Hope4MentalHealth.org – Mental Health – Non-Profit – Helping Youth

Although there has been a great deal of controversy about the manners of diagosing ADHD and the drug treatments for this condition, nevertheless it remains a widespread problem. The National Institute of Mental Health writes Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity are among the primary symptoms of ADHD. Parents in the Syracuse region have been concerned about the increasing incidence of the diagnosing of ADHD and the possible side effects from drugs used to treat this disorder.

Science Daily has reported “Young Children Exposed to Anesthesia Multiple Times Show Elevated Rates of ADHD.” According to Mayo Clinic researchers multiple exposures to anesthesia at a young age are associated with higher rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). David Warner, M.D., a Mayo Clinic pediatric anesthesiologist and investigator on this observational study has said children exposed to two or more anesthetics before age 3 had more than double the incidence of ADHD than children who had no exposure.

The findings from this study have been published in the February 2 edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Dr. Warner and his colleagues took note when basic science studies in the medical literature began to suggest anesthesia used in surgery causes changes in the brains of young animals. Science Daily has quoted Dr Warner as saying “Those studies piqued our interest. We were skeptical that the findings in animals would correlate with kids, but it appears that it does.”

In this study children who had no exposure to anesthesia and surgery had ADHD at a rate of 7.3 percent. The rate after a single exposure to anesthesia and surgery was found to be approximately the same. But, children who had two or more exposures to anesthesia and surgery, had a 17.9 percent rate of ADHD. However, Warner has noted that the results of the study do not definitively mean that anesthesia causes ADHD.

Warner has commented “This is an observational study. A wide range of other factors might be responsible for the higher frequency of ADHD in children with multiple exposures. The findings certainly do suggest that further investigation into this area is warranted, and investigators at Mayo Clinic and elsewhere are actively pursuing these studies.” Insofar as concerns about side effects from the use of ritalin and other drugs to treat ADHD alternative natural remedies to treat mental health issues in children are available from Dr Harold Mandel Online.

via Mandel News Service

How can you determine if a child is at risk of developing a mental illness?

This is a question many clients have placed at my professional doorstep. And while there are no cookie cutter answers, behavioral science provides some reliable guidelines to help make the right call.

When a child’s behavior seems out of whack, parents often reach out for advice, and there’s plenty floating around. Too often, they run into “guidance” that is either dismissive (“Don’t worry, it’s just a phase”) or unduly alarmist (“Get him to a shrink now!”).

Increasingly, parents take their children, including very young ones, for mental health evaluation and treatment. What’s more, a surprising number of youngsters are being assigned formal psychiatric diagnoses, not just attention/hyperactivity disorder, but also bipolar disorder and clinical depression, among others.

At issue is whether pre-adolescent children can or should be diagnosed with such conditions. In young children brain maturation is just getting started.

And if one rushes a child into the mental health system without sufficient cause, it can paste an adverse label on him or her. When a kid gets messages from adults that “something is wrong with you,” that notion can stick and generate its own set of issues.

Still, estimates are that roughly 15% of young people have a mental illness, and that about 75% of them will go undiagnosed or untreated. So, to avoid over- or under-reacting, here are behavioral warning signs that should give one pause:

1. Prolonged sadness or withdrawal (some adolescent withdrawal can be normal, absent other risk indicators).

2. Panic attacks for no apparent reason.

3. Intense and obsessive worrying or compulsively repetitive behaviors that disrupt daily activities.

4. Extreme and unpredictable mood swings that interfere with relationships.

5. Evidence of an eating disorder – chronically not eating, forced vomiting or the use of laxatives to induce weight loss.

6. Great difficulty concentrating, particularly if this leads to physically dangerous situations or causes academic failure.

7. Repeated abuse of alcohol or other psychoactive drugs (not just “experimentation”).

8. Drastic and sudden changes in behavior or personality.

9. Pattern of fighting, particularly if weapons or significant injuries are involved.

10. Serious plans or attempts to harm self or others, including pets.

11. Any severely “out of control” behavior that poses a risk to self or others.

Are there kids who exhibit some of these behaviors yet don’t turn out to be mentally ill? You bet. These warning signs indicate risk, not predictive certainty.

So if a parent or caregiver is worried but the child’s behavior does not pose an imminent danger, a good approach is to consult with a mental health professional without initially involving the youngster.

Lady Bird Johnson said that, “Children are likely to live up to what you believe about them.”

