Williams Syndrome

The practicing psychiatrist should be familiar with the relatively rare genetic disorder, Williams syndrome (WS), since many psychiatric problems can develop. The most common disorders coming to the psychiatrist’s attention are anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and sleep disturbances, but other disorders, such as depression, can develop as well. Safe and effective psychiatric management can be influenced by one or more medical comorbidities seen frequently in WS, including but not limited to vasculopathy and hypertension, arrhythmia (including prolonged QTc), sudden death (with the highest risk in young children needing anesthesia for a procedure), obesity in adults, and prediabetes/diabetes.