The Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center works to overcome the stigma associated with mental illness in children and adolescents so that younger patients receive early diagnosis and treatment. Pediatric mental-health professionals provide comprehensive evaluations and deliver appropriate treatment for the age group. For example, they closely monitor children and adolescents treated with medication.

UT Southwestern providers see children and adolescents with a variety of conditions, including:

• Autism;
• Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (child ADHD);
• Bipolar disorder;
• Conduct disorders;
• Depression;
• Eating disorders;
• Learning disorders;
• Pervasive developmental disorders; and
• Schizophrenia.

We offer a variety of treatment settings, which allows us to select the most appropriate environment for each patient and, if necessary, help ease the patient’s transition back into his or her normal home and school environment. Among the treatment settings we offer are:

• Outpatient treatment in a clinic setting;
• Day treatment, in which the patient remains in our outpatient clinical practice for eight hours each day;
• Partial hospitalization, in which the patient remains at the Medical Psychiatric Unit at Children’s Medical Center Dallas for 12 hours each day; and
• A 12-bed inpatient unit at Children’s Medical Center.

Many extensive outpatient evaluations are provided at no cost for young psychiatric patients who are eligible to participate in clinical trials. With millions of dollars granted each year, researchers at UT Southwestern investigate depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders and MRI technology to analyze brain activity. The department is one of five centers in the nation to study – with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health – depressed adolescents who have attempted suicide.

Patients in UT Southwestern’s clinical trials program receive therapies years before they become available to the general public. Patients should ask their doctor if they are candidates for some of these groundbreaking therapies.