Selective Mutism
Selective Mutism is a complex childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child’s inability to speak and communicate effectively in select social settings, such as school. These children are able to speak and communicate in settings where they are comfortable, secure, and relaxed.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW200
Diagnosis: Selective Mutism
US Patients:
World Patients: .71 of 1% in 2002
Sex Ratio:
Age Onset: early childhood
Brain Area: amygdalas may become over-excited and this is a fight-flight response;
Symptoms: anxiety where people cannot speak in specific situations or places or to specific persons along with a social anxiety disorder.
Progression: Gets worse with age, contributing to depression, further anxiety and other social and emotional problems
Causes: some have experienced trauma; others, not
Medications: An SSRI, fluoxetine, has helped some children.
Therapies: Only change schools if the new one will be more supportive. Different techniques are described in the Wikipedia article.
Youtube Video: Evidence-Based Treatment for Selective Mutism
Amazon or Library Book:
The Selective Mutism Treatment Guide
Amazon or Library Book:
Raising Voices
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Anesthetic Consideration for Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy in an Adolescent With Uncorrected Atrial Septal Defect: A Case Reportby Vikash Bansal on December 16, 2024
Catatonia is a serious neuropsychiatric syndrome of motor and behavioral dysfunction where electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-proven treatment modality. ECT is also preferred as it is a low-risk procedure compared to chronic medications having significant side effects. However, the cardiovascular events that occur during ECT are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with an abnormal cardiovascular pathophysiology. Hence, ECT administration in patients with cardiac diseases...
- Small Ovarian Teratoma Causes Anti-N-methyl- D-aspartate Encephalitisby Valeria Muñoz-Becerra on December 13, 2024
This is the case of a 22-year-old female who arrived at our institution after experiencing refractory insomnia, disorganized behavior, inappropriate laughter, and anorexia. Upon admission, a physical examination revealed mutism, irritability, and visual hallucinations. Infectious, metabolic, and other, alternative, causes for the presenting symptoms were excluded. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and chest and abdominopelvic computed tomography scan results showed no evidence of pathology. Due...
- A predictive model for cerebellar mutism syndrome based on lesion map in children with medulloblastomaby Wei Yang on December 10, 2024
CONCLUSIONS: VLSM-based models are used to predict CMS occurrence prior to surgery. CMS was related to motor planning and verbal fluency regions of the cerebellum. Motor dysfunction was associated with CMS functionally.
- The Catatonia Quick Screen (CQS): A Rapid Screening Tool for Catatonia in Adult and Pediatric Populationsby James Luccarelli on December 9, 2024
CONCLUSION: The Catatonia Quick Screen provides a rapid screening alternative to the BFCSI with high sensitivity, potentially improving early detection of catatonia in clinical settings. Future prospective studies are necessary to validate the CQS's sensitivity and to determine its specificity in clinical populations.