Abstract
The distinction between mental (spiritual and psychological) and physical health disorders is particularly difficult due to the special features of neurobiological development in children and adolescents. In this review article, the basics of developmental neurology are briefly described. On the basis of some congenital or early acquired neurological diseases, it is then shown to what extent mental processes can be impaired in interactions with the social context. Taking these aspects into account plays an important role in child and family-oriented counseling and support. The common occurrence of physical, mental, and psychological development disorders, which is also very variable between individuals and fluctuates over the course of a person's life, requires good interdisciplinary cooperation between conservative and surgical child and adolescent medicine and child and adolescent psychiatry.