Severe Neuropsychiatric and Externalized Disorders of Adolescence and Childhood

Abstract

Externalizing disorders have been defined as those disorders in which overt behavior is present [APA]. Externalized disorders are characterized by numerous dysfunctional behaviors, which pose difficulties in management in the social and psychological aspects of the child’s life. The externalized disorders to be reviewed include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder. Severe neuropsychiatric disorders, including Tourette syndrome, Asperger’s disorder, and autism (pervasive developmental disorders of childhood), are discussed here because of the similarities in the brain areas that are implicated and in the neurotransmitter systems that are thought to be involved. Comings (1990) suggests that many of the symptoms of ADHD and frontal lobe dysfunction are also shared with autism and Tourette syndrome.