| ||Minding Your Mind || | Psychiatric Treatment for
Preschoolers Last reviewed and revised on June 17, 2011 By
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. Harvard Medical School The number of
medications prescribed to children ages two to four to treat
psychiatric disorders increased dramatically after the early
1990s. A Delicate Balance As any parent can attest, the
preschool years are a time of tremendous brain development.
Between the ages of two and five, children learn to talk,
develop hand and eye coordination, and learn how to interact
with others. Brain changes underlie these developments. The
number of synapses (connections between brain cells) and
neurotransmitter receptors reach their peak at age three, while
the brain's metabolic rate peaks between ages three and four.
Clinicians and parents thus face a delicate balancing act when
it comes to treating psychiatric disorders, especially in the
youngest children. There are risks associated with giving
medications, because we don't know exactly what effects
psychiatr