So do your best to believe accurately.

via JS Online

Autistic children find it difficult to develop inner speech skills which could explain why they display some repetitive behaviors

Teaching children with autism to ‘talk things through’ in their heads may help them solve tricky day-to-day tasks and could increase the chances of them living independent lives when they grow up, say scientists.

Psychologists who studied adults with autism found that the mechanism for using ‘inner speech,’ or talking things through in your head is intact, but they don’t always use it in the same way as typically developing people do.

The researchers found that the tendency to ‘think in words’ is also strongly linked to the extent of a person’s communication skills, which are rooted in early childhood.

The results suggest teaching autistic children how to develop inner speech skills may help them cope with daily tasks later in life.

It also suggests children with autism may do better at school if they are encouraged to learn their daily timetable verbally rather than using visual plans, which is currently a common approach.

Autism, which affects around one percent of the population worldwide, includes a spectrum of disorders ranging from mental retardation and a profound inability to communicate, to relatively milder symptoms such as seen in people with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome.

Among core features of autism are poor communication skills and difficulties with social engagement.

‘Most people will ‘think in words’ when trying to solve problems, which helps with planning or particularly complicated tasks,’ said study leader David Williams from Durham University.

Parenting can be a frustrating job. We ask our kids 10 times to do something before it gets done; then they have an attitude. Preschoolers throw temper tantrums in public places and then want to snuggle moments later while we are still recovering from the incident and not emotionally able to share ourselves.

Siblings fight, teenagers defy and kids talk back. For parents, kids’ behaviors are irritating, irrational, annoying, mind-bending and maddening.

It is the nature of kids to misbehave. Believe it or not, this is one manner in which they learn about society and their environment. It is unrealistic to expect children to know what or how to do something unless you take the time to teach them or they learn through their experience. And in this case, experience is the best teacher.

When you understand that your child will misbehave, it becomes easier to respond calmly and express your emotions appropriately. Certain behaviors are a part of growth and will disappear as your child matures.

When you bring your infant daughter home from the hospital, you have a basic understanding she will cry when she is uncomfortable. Take this understanding a step further and know that misbehavior is natural and is going to occur despite your best efforts of prevention.

This is not about controlling your child. It is about teaching, guiding, understanding and loving her. After all, one cannot control another person’s behavior, only his or her own.

Many times a parent’s negative reactions arise because misbehavior is frightening. Violent temper tantrums exhibited by a 4-year old are scary. The parents may feel that they have done something to encourage this behavior or that their child will grow up to be a violent individual.

A teenager’s irresponsibility may alarm a parent because, as adults, we understand the importance our society places on being responsible.

Know that 4-year olds may have violent temper tantrums, 9-year olds may be forgetful and teenagers seem irresponsible. This does not mean your son will end up in prison because he trashed his room when he was 4. It is a normal part of maturing. The trick becomes how to handle it in the moment so you feel sane and your child learns.

Consider misbehavior to be a mistake. Ideally, when we make a mistake, we learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. Realistically, depending on the task, it may take two to three times to get it right. Children, however, are more impulsive and oftentimes do not think before they act, thus taking more practice to get it right. Breathe and have patience, with yourself and your child, while your child moves through his phases. He’ll get it eventually. After all, you did.

If you have two or more children, you will more easily identify each phase with each child. As time moves on, you’ll look back at your child’s younger years and muse how her behavior drove you crazy. Everything will turn out fine. Relax, put your child’s behavior in perspective and enjoy your time together.

Studies have shown that people who own pets have lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels and less stress, depression, and loneliness than those who don’t own pets. A study conducted at Kean University in New Jersey found that people feel better after just watching a Lassie movie because of a drop in their cortisol levels, a hormone associated with stress. Research has proven that owning a pet can also benefit children by teaching them about love and responsibility. Here are some more reasons that owning a pet benefits children:

Owning a pet boosts self-esteem. Research shows that kids who have family pets have higher self-esteem. Kids gain confidence when they have another creature to love who loves them back. Studies also show that pets boost academic skills because reading aloud to a loyal companion, like a dog, can turn a reluctant reader into a confident one. Many believe that interacting with animals represents a nonevaluative form of social support. A study from the University of Kansas followed children ages seven to 14 and found that if they lived with a pet their self-esteem and competence increased. For those who had serious chronic or even life-threatening illnesses, pets were even more important. In fact, the American Humane Association has a program called TASK — Therapy Animals Supporting Kids. The TASK Program encourages child welfare professionals to incorporate therapy animals into sessions with children who have been abused or neglected or have witnessed violence. According to the American Humane Association, “When children have suffered trauma, it is often difficult for them to speak of their experiences. Incorporating a therapy animal into the process can help a child open up and promote the healing process.” For more information on TASK, visit americanhumane.org

