Sleep problems in children and adolescents with neurological and psychiatric disorders

Abstract

Children and adolescents with psychiatric or neurologic disorders often suffer from sleep problems. Disrupted sleep might lead to different comorbidities in the child/adolescent. These symptoms often mimic other psychiatric symptoms, which makes the diagnostic process challenging. Sleep problems can lead to aggravation of existing symptoms, exacerbation into psychiatric problems, or arise as a response to pharmacological treatment. In order to provide an efficient and well-qualified treatment, it is important to understand the pathogenesis of sleep problems to be able to distinguish between the cause and consequence, as argued in this review.