Developing complications

"If not treated promptly, there are many opportunities for complications," Liu said. For instance, one of her patients initially suffered from attention deficit disorder, which developed into a more serious illness that began to affect his social ability. Gradually, the child found it difficult to study and encountered emotional problems in adolescence. "It becomes very difficult [to cure a child] when several illnesses complicate the situation," she said.

Zhao Rongfeng, head of the Beijing Association for Mental Health, said that if a psychological problem is detected earlier, it can be cured. "It is a pity that the parents cannot make it in time," she added.

Dr. John B. Sikorski, an adolescent psychiatrist in California, believes that the biggest impediment to early treatment is the sense of shame about an illness. He noted that first of all, the patient cannot accept the fact that he or she has mental problems and the parents fear that others will learn about the situation and give the child strange looks. But, he noted that the danger brought about by the feeling of shame toward psychological problems is greater than that for any other illness.

"Who can tell people comfortably that his or her child is receiving medical treatment at a psychological hospital?" said a parent who brought his son to the Beijing Anding Hospital for treatment and admitted that his family could not hide the truth any longer in the neighborhood.

A recent survey conducted by the Anding Hospital found that 32 percent of primary and middle school students in Beijing have varying degrees of mental problems, which can be divided into three groups: interpersonal relations, emotional stability and the ability to study. However, only a few of these children have received professional psychological treatment.

Feelings of shame prevent the children and their parents from cooperating well with the doctors' efforts. Many parents stop bringing their children for further consultation with a doctor, and the children are taken off medication when they have shown some improvement. Liu said she could tolerate the children's ignorance of mental illness, but not their parents' attitude. "Parents, as the children's guardians, should not instill the wrong mindset in their children, that mental illness is something shameful," she said.

The feeling of shame can lead to addiction to drugs, such as anti-anxiety medications, stimulants and sleeping pills. Those drugs have a big market, and some are specially designed for children. The new medicines for children's psychological health developed by pharmaceutical companies on the one hand can help the patients, but on the other hand can cause dependence. In some cases, the child's illness is not that serious, and sometimes a change in environment may be more effective, experts say.

The excessive dependence on drugs sometimes causes tragedy. Not long ago, a child was sent to the Beijing Anding Hospital, suffering from the severe effects of taking the wrong medication. Professor Zheng Yi, a psychology expert at the hospital, said the child's parents were afraid the child would be labeled psychotic and sought help from some doctors who had little knowledge of mental illness but were aggressive in prescribing drugs. The wrong prescription nearly claimed the life of the child.

Zheng said that given the difficulty in diagnosing mental illness as well as its treatment, only 20 percent of children with mental problems receive the right diagnosis and treatment. "But China is far behind this proportion," said Zheng, "Many children are misdiagnosed or suffer a delay in treatment."

In the middle of April, the Beijing Anding Hospital's pediatric section was opened to the public. After visiting, many people found that the facilities for mentally disturbed children were not as they had imagined. "It's more like a nursery," one woman said. One parent who brought her middle school child to the hospital said that her son had developed the habit of biting his fingernails. "I want to see how professional psychiatrists deal with those kinds of problems, and if time permits, I will bring my son here for a medical checkup," said the mother.