Your child has been complaining of a stomachache. Or a headache. Or ear pain, chest pain, nausea: take your pick. Problem is, the doctor can’t find anything wrong. He’s checked out your adolescent, and everything looks all clear—physically, that is. Which leaves you puzzled. It doesn’t make sense that your teen is exaggerating their symptoms. And the pain doesn’t seem to pass, no matter how much you wish it would.
Over the past two decades, rates of ADHD diagnosis in children and adolescents have increased steadily. According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2016, approximately 6.1 million children age 4-17 – 9.4% – received an ADHD diagnosis at some point during their lives. Of these children, 2.4 million age 6-11 received an ADHD diagnosis. These figures represent an increase of roughly 62% since 1997. Experts
We invite you to engage in a hypothetical. Say, for instance, school starts next week. In California, it does. So that’s not hypothetical. But stick with us. Let’s say school starts next week and your adolescent child has just received a clinical diagnosis indicating they have a mental health disorder. Let’s say the diagnosis is depression. Your teen has been diagnosed with MDD – Major Depressive Disorder. The diagnosing psychiatrist
ADHD is one of the most commonly diagnosed developmental disorders in children and teenagers. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), based on the 2016 National Survey on Children’s Health (NSCH), show the following prevalence of ADHD in children age 2-17 in 2016: 9.4% have received an ADHD diagnosis – that’s about 6.1 million kids. By age, that breaks down like this: 2-5: 0.6%, around 388,000 kids
Across the country, people with alcohol and substance use disorders work with physicians, nurses, therapists, and counselors every day to overcome addiction. They learn about how addiction affects their bodies, brains, and emotions. They participate in coping skills groups, relapse prevention groups, and in some cases receive therapy for co-occurring disorders. The clinicians who work with them observe, take notes, and analyze the relative success of their treatment modalities. They
When choosing a mental health residential rehab center for your teen, there are lots of factors you’d want to take into consideration. Is the program licensed and accredited? Will insurance cover the majority of the cost? Which evidence-based treatments are offered? But perhaps the most important question you need to ask is: How will my teen be kept safe? Caring for adolescents is an enormous responsibility that no program should
In September of 2004, the Journal of the Americen Medical Association: Pediatrics published a far-ranging study on the treatment of adolescents with alcohol and/or substance use disorders. Twenty-two subject matter experts, including ten researchers, nine clinicians, and three senior policy-makers identified nine components common to the most highly regarded treatment programs available: 1. Assessment and Treatment Matching Treatment centers should conduct comprehensive assessments that create a full biopsychosocial picture of
Essential Elements of Teen Rehab In 2003, a group of experts on teen addiction treatment launched a project with an ambitious goal: “to conduct the first systematic evaluation of the quality of highly regarded adolescent substance abuse treatment programs in the United States.” They published their findings in a report that outlined nine core elements for treatment of teens struggling with addiction. The research team included scientists, therapists, counselors, and
World Mental Health Day 2018: A Focus on Youth and Adolescents On October 10th, 1992, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first annual World Mental Health Day. Their goal was twofold: to promote mental health advocacy and educate the general public on issues related to mental health. Advocacy and education remained the focus for the first three years. The event featured a global telecast from Tallahassee, Florida, and interactive
Mental Health Care for Youth in the USA Over the past twenty years, there’s been a positive trend in general public attitudes toward both mental health care and individuals struggling with emotional and psychological issues. Due in large part to the efforts of organizations such as The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), emotional and psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and others have gradually lost much
