ABSTRACT
One of the most ambiguous labels to ever emerge from the childhood psychopathology literature is emotional disturbance. This chapter focuses on some of the more severe forms of aberrant behavior, with each disorder presented in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, it was possible to give only passing mention to diagnostic issues and nondrug therapies. The chapter describes neuroleptic drug effects in adults. The neuroleptics consist primarily of three subgroups of drugs: phenothiazines, butyrophe-nones, and thioxanthenes. Perhaps the most disquieting and alarming side effects of neuroleptics are the extrapyramidal syndromes. Tardive dyskinesia has become an important issue in hospitals and residential facilities for several reasons: high neuroleptic drug exposure in terms of prevalence, dosage, and duration of treatment, inadequate side effect monitoring systems, and a flurry of court cases. The use of lithium for the treatment of childhood disorders is becoming a more widely accepted practice.
