Mental Illness Warning Signs: Health Tip

Determining if a child's troubling behavior is "part of growing up" or a sign of a mental health problem can be difficult.

Parents should contact a mental health professional if symptoms last weeks or more and interfere with the child's daily life, says the National Institute of Mental Health.

Warning signs of a mental illness may include:

• Minimal interest in things that the person once enjoyed.
• Low energy.
• Too much or too little sleep.
• Self-harming behaviors.
• Smoking, drinking or drug use.
• Excessive exercise or diet.
• Thoughts of suicide.
• Risky or destructive behavior.