The most effective treatment for an individual with conduct disorder is one that seeks to integrate individual, school, and family settings. Additionally, treatment should also seek to address familial conflict such as marital discord or maternal depression.

Despite recent initiatives to study psychopathology along dimensions of behavior and neurobiological indices, which would help refine a clearer picture of the development and treatment of externalizing disorders, the majority of research has examined specific mental disorders. Thus, best practices for many externalizing disorders are disorder-specific. For example, substance use disorders themselves are very heterogeneous and their best-evidenced treatment typically includes cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and a substance disorder-specific detoxification or psychotropic medication treatment component. The best-evidenced treatment for childhood conduct and externalizing problems more broadly, including youth with ADHD, ODD, and CD, is parent management training, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. Additionally, individuals with ADHD, both youth and adults, are frequently treated with stimulant medications (or alternative psychotropic medications), especially if psychotherapy alone has not been effective in managing symptoms and impairment. Psychotherapy and medication interventions for individuals with severe, adult forms of antisocial behavior, such as antisocial personality disorder, have been mostly ineffective. An individual's comorbid psychopathology may also influences the course of treatment for an individual.

Approaches to the treatment of ODD include parent management training, individual psychotherapy, family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and social skills training. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, treatments for ODD are tailored specifically to the individual child, and different treatment techniques are applied for pre-schoolers and adolescents. Several preventative programs have had a positive effect on those at high risk for ODD. Both home visitation and programs such as Head Start have shown some effectiveness in preschool children. Social skills training, parent management training, and anger management programs have been used as prevention programs for school-age children at risk for ODD. For adolescents at risk for ODD, cognitive interventions, vocational training and academic tutoring have shown preventative effectiveness. There is also limited evidence that the atypical antipsychotic medication risperidone decreases aggression and conduct problems in youth with disruptive behavioral disorders, such as ODD.

A major option for many mental disorders is psychiatric medication and there are several main groups. Antidepressants are used for the treatment of clinical depression, as well as often for anxiety and a range of other disorders. Anxiolytics (including sedatives) are used for anxiety disorders and related problems such as insomnia. Mood stabilizers are used primarily in bipolar disorder. Antipsychotics are used for psychotic disorders, notably for positive symptoms in schizophrenia, and also increasingly for a range of other disorders. Stimulants are commonly used, notably for ADHD.

Despite the different conventional names of the drug groups, there may be considerable overlap in the disorders for which they are actually indicated, and there may also be off-label use of medications. There can be problems with adverse effects of medication and adherence to them, and there is also criticism of pharmaceutical marketing and professional conflicts of interest.

Treatment and support for mental disorders is provided in psychiatric hospitals, clinics or any of a diverse range of community mental health services. A number of professions have developed that specialize in the treatment of mental disorders. This includes the medical specialty of psychiatry (including psychiatric nursing), the field of psychology known as clinical psychology, and the practical application of sociology known as social work. There is also a wide range of psychotherapists (including family therapy), counselors, and public health professionals. In addition, there are peer support roles where personal experience of similar issues is the primary source of expertise. The different clinical and scientific perspectives draw on diverse fields of research and theory, and different disciplines may favor differing models, explanations and goals.

In some countries services are increasingly based on a recovery approach, intended to support each individual's personal journey to gain the kind of life they want, although there may also be 'therapeutic pessimism' in some areas.

There are a range of different types of treatment and what is most suitable depends on the disorder and on the individual. Many things have been found to help at least some people, and a placebo effect may play a role in any intervention or medication. In a minority of cases, individuals may be treated against their will, which can cause particular difficulties depending on how it is carried out and perceived.

Compulsory treatment while in the community versus non-compulsory treatment does not appear to make much of a difference except by maybe decreasing victimization.

Currently, genetic research for the understanding of the development of personality disorders is severely lacking. However, there are a few possible risk factors currently in discovery. Researchers are currently looking into genetic mechanisms for traits such as aggression, fear and anxiety, which are associated with diagnosed individuals. More research is being conducted into disorder specific mechanisms.

While the cause of conduct disorder is complicated by an intricate interplay of biological and environmental factors, identifying underlying mechanisms is crucial for obtaining accurate assessment and implementing effective treatment. These mechanisms serve as the fundamental building blocks on which evidence-based treatments are developed. Despite the complexities, several domains have been implicated in the development of conduct disorder including cognitive variables, neurological factors, intraindividual factors, familial and peer influences, and wider contextual factors. These factors may also vary based on the age of onset, with different variables related to early (e.g., neurodevelopmental basis) and adolescent (e.g., social/peer relationships) onset.