Owning a pet teaches values. Even toddlers can learn about caring for a pet by watching the way you are kind and gentle to your pet. Children as young as two years old can lend a hand with smaller tasks such as pouring pet food or water into a dish or giving treats. Most 12-month-olds will want to interact with pets and should be learning how to pet nicely (with an open hand) at this age. My 18-month-old son Chase knows how to play with our cats with the fishing pole toy. It’s great to see the look on Chase’s face when he gets one of the cats to grab the toy! If your child is a little older, he or she might be able to brush the dog or cat and maybe even scoop the litter box. Guinea pigs and fish are also great pets, and even a young child can pitch in and help feed these smaller pets. At any age, your child will realize that pets need the same things we need — food, water, shelter, love, which will teach him lessons about empathy and compassion.

Owning a pet is good for your child’s health. Experts say that children who grow up with pets are less likely to develop common allergies due to early exposure to certain bacteria. And some studies show that pet owners tend to get sick less often. Another benefit to pets — brushing, patting, or stroking a furry creature can lower stress levels. Caring for a pet also helps keep children more active — especially if your pet happens to be a dog. On average, dog-owning children spend 20 more minutes a day being active than those without a dog.

Despite all these benefits, potential pet owners should acquire a pet because they want the lifelong relationship; the added bonus is the physical and mental health benefits that come along with it. Pet ownership shouldn’t be entered into lightly as it is a big responsibility. Once you are ready for a pet, visit www.petfinder.com to find your local animal shelter or rescue group and adopt rather than shop for a pet. There are literally millions of homeless pets just waiting for the right person to come along. Stop by an animal shelter today, and improve the life of a homeless pet as well as your own!

via The Santa Barbara Independent

Below, Elizabeth Easton, Psy.D., clinical director of child and adolescent services at Eating Recovery Center’s Behavioral Hospital for Children and Adolescents, answers questions about treatment for eating disorders in children and adolescents.

How are child and adolescent eating disorders treatment different from treating eating disorders in adults?

The fundamental aspects of eating disorders treatment tend to be fairly consistent between adults and children and/or teens. Because these illnesses affect both mind and body, treatment providers will generally offer medical support, psychiatric stabilization and medication. Therapeutic support is also offered from skilled clinicians, including individual therapists, family therapists and dietitians.

However, key differences between programs designed for adults and those catering to younger patient populations pertain to the use of developmentally appropriate treatment plans and the availability of education services to help patients progress in K-12 studies during the course of treatment.

Developmentally sound care requires that the treatment team take into consideration not only the chronological age of patients, but also their developmental stage and their readiness to assume key responsibilities in the recovery process. Some patients who are either chronologically or developmentally young may require more assistance from parents regarding key elements of the recovery process, like refeeding, weight maintenance and compliance with the post-discharge plan of care. Furthermore, seeking effective treatment for your child or teen doesn’t mean that a child or teen’s academic functioning must suffer. Unlike programs for adults, child and adolescent eating disorders treatment can involve an educational component to help patients move forward with their studies to support a seamless transition back to school following treatment.

What should parents look for in an eating disorders treatment center or provider?

Comprehensive care from skilled experts is the most important element to look for when seeking eating disorders treatment for your child or adolescent. Eating disorders are incredibly complex illnesses, and it’s critical to identify a provider with experience treating the diseases in young patient populations and a record of successful treatment outcomes.

Another characteristic that parents should look for in a treatment provider is an educational component. By this, I mean two things. First, look for programs that make a point of educating parents and families about eating disorders and how to support the recovery of their young loved ones following discharge from treatment. Lasting eating disorders recovery for your child hinges in large part on you gaining a thorough understanding of the illness, as well as learning about and practicing effective strategies for helping to manage recovery. Secondly, treatment programs should offer a structured educational component with adequate support from licensed educators to help young patients maintain academic functioning while in treatment. Intensive eating disorders treatment can be disruptive in the life of a child or teen, and every effort should be made to support them in this area of their lives.

