Discover Mental Health Problems Associated with Childhood
You'll often hear people say that children are not simply small adults. This is exemplified in mental health. Whilst both adults and children may suffer from disorders like depression and anxiety the way they experience them are often quite different. In fact, there are some disorders which are only associated with childhood and there are symptoms that are much more prevalent in children and adolescents.
In this course you'll learn how to identify mental health disorders in children and possible ways to treat them. You'll also examine triggers and environmental influences and conclude the course by reviewing any disorder of particular interest to you through a special project.
What this Course Covers
There are ten lessons in this module as follows:
- Nature and Scope of Mental Health
- Childhood Depression - and how this changes when a child reaches adolescence;
signs, symptoms, treatment
- Anxiety Disorders - separation anxiety, generalised anxiety, school phobias, social phobias; signs, symptoms, treatment
- Tic Disorders - Tourette's disorder, other disorders; signs, symptoms, treatment
- Brain Disorders (Injury & Disease) - signs, symptoms, treatment
- Other Disorders - elimination disorders, feeding & eating disorders of childhood, reactive attachment disorder, selective mutism, stereotypic movement disorder; signs, symptoms, treatment
- Environmental Problems - abuse and neglect, relationship problems; signs, symptoms, treatment
- Problems of Adolescence - anorexia, bulimia, substance abuse, family conflict; signs, symptoms, treatment
- Holistic and Alternative Approaches to Treatment – a general approach
- Special Project - student chooses something of interest
Workload
Study when, where and however much you want. For most students, the course can be completed with a total of around 100 hours of study; and a commitment close to that may be needed to achieve desired learning outcomes.
Extra Reading
The following books, available through this web site are relevant supplementary reading for this course
- The Psychology of Health
- How Children Think
- The Brain and Behaviour
Assessment
Self Assessment Tests are presented throughout the course. These are essentially an automated quiz. When you undertake a "SAT" or "Self Assessment Test", you will be able to see what you got correct, and what was incorrect; and in that way, you can identify your weaknesses.
Assignments are given at the end of each lesson. You should complete this assignment, paying careful attention to follow what is asked of you. It can be just as important to learn to work to specification, as it is to learn about the topic you are studying. Graduates who develop a habit of working to specification in the field of human behaviour, will impress employers, and will be more efficient when self employed.
A Final Exam is offered upon satisfactory completion of all assignments. This is optional. If you choose to apply for and do this exam, you will have the possibility of obtaining a "formal credit" or "Pass Certification" for this course. A fee applies. The exam may be sat under prearranged conditions anywhere in the world. This college will award you a formal transcript, upon successful completion of the exam, as proof of your results.
Recognition and Ethics
This college is a member of the ACS Affiliates Network; a group of colleges from several countries, affiliated with each other through ACS Distance Education.. Courses are developed with input from all of these colleges, aspiring to reflect internationally accepted standards and needs.
A strict "No Plagiarism" and "No fraud" policy exists. Assignments are checked for plagiarism, and assignments will not be deemed to have been completed, if work is not your own original creation, and is found to have been copied from elsewhere. If the person doing the course is discovered to be different to the name enrolled, the enrolment and any results will be recorded as invalid and any fees paid will be forfeited.
Refund Policy
A full refund less expenses (up to 15% of fees applied) is provided to anyone wishing to withdraw from a course, within 2 weeks of enrolment. This does not apply after the first assignment has been submitted and marked; or after the two weeks has expired.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS INSTITUTION?
We believe that we have an ethical responsibility to make good use of the fees you pay and the time you invest into an education through our college. To this end, our first priority is always your learning. This comes before issues such as formal accreditations, speculative marketing and bureaucratic processes which all too often add considerable costs to the running of colleges, and take resources away from the provision of more valuable services to the student.
This college focuses on facilitating your learning and support to optimise that learning. We recognise that learning is all about improving knowledge and skills in your long term memory. While some colleges may focus on getting you to pass exams, by committing knowledge to short term memory; we understand that such an approach is not true education, and does little to improve your long term career or business prospects.
How This Course Could Help You
This course is going to be of value to anyone who has children or who works with them. It is also very useful for those thinking of a career which involves helping children in any capacity. Professions where an understanding of childhood mental health is important include social worker, youth worker, counsellor, GP, psychologist, child care worker and teacher.
For those who wish to learn more, study it along with our Developmental & Behavioural Disorders in Children course to complete your understanding of all the recognised disorders of childhood.