There are many different forms (modalities) of treatment used for personality disorders:

- Individual psychotherapy has been a mainstay of treatment. There are long-term and short-term (brief) forms.

- Family therapy, including couples therapy.

- Group therapy for personality dysfunction is probably the second most used.

- Psychological-education may be used as an addition.

- Self-help groups may provide resources for personality disorders.

- Psychiatric medications for treating symptoms of personality dysfunction or co-occurring conditions.

- Milieu therapy, a kind of group-based residential approach, has a history of use in treating personality disorders, including therapeutic communities.

- The practice of mindfulness that includes developing the ability to be nonjudgmentally aware of unpleasant emotions appears to be a promising clinical tool for managing different types of personality disorders.

There are different specific theories or schools of therapy within many of these modalities. They may, for example, emphasize psychodynamic techniques, or cognitive or behavioral techniques. In clinical practice, many therapists use an 'eclectic' approach, taking elements of different schools as and when they seem to fit to an individual client. There is also often a focus on common themes that seem to be beneficial regardless of techniques, including attributes of the therapist (e.g. trustworthiness, competence, caring), processes afforded to the client (e.g. ability to express and confide difficulties and emotions), and the match between the two (e.g. aiming for mutual respect, trust and boundaries).

Treatment of SCT has not been well investigated. Initial drug studies were done only with the ADHD medication, methylphenidate (Ritalin/Concerta), and even then only with children who were diagnosed as ADD without hyperactivity (DSM-III) and not specifically for SCT. The research seems to have found that most children with DSM-III ADD-H (currently ADHD-C) responded well at medium-to-high doses. However, a sizable percentage of children with ADD without hyperactivity (using DSM-III criteria; therefore the results may apply to SCT) did not gain much benefit from methylphenidate, and when they did benefit, it was at a much lower dose.

However, one study and a retrospective analysis of medical histories found that the presence or absence of SCT symptoms made no difference in response to methylphenidate in children with ADHD-I. But these studies did not specifically and explicitly examine the effect of the drug on SCT symptoms in children. The only medication study to date who did this used atomoxetine (Strattera) and found it to have significant beneficial effects that were independent of ADHD symptoms.

Only one study has investigated the use of behavior modification methods at home and school for children with predominantly SCT symptoms and it found good success.

In April 2014, "The New York Times" reported that sluggish cognitive tempo is the subject of pharmaceutical company clinical drug trials, including ones by Eli Lilly that proposed that one of its biggest-selling drugs, Strattera, could be prescribed to treat proposed symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo. Other researchers believe that there is no effective treatment for SCT.

Externalizing disorders are frequently comorbid or co-occurring with other disorders. Individuals who have the co-occurrence of more than one externalizing disorder have homotypic comorbidity, whereas individuals who have co-occurring externalizing and Internalizing disorders have heterotypic comorbidity. It is not uncommon for children with early externalizing problems to develop both internalizing and further externalizing problems across the lifespan.

Personality development disorders usually need a complex and multi-dimensional treatment approach (Adam & Breithaupt-Peters, 2010). Since the problems are complex, treatment needs to affect the conditions in all impaired functional and social areas. Both educational and therapeutic methods are helpful and problem and strength based approaches work hand in hand. Parents need to be included as well as the school environment. Treatment methods need to be flexible and adjustable to the individual situation. Even elements of social work can be helpful when supporting the families and in some cases medication might be necessary. When suicidal behaviors or self-injuries are prominent treatment might best be done in a hospital.

For some personality development disorders (e.g. borderline personality disorder) treatment methods from adults can be adapted (e.g. dialectical behavior therapy, Miller et a., 2006).

ODD has an estimated lifetime prevalence of 10.2% (11.2% for males, 9.2% for females).

Some treatments for internalizing disorders include antidepressants, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychotherapy.

The prognosis of SCT is unknown. In contrast, much is known about the adolescent and adult outcomes of children having ADHD. Those with SCT symptoms typically show a later onset of their symptoms than do those with ADHD, perhaps by as much as a year or two later on average. They have as much or more difficulty with academic tasks and far fewer social difficulties than do people having ADHD. They do not have the same risks for oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, or social aggression and thus may have different life course outcomes compared to children with ADHD-HI and Combined subtypes who have far higher risks for these other "externalizing" disorders.

However, unlike ADHD, there are no longitudinal studies of children with SCT that can shed light on the developmental course and adolescent or adult outcomes of these individuals.