What level of involvement can parents expect throughout the treatment process?

While previous models of treatment viewed families and relational dynamics therein as part of the cause of these illnesses, the eating disorders treatment community is increasingly embracing interventions that view families as key agents of sustainable recoveries. A parent’s level of involvement will vary by treatment provider, but generally depends on two things: one, the provider’s treatment philosophy; and two, the extent to which family participation is requested in therapy, education and activities and the availability of parents to actively participate in treatment programming.

One treatment approach that involves extensive family participation is Family Based Treatment (FBT), also known as the Maudsley approach. FBT recognizes that families are key figures in fostering lasting recovery among young patients, and engages them in the treatment process in the following capacities:

• Restoration of their child’s weight to normal levels (in respect to age and height).
• Handing control over eating back to their child when appropriate.
• Establishing healthy adolescent identity and discussing crucial developmental issues as they pertain to their child.

While many eating disorders treatment centers will encourage parents to be on-site to participate in family therapy and education, this isn’t possible for all families due to a variety of factors (e.g., professional commitments, the need to care for siblings, the proximity of the patient’s home to the treatment center). However, most treatment centers can make appropriate accommodations to engage families when they can’t physically be on-site, including phone and Skype family therapy sessions.

What would you tell a parent that suspects his or her child has an eating disorder?

If you suspect your child has an eating disorder, trust your instincts. Parents often know when something is wrong. Educate yourself through research, talk to medical and mental health professionals and identify your support system. Don’t let your child’s eating disorder isolate you, don’t dwell on the past, and don’t lose hope. Identify what you want to work toward for your family, and take committed action toward that end.

Magazine advertisements for alcohol and cigarettes come with warning labels. Now, some groups suggest that the celebrity photos should, too.

A number of researchers and government regulators want photographs of movie stars and models to come with warnings that say the photos have been extensively altered with retouching software, such as Adobe Photoshop.

The idea stems from scientific research that found that vulnerable consumers, particularly children and teens, might be fooled by the photos’ convincing illusions of perfection and suffer negative physical and mental health consequences as a result.

“Children and teens are particularly vulnerable to ‘perfect’ models of adults and children their age in the media,” said Carolyn Landis, a clinical psychologist at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.

So far, the most notable calls for Photoshop warning labels have come from Europe. Legislators in France, Britain and Norway have supported government efforts to slap warning labels on photos to alert consumers when they have been digitally altered.

But in June, the American Medical Association denounced the doctoring of photographs, urging advertisers to work with child and teen health experts to set limits on Photoshopping. Two Dartmouth researchers have come up with a novel solution — a software tool that would detect how much fashion and beauty photographs have been altered, assigning them a rating from one (minimally altered) to five (starkly changed) — that was reported in the New York Times.

Calls to several fashion and beauty magazines about their policies on retouching photographs or their thoughts on photo warning labels were not immediately returned.

Research indicates that there is cause for worry about how celebrities and models, who appear forever trim and blemish-free, may affect how children view their own bodies. Several studies have linked manipulated photographs to eating disorders and other health problems.

But child psychologists say the most effective solution to helping children develop healthy and realistic body images comes not from warning labels and photo-rating systems but from active parenting.

Janis Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, said parents could start by not focusing too much attention on a child’s looks or appearance.

“Young children are normally not aware of physical traits until their attention is brought to it,” Rosenberg said. “Parents who draw too much attention to beauty, comparing their children’s physical attributes and causing a child to be overly aware of physical traits can be a great source of anxiety for a child.”

Parents may be able to spot a few warning signs if their child is becoming overly fixated on looks. Kids may start making negative comments about their appearance, compare themselves unfavorably to others or begin restricting what they eat to avoid getting fat.

While parents should certainly encourage children to eat a healthy diet, avoid oversize portions and exercise regularly, Landis said they can also restrict their comments about physical appearance in the light of what is healthy, not what looks attractive or desirable.

via ABC News

Doctors and researchers have known for years that children are more likely to develop mental-health problems if their mother has struggled with depression. But what if it’s the father who’s depressed?

According to a new study — one of the first to examine mental-health patterns in a nationally representative sample of dads and kids — a child’s odds of developing emotional or behavioral problems increase by as much as 70% if the father shows signs of depression. That’s smaller than the increased risk associated with depressed moms, but it’s still cause for concern, researchers say.

