Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder – ADHD Causes Difficulty in Attention Span and Calmness
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) A child “won’t listen to the teacher” or “causes trouble in class” could be exhibiting the …
Teens
Suicide – A Fight Within Oneself and The Value of Life
Suicide Suicide is the third leading cause of death (behind accidents and homicides) for teenagers. Each year more than 5,000 U.S. …
Schizophrenia – Struggles With Thoughts, Delusions and Hallucinations
Schizophrenia A psychotic disorder characterized by severe problems with a person’s thoughts, feelings, behavior, and use of words and language. Psychotic symptoms …
Tourettes Syndrome – Dealing With Uncontrollable Tics, Outbursts and Gestures
A tic is a problem in which a part of the body moves repeatedly, quickly, suddenly and uncontrollably. Tics can …
Stress – Managing and Coping with Teenage Stress
Teenagers, like adults, may experience stress everyday and can benefit from learning stress management skills. Most teens experience more stress …
Stealing – Coping With Children and Teens Who Steal
When a child or teenager steals, parents are naturally concerned. They worry about what caused their child to steal, and …
Sexual Abuse – Obscene Gestures and Touches are Devastating to a Child
Child sexual abuse has been reported up to 80,000 times a year, but the number of unreported instances is far …
Sex – Speaking to Children and Teenagers About Sex
Talking to your children about love, intimacy, and sex is an important part of parenting. Parents can be very helpful …
Separation Anxiety – Fear of Leaving The Comforts of Parents and Home
Going to school usually is an exciting, enjoyable event for young children. For some it brings fear, panic and/or separation …
Self-Injury – Acts of Causing Personal Bodily Harm or Pain
Self-injury is the act of deliberately destroying body tissue, at times to change a way of feeling. Self-injury is seen …
Child and Adolescent Treatment – Seeking Proper Treatment for Issues
Why Seek Treatment? There are many questions that parents ask themselves when they discover that their own child may be …
Psychosis – Impairment of Thought, Response and Communication
Psychotic disorders include severe mental disorders which are characterized by extreme impairment of a person’s ability to think clearly, respond …
Pregnancy – The Risks of Teenage Pregnancy
Babies born in the U.S. to teenage mothers are at risk for long-term problems in many major areas of life, …
Physical Abuse – A Horrific Hand of a Trusted Family Member
It is estimated hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent or close relative, of …
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD May Develop When a Severe Event Occurs
All children and adolescents experience stressful events which can affect them both emotionally and physically. A child or adolescent who …
Panic Disorder – Feelings of Intense Fear and Discomfort
Panic disorder is a common and treatable disorder. Children and adolescents with panic disorder have unexpected and repeated periods of …
Mental Retardation – Most Individuals Learn to Live in Everyday Life
The term “mental retardation” is often misunderstood and seen as derogatory. Some think that retardation is diagnosed only on the …
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Dealing With Struggles of Obsession or Compulsion
Teenagers with obsessive compulsive disorder have obsessions and/or compulsions. An obsession refers to recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images …
Learning Disorders – The Struggle to Learn and Comprehend
One of the common problems that children have with school performance is a specific learning disability or learning disorders. Children …
Gay and Lesbian Teens – Dealing With Homosexuality
Growing up is a demanding and challenging task for every adolescent. One important aspect is forming one’s sexual identity. All …
Foster Care – Temporary Placements in a Home
Over 500,000 children in the U.S. currently reside in some form of foster care. Placements in foster care have dramatically …
Fighting and Biting – Displays of Aggressive Behaviour
All people have aggressive feelings. As adults, we learn how to control these feelings. Children, however, are often physically aggressive …
Divorce – Dealing With a Dissolved Marriage in the Family
One out of every two marriages today ends in divorce and many divorcing families include children. Parents who are getting …
Conduct Disorder – Struggles With Misbehaviour and Following Rules
Conduct disorder is a complicated group of behavioral and emotional problems in youngsters. Children and adolescents with this disorder have …
Depression – Emotions of Intense Sadness
Though the term “depression” can describe a normal human emotion, it also can refer to a psychiatric disorder. Depressive illness …
Bullying – Acts of Harassment Towards Fellow Children
Bullying is a common experience for many children and adolescents. Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children …
Bulimia Nervosa – Binge Eating and Self Induced Vomiting
Bulimia Nervosa occurs when an adolescent has repeated episodes of binge eating and purging. Binges are characterized by eating large …
Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression) – Feelings of Extreme Highs and Lows of Emotion
Teenagers with Bipolar Disorder may have an ongoing combination of extremely high (manic) and low (depressed) moods. Highs may alternate …
Autism – Detachment of Social Awareness and Communication
Most infants and young children are very social creatures who need and want contact with others to thrive and grow. …
Aspergers – Struggles of Social Skills Development and Behavior
Asperger’s Disorder is the term for a specific type of pervasive developmental disorder which is characterized by problems in development …
Anxiety – Struggling With Intense Fear of Situations or Occurrences
Anxiety is the fearful anticipation of further danger or problems accompanied by an intense unpleasant feeling (dysphoria) or physical symptoms. …
Anorexia Nervosa – The Refusal to Eat in Healthy Servings
Anorexia Nervosa occurs when an adolescent refuses to maintain body weight at or above a minimal normal weight for age …
Alcohol and Drug Abuse – The Reliance of Substances
Use and abuse of drugs and alcohol by teens is very common and can have serious consequences. In the 15-24 …
AIDS and HIV – Information About This Deadly Disease
Today adolescents of both sexes face a serious risk of HIV infection, which is the cause of AIDS. AIDS is …
Adoption – The Process of Legally Raising a Child as One's Own
Approximately 120,000 children are adopted each year in the United States. Children with physical, developmental, or emotional handicaps who were …
Adolescent Development – Encourage Communication, Positive Choices and Goals
Parents are often worried or confused by changes in their teenagers. The following information should help parents understand this phase …
Attachment – The Relationship Between Infancy Trust and Need
There are many debates that about the idea of attachment between a child and a caregiver. Sigmund Freud (1940) believed …
Parental Relationships – A Power Struggle With a Teen's Taste and Peers
With respect to the teen years, parental relationships and parents’ authority over their children decreases in relation to that of …
Substance Use Disorders – The Dependence of Drugs
The diagnosis of substance use disorders and dependence requires that a person meet three of the following criteria: a preoccupation …