Epidemiological data are limited, but reactive attachment disorder appears to be very uncommon. The prevalence of RAD is unclear but it is probably quite rare, other than in populations of children being reared in the most extreme, deprived settings such as some orphanages. There is little systematically gathered epidemiologic information on RAD. A cohort study of 211 Copenhagen children to the age of 18 months found a prevalence of 0.9%.

Attachment disorders tend to occur in a definable set of contexts such as within some types of institutions, in the presence of repeated changes of primary caregiver or of extremely neglectful identifiable primary caregivers who show persistent disregard for the child's basic attachment needs, but not all children raised in these conditions develop an attachment disorder. Studies undertaken on children from Eastern European orphanages from the mid-1990s showed significantly higher levels of both forms of RAD and of insecure patterns of attachment in the institutionalized children, regardless of how long they had been there. It would appear that children in institutions like these are unable to form selective attachments to their caregivers. The difference between the institutionalized children and the control group had lessened in the follow-up study three years later, although the institutionalized children continued to show significantly higher levels of indiscriminate friendliness. However, even among children raised in the most deprived institutional conditions the majority did not show symptoms of this disorder.

A 2002 study of children in residential nurseries in Bucharest, in which the DAI was used, challenged the current DSM and ICD conceptualizations of disordered attachment and showed that inhibited and disinhibited disorders could coexist in the same child.

There are two studies on the incidence of RAD relating to high risk and maltreated children in the U.S. Both used ICD, DSM and the DAI. The first, in 2004, reported that children from the maltreatment sample were significantly more likely to meet criteria for one or more attachment disorders than children from the other groups, however this was mainly the proposed new classification of disrupted attachment disorder rather than the DSM or ICD classified RAD or DAD. The second study, also in 2004, attempted to ascertain the prevalence of RAD and whether it could be reliably identified in "maltreated" rather than "neglected" toddlers. Of the 94 maltreated toddlers in foster care, 35% were identified as having ICD RAD and 22% as having ICD DAD, and 38% fulfilled the DSM criteria for RAD. This study found that RAD could be reliably identified and also that the inhibited and disinhibited forms were not independent. However, there are some methodological concerns with this study. A number of the children identified as fulfilling the criteria for RAD did in fact have a preferred attachment figure.

It has been suggested by some within the field of attachment therapy that RAD may be quite prevalent because severe child maltreatment, which is known to increase risk for RAD, is prevalent and because children who are severely abused may exhibit behaviors similar to RAD behaviors. The APSAC Taskforce consider this inference to be flawed and questionable. Severely abused children may exhibit similar behaviors to RAD behaviors but there are several far more common and demonstrably treatable diagnoses which may better account for these difficulties. Further, many children experience severe maltreatment and do not develop clinical disorders. Resilience is a common and normal human characteristic. RAD does not underlie all or even most of the behavioral and emotional problems seen in foster children, adoptive children, or children who are maltreated and rates of child abuse and/or neglect or problem behaviors are not a benchmark for estimates of RAD.

There are few data on comorbid conditions, but there are some conditions that arise in the same circumstances in which RAD arises, such as institutionalization or maltreatment. These are principally developmental delays and language disorders associated with neglect. Conduct disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and social phobia share many symptoms and are often comorbid with or confused with RAD. Attachment disorder behaviors amongst institutionalized children are correlated with attentional and conduct problems and cognitive levels but nonetheless appear to index a distinct set of symptoms and behaviors.

Assessing the child's safety is an essential first step that determines whether future intervention can take place in the family unit or whether the child should be removed to a safe situation. Interventions may include psychosocial support services for the family unit (including financial or domestic aid, housing and social work support), psychotherapeutic interventions (including treating parents for mental illness, family therapy, individual therapy), education (including training in basic parenting skills and child development), and monitoring of the child's safety within the family environment

In 2005 the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry laid down guidelines (devised by N.W. Boris and C.H. Zeanah) based on its published parameters for the diagnosis and treatment of RAD. Recommendations in the guidelines include the following:

1. "The most important intervention for young children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and who lack an attachment to a discriminated caregiver is for the clinician to advocate for providing the child with an emotionally available attachment figure."

2. "Although the diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder is based on symptoms displayed by the child, assessing the caregiver's attitudes toward and perceptions about the child is important for treatment selection."

3. "Children with reactive attachment disorder are presumed to have grossly disturbed internal models for relating to others. After ensuring that the child is in a safe and stable placement, effective attachment treatment must focus on creating positive interactions with caregivers."

4. "Children who meet criteria for reactive attachment disorder and who display aggressive and oppositional behavior require adjunctive (additional) treatments."

