children and teenagers with anorexia have a strong fear of gaining weight or becoming overweight. They could be obsessed with eating and have a broken body-image, considering themselves “fat” even when they are really thin. Children and teenagers with anorexia may starve themselves, eat little if hardly ever, expel food through vomiting or the use of laxatives, or exercise intensely in order to maintain their weight. They frequently may not be aware that these behaviors are harmful or that their perspective of their bodies is inaccurate. It’s possible that anorexia is not just about food or weight. It is a negative form of handling emotional issues, perfectionism, and a need for control.
• Bulimia Nervosa: Teens with bulimia nervosa would consume a huge amount of food, to later try and get rid of it through the use of laxatives, induced vomiting or intense exercise. Excessive eating also known as binge eating, frequently occurs in private, you might find food wrappers stashed away under the bed or food hidden in places you might not expect. Since most teens suffering from bulimia are of ordinary weight or even slightly overweight, parents might not immediately recognize that something is wrong. This disorder is often accompanied by other mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and self-harming behaviors.
• Binge Eating Disorder (BED): Children struggling with BED would eat a very large amount of food in private with no control of what they are doing, but unlike bulimia nervosa, they would not try to burn or get rid of the calories consumed. BED is not only about choosing to eat excessively, nor is it in any way indulgence, but rather it is a distressing and shameful experience for the person. BED is associated with unhealthy coping with anger, sadness, worry, and stress. Due to this maladaptive way of coping, teenagers might engage in binges whenever they feel life is getting too overwhelming. Unfortunately, BED can go undiagnosed, mainly because it is often only attributed to unhealthy eating habits rather than negative thought processes, therefore, the main focus would be to reduce weight and treat physical symptoms rather than the mental well-being of the individual.