“For years we’ve been studying maternal depression and how it affects children, but the medical community has done a huge disservice by ignoring fathers in this research,” said the study’s lead author, Michael Weitzman, a professor of pediatric medicine at New York University, in New York. “These findings reinforce what we already assumed — that fathers matter, too, and they matter quite a lot.”

The situation is predictably worse if both parents are depressed. Just 6% of children with two mentally healthy parents have serious emotional or behavioral problems, such as feeling sad or nervous, acting out at school, or clashing with family and peers, the study found. But that proportion increases to 11% if the father is depressed, 19% if the mother is depressed and 25% if both parents are depressed — a strikingly high number, Weitzman says.

Although the study doesn’t prove that a parent’s depression directly causes problems in children, rather than vice versa, previous research on mothers and children has clearly shown that it’s generally mothers who influence kids’ mental health, not the other way around.

The idea that parents have an impact on their children’s mental health is a “no-brainer,” said Michael Brody, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Child Psychiatry and a visiting professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, in College Park, Maryland.

Genes often play a role in passing depression and other mental-health problems from parent to offspring, Brody said, and the family environment is also important. “We learn how to adapt to situations by looking at our parents as models,” he says. “So if either parent is depressed, a kid is going to be influenced by this.”

The study, which appears in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics, included nearly 22,000 two-parent families who participated in federal health surveys between 2004 and 2008. During in-home visits, researchers interviewed one adult in each household — typically the mother — about the mental health of all family members (including the interviewee).

The researchers used two separate questionnaires to record the overall mental health and depression symptoms of the parents. These questionnaires were used only for screening purposes, the study notes, and were not equivalent to the official symptom checklists doctors use to diagnose depression.

If the father displayed below-average mental health or depression symptoms, a child’s odds of having similar problems increased by 33% and 70%, respectively. The child’s odds increased even more — by as much as 200% — if the mother had mental-health problems instead.

Boys, 12- to 17-year-olds, and white children with depressed dads had higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems than did girls, younger kids, and children of other ethnicities. The study was limited to children who live with both parents, however, so the findings as a whole don’t necessarily apply to all households and family situations, the authors note.

Doctors and mental-health professionals have to do a better job of looking at the entire family picture when one member shows signs of depression, and asking about what role the father plays in a child’s upbringing, Brody says. “The good news is that dads are participating in their children’s lives; they’re active and they’re interested,” he says. “The bad news is that if they’re participating in a negative way, it’s going to affect the kids.”

Men who are feeling depressed should seek treatment, if only for the sake of their children, Brody adds. “Women are more likely to seek medical treatment in general, and psychiatric health, specifically,” he says. “This is just another reason for men who are feeling down or know they’re experiencing depression…to seek help.”

Via CNN

Researchers from The Australian National University have confirmed that children’s psychological wellbeing is linked to cardio-respiratory fitness and physical activity.

ANU researcher Lisa Olive said that although these relationships seemed obvious, there was limited research using reliable methods to examine these relationships in children.

“As part of the Lifestyle of our Kids (LOOK) longitudinal study, we have been looking at the psychological wellbeing of children and providing concrete research to support the idea of physical fitness contributing to mental health,” she said.

“Our main findings are that higher levels of fitness are resulting in lower levels of depression and stress and greater body satisfaction and this is even after accounting for the potential negative effect of body fat.”

Ms Olive is a primary investigator on both the psychology and education sections of the project, as part of the team working with Professor Don Byrne in the Department of Psychology.

“Specifically, we have been looking at the effectiveness of physical education (PE) in government funded primary schools,” she said.

“LOOK researchers have found that when PE programs are designed in line with strong contemporary evidence and conducted by specialist PE teachers they can improve specific areas of academic performance and can lessen age-related increases in body fat.

“With regards to psychology, we found that specialist PE had a small, positive and time-limited effect on body image. However, there is no evidence as yet that this relates to other areas of psychological wellbeing and this is something we will be analysing further.”

Ms Olive said the psychology section was just one part of the LOOK study which also investigated cardiovascular health, bone health, nutrition, physical activity patterns, metabolic health, family influences, academic success and more.

“The aim of the study is to tie all these factors together in order to better understand the development of physical and psychological health in children and how physical activity participation, including early experiences in PE, affects these components of health.”

LOOK is a multi-disciplinary longitudinal project tracking the health of Canberra school children, which commenced in 2005.

via Health News