Mainstream prevention programs and treatment approaches for attachment difficulties or disorders for infants and younger children are based on attachment theory and concentrate on increasing the responsiveness and sensitivity of the caregiver, or if that is not possible, placing the child with a different caregiver. These approaches are mostly in the process of being evaluated. The programs invariably include a detailed assessment of the attachment status or caregiving responses of the adult caregiver as attachment is a two-way process involving attachment behavior and caregiver response. Some of these treatment or prevention programs are specifically aimed at foster carers rather than parents, as the attachment behaviors of infants or children with attachment difficulties often do not elicit appropriate caregiver responses. Approaches include "Watch, wait and wonder," manipulation of sensitive responsiveness, modified "Interaction Guidance", "Clinician-Assisted Videofeedback Exposure Sessions (CAVES)", "Preschool Parent Psychotherapy", "Circle of Security", "Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up" (ABC), the New Orleans Intervention, and parent–child psychotherapy. Other treatment methods include Developmental, Individual-difference, and Relationship-based therapy (DIR, also referred to as Floor Time) by Stanley Greenspan, although DIR is primarily directed to treatment of pervasive developmental disorders.

The relevance of these approaches to intervention with fostered and adopted children with RAD or older children with significant histories of maltreatment is unclear.

A spectrum disorder is a mental disorder that includes a range of linked conditions, sometimes also extending to include singular symptoms and traits. The different elements of a spectrum either have a similar appearance or are thought to be caused by the same underlying mechanism. In either case, a spectrum approach is taken because there appears to be "not a unitary disorder but rather a syndrome composed of subgroups". The spectrum may represent a range of severity, comprising relatively "severe" mental disorders through to relatively "mild and nonclinical deficits".

In some cases, a spectrum approach joins together conditions that were previously considered separately. A notable example of this trend is the autism spectrum, where conditions on this spectrum may now all be referred to as autism spectrum disorders. In other cases, what was treated as a single disorder comes to be seen (or seen once again) as comprising a range of types, a notable example being the bipolar spectrum. A spectrum approach may also expand the type or the severity of issues which are included, which may lessen the gap with other diagnoses or with what is considered "normal". Proponents of this approach argue that it is in line with evidence of gradations in the type or severity of symptoms in the general population, and helps reduce the stigma associated with a diagnosis. Critics, however, argue that it can take attention and resources away from the most serious conditions associated with the most disability, or on the other hand could unduly medicalize problems which are simply challenges people face in life.

Impulse-control disorders have two treatment options: psychosocial and pharmacological. Treatment methodology is informed by the presence of comorbid conditions.

In the case of pathological gambling, along with fluvoxamine, clomipramine has been shown effective in the treatment, with reducing the problems of pathological gambling in a subject by up to 90%. Whereas in trichotillomania, the use of clomipramine has again been found to be effective, fluoxetine has not produced consistent positive results. Fluoxetine, however, has produced positive results in the treatment of pathological skin picking disorder, although more research is needed to conclude this information. Fluoxetine has also been evaluated in treating IED and demonstrated significant improvement in reducing frequency and severity of impulsive aggression and irritability in a sample of 100 subjects who were randomized into a 14-week, double-blind study. Despite a large decrease in impulsive aggression behavior from baseline, only 44% of fluoxetine responders and 29% of all fluoxetine subjects were considered to be in full remission at the end of the study. Paroxetine has shown to be somewhat effective although the results are inconsistent. Another medication, escitalopram, has shown to improve the condition of the subjects of pathological gambling with anxiety symptoms. The results suggest that although SSRIs have shown positive results in the treatment of pathological gambling, inconsistent results with the use of SSRIs have been obtained which might suggest a neurological heterogeneity in the impulse-control disorder spectrum.

Similar to adult personality disorders there are multiple causes and causal interactions for personality development disorders. In clinical practice it is important to view the disorder multi-perspectively and from an individual perspective. Biological and neurological causes need to be observed just as much as psychosocial factors. Looking at the disorder from only one perspective (e.g. (s)he had a bad childhood) often results in ignorance of important other factors or causal interactions. This might be one of the main reasons why traditional treatment methods often fail with these disorders. Only a multi-perspective view can provide for a multi-dimensional treatment approach which seems to be the key for these disorders.

The diagnosis personality development disorder should only be given carefully and after a longer period of evaluation. Also a thorough diagnostic evaluation is necessary. Parents should be questioned separately and together with the child or adolescent to evaluate the severity and duration of the problems. In addition standardized personality tests might be helpful. It is also useful to ask the family what treatment approaches they have already tried so far without success.

