This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Berney, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Berney, T.
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2006) 12: 138-140
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

The new developmental psychiatry

INVITED COMMENTARY ON... MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Tom Berney

Tom Berney is a consultant in developmental psychiatry with Northgate and Prudhoe NHS Trust (Prudhoe Hospital, Prudhoe, Northumberland NE42 5NT, UK. E-mail: t.p.berney{at}ncl.ac.uk).

Psychiatric services for children and adolescents with learning disabilities have been subject to fashion and aspiration rather than pragmatic planning, at different times being claimed by different specialties. As services have atrophied, it has become clear how distinct are the clinical issues that arise in this group; issues that show developmental psychiatry at its starkest with a combination of organic, dynamic and systemic factors that require community teamwork. As services and specialties regroup, this evolving area is likely to continue defining itself, perhaps taking in adults with developmental disorders, to emerge as a new specialty, developmental psychiatry. It remains to be seen where this will sit within the health service.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Psychiatr. Bull.Home page
B. Wright, C. Williams, and G. Richardson
Services for children with learning disabilities
Psychiatr. Bull., March 1, 2008; 32(3): 81 - 84.
[Full Text] [PDF]