Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a lower middle-income country (LMIC) with a population of 4.6 million between 5 and 17 years-old. Poverty, terrorism and the effects of long-standing civil war have created a high mental health burden in the country. Similar to other LMICs, mental health is a neglected and an under-researched area in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has only 10 board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrists in the country with 0.03 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100 000 population. Due to the limited number of child and adolescent psychiatrists, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Sri Lanka has a diverse role including curative, health promotion, medico-legal, research and teaching responsibilities.

This book gives an overview of the common psychosocial problems among children and adolescents in Sri Lanka and the nature of the child and adolescent mental health services available in the country at present, and elaborates the challenges faced by practitioners when providing mental health services to children and adolescents, with limited resources. The book also discusses practical solutions that can be taken to improve the child and adolescent mental health services in low-income settings, where scarcity of resources makes it impossible to adhere to ideal practice.