As mentioned earlier, anti-anxiety, antidepressants and tranquilizers are treatment medications that do not cure, but help control the symptoms of dissociative disorders. The accepted mode of treatment are atypical neuroleptics such as Abilify, Zyprexa, Seroquel and Geodon. Newer-generation anticonvulsants are also highly effective. Quetiapine is initiated at 25–50 mg PO bid and increased by 50 mg PO bid q3d until symptom resolution is achieved. The higher dose should be administered nightly due to the strong sedation effects of the medicine. Other medications such as SSRIs and SNRIs may reduce the anxiety and apprehension of the dissociation.

Keppra may be effective in treating dissociation. Doses are usually kept much lower than for the treatment of seizure disorders. Lamotrigine started at 25 mg and increased by 25 mg every 2 weeks is another option. The effects of these novel anticonvulsants is thought to be secondary to GABA modulation.

Risk factors: People who experience chronic physical, sexual or emotional childhood abuse are at a greater risk of developing dissociative disorders. Children and adults experiencing other traumatic events (including war, natural disasters, kidnapping, torture and invasive medical procedures) also may develop these conditions.

Emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; sometimes called emotional disturbance or serious emotional disturbance) refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students that have poor social or academic adjustment that cannot be better explained by biological abnormalities or a developmental disability.

The classification is often given to students that need individualized behavior supports to receive a free and appropriate public education, but would not be eligible for an individualized education program under another disability category of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The lifetime prevalence of dissociative disorders varies from 10% in the general population to 46% in psychiatric inpatients. Diagnosis can be made with the help of structured interviews such as the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D), or with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) which is a self-assessment questionnaire. Some diagnostic tests have also been adapted and/or developed for use with children and adolescents such as the Children's Version of the Response Evaluation Measure (REM-Y-71), Child Interview for Subjective Dissociative Experiences, Child Dissociative Checklist (CDC), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Dissociation Subscale, and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children Dissociation Subscale.

There are problems with classification, diagnosis and therapeutic strategies of dissociative and conversion disorders which can be understood by the historic context of hysteria. Even current systems used to diagnose DD such as the DSM-IV and ICD-10 differ in the way the classification is determined. In most cases mental health professionals are still hesitant to diagnose patients with Dissociative Disorder, because before they are considered to be diagnosed with Dissociative Disorder these patients have more than likely been diagnosed with major depression, anxiety disorder, and most often post-traumatic disorder.

An important concern in the diagnosis of dissociative disorders is the possibility that the patient may be feigning symptoms in order to escape negative consequences. Young criminal offenders report much higher levels of dissociative disorders, such as amnesia. In one study it was found that 1% of young offenders reported complete amnesia for a violent crime, while 19% claimed partial amnesia. There have also been incidences in which people with dissociative identity disorder provide conflicting testimonies in court, depending on the personality that is present.

Psychotherapy, more specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is the most widely used form of treatment for Somatic symptom disorder. In 2016, a randomized 12-week study suggested steady and significant improvement in health anxiety measures with cognitive behavioral therapy compared to the control group.

CBT can help in some of the following ways:

- Learn to reduce stress

- Learn to cope with physical symptoms

- Learn to deal with depression and other psychological issues

- Improve quality of life

- Reduce preoccupation with symptom

Moreover, brief psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (PIT) for patients with multisomatoform disorder has shown its long-term efficacy for improving the physical quality of life in patients with multiple, difficult-to-treat, medically unexplained symptoms.

Antidepressant medication has also been used to treat some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety that are common among people who have somatic symptom disorder. Medications will not cure somatic symptom disorder, but can help the treatment process when combined with CBT.

The self-medication theory suggests that people with severe mental illnesses misuse substances in order to relieve a specific set of symptoms and counter the negative side-effects of antipsychotic medication.

Khantizan proposes that substances are not randomly chosen, but are specifically selected for their effects. For example, using stimulants such as nicotine or amphetamines can be used to combat the sedation that can be caused by higher doses of certain types of (usually typical) antipsychotic medication. Conversely, some people taking medications with a stimulant effect such as the SNRI antidepressants Effexor (venlafaxine) or Wellbutrin (bupropion) may seek out benzodiazepines or opioid narcotics to counter the anxiety and insomnia that such medications sometimes evoke.

Some studies show that nicotine administration can be effective for reducing motor side-effects of antipsychotics, with both bradykinesia (stiff muscles) and dyskinesia(involuntary movement) being prevented.