Our understanding of child mental health has changed over the years as attitudes towards children changed. Children are not solely immature adults who need protection and care; they have increasingly been seen as active, responsive agents who can develop mental illnesses from inside themselves.

Correspondingly, diagnoses such as depression, autism, dyslexia and ADHD have shown dramatic increases in the last few years. Is society creating more disorders? What has happened to parenting? Are diagnoses such as ADHD and autism really increasing? Are they real conditions or misattributions of ills in the schools and the families of modern societies? What can be done?