Muthanna Medical Journal
Volume 10, Issue 1, 2023 Page 44-52
http://dx.doi.org/10.52113/1/1/2023-44-52
Makwan Mohammed Abdulkareem ¹
Correspondence author: makwanjaff89@gmail.com
¹ Psychiatrist and Mental Health Specialist, Hospital of Treatment Victims of Chemical Weapons, Halabja Directorate of Health, Halabja - Kurdistan Region
Received 30 December 2022, Accepted 11 February 2023, Available online 21 February 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Abdulkareem MM. This is article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Copyright © 2023 Abdulkareem MM. This is article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that manifest early during first 1-3 years of life and characterized by two main clinical symptoms: Persistent deficits in social interactions and repeated, restricted interests, behaviors, and activities. However, language deficit, intellectual disability, irritability and aggression, mood instability, abnormal response to sensory stimuli, poor attention span, hyperactivity and insomnia are commonly present simultaneously but not needed to receive the diagnosis of Autism. Exact etiology is yet unknown, but it's believed to be the result of interaction between genetic and environmental factors even though the genetic basis is more dominant. Mood, anxiety, psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, tic disorder, visual/hearing impairment and epilepsy are common comorbid conditions that require separate treatment. Autistic disorders are life-long disorders that need long term management targeting main symptoms by use of extensive rehabilitation programs along with psychotropic agents to relieve associated symptoms like irritability, aggression and self-harm episodes.
Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, Neurodevelopmental, Genetic, Rehabilitation, Aggression