How to register children’s mental health examination report

The first is the clinical psychology department/psychiatry department of public general hospitals, the second is the child health department of children's specialized hospitals (some will be subdivided into developmental behavior and mental health care directions), and the third is the child and adolescent psychology outpatient clinic of the local mental health center. Some community hospitals that have opened child health services can also do basic psychological screening.

Last week I just met a mother who brought her second-grade baby to the clinic. At first she thought that as long as the child had problems, she would be admitted to general pediatrics. After waiting in line for two hours, she found out that her baby couldn't sit still and always disturbed his classmates in class. She had to go to the child care mental health clinic for ADHD-related screening, which wasted a whole morning. In fact, many parents have gone through similar injustices, mainly because they are not clear about the service boundaries of different outpatient clinics.

If you just want to do a regular psychological screening at school and want to see if there are any abnormalities in the child's recent emotional state and social adaptability, it is enough to apply for a mental health care number from an ordinary child care provider. They use conventional models of normal children. The assessment process is not too complicated, and the child will basically not be stressed. If a child has been found to have persistent behavioral abnormalities, such as refusing to go to school for more than half a month, losing his temper and throwing things for no apparent reason, or even injuring himself, or if he is suspected to have development-related problems such as autism or developmental delay, it is best to directly contact the child psychology department of a mental health center or a tertiary general hospital. The doctors in these clinics have clinical diagnosis and treatment qualifications. If a problem is found, they can directly connect to the follow-up intervention plan without having to go to the hospital for repeated referrals.

Having said this, some parents must want to ask, now many private child psychology studios can also perform mental health examinations. There is no need to rush for a number, the appointment is flexible, and the environment is more relaxed than public hospitals. Is it more convenient? It is true that many parents prefer to choose this type of institution. Firstly, they do not have to wait in long queues to get an appointment like in public hospitals. Secondly, many studios will turn the evaluation into a mini-game. Children have low resistance and are less likely to get nervous because of the crowded and noisy hospitals. However, many parents have fallen into this trap. On the one hand, the assessment norms used by some private institutions are not standardized, and the results have a very low reference value. If they spend money in vain, they may misjudge their children's condition. ； On the other hand, if you need to go to a public hospital for treatment later, the physical examination reports from most private institutions will not be recognized, and you will have to do the assessment again, which will be even more troublesome.

Before registering, you can first check the department introduction of the hospital's official account. Many hospitals' related information sources will not directly label "Children's Mental Health Examination", but may be called "Development and Behavioral Pediatrics" or "Children's Psychological Assessment Number". If you look twice, you will avoid making mistakes. Before taking your child there, you don’t need to emphasize that it’s for a psychological examination. Just say a regular growth physical examination, lest the child feel that he is “different from others” and become nervous, which will affect the accuracy of the assessment results.