Age of Onset of Mental Disorders

Giovanni de Girolamo, M.D., leads the Psychiatric Epidemiology and Evaluation Unit at the IRCCS St. John of God Clinical Research Centre, Brescia (Italy), and is a Professor at the Faculty of Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan (Italy). From 1988 to 1994 he was an Associate Professional Officer at the Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva; after his return to Italy, he has worked at the Italian N.I.H. in Rome and at the Department of Mental Health in Bologna. He has been a principal investigator for a range of studies covering a variety of mental health areas, and has been the PI of the Italian site participating to the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. He is currently the principal investigator for the Italian site of the European projects "THE MILESTONE PROJECT: Managing the Link and Strengthening Transition from Child to Adult Mental Health Care" and RADAR-CNS. Prof. de Girolamo has published more than 250 papers and authored or co-authored several books and book chapters.

Introduction: Why Is The Age Of Onset Important For Mental Health Research And Service Delivery?.- Why It Is Important To Study The Age Of Onset Of Medical Disorders.- The Importance Of Aoo Of Mental Disorders For Psychiatric Epidemiology.- Neurobiological Implications And Correlates Of Different Age Of Onsets Of Mental Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Bipolar Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Unipolar Depression.- The Age Of Onset Of Anxiety Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Substance Use Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Alcohol Use Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Personality Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Eating Disorders.- The Age Of Onset Of Attention-Deficit Hperactivity Disorder.- The Age Of Onset Of Dementias.- Conclusions: From The Study Of The Age Of Onset To The Development Of Age-Specific Interventions In Mental Health.