A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and two other anxiety disorders - separation anxiety and social anxiety - are among the most commonly experienced psychiatric problems in youngsters. Similar to adult estimates, girls are about twice as likely as boys to have GAD. GAD symptoms are distressing and can be impairing not just for the child or teen; the family [...]
Pixabay Images All we can ever hope to do, Sigmund Freud once wrote, is “to change neurotic misery into common unhappiness.” This pessimistic statement from arguably the most influential psychological theorist of modern times captured the mood that prevailed in psychology through most of the 20th century. That is, most psychologists, psychiatrists, and [...]
Is there really such a disorder as "Internet addiction"? In my estimation, the short, honest answer is, "We don't know enough to say for sure." Part of the problem is the ambiguity in—and disagreement over—the terms "addicted" and "addiction." An even more serious problem is sorting out the role of "the Internet" (and other electronic [...]
Many negative effects of drinking, such as transitioning into heavy alcohol use, often take place during adolescence and can contribute to long-term negative health outcomes as well as the development of alcohol use disorders. A new study of adolescent drinking and its genetic and environmental influences has found that different trajectories of adolescent drinking are [...]
Lately, we read a lot about the so-called ‘over diagnoses’ of our children. An increasingly popular view suggests we are medicalising completely ‘normal’ aspects of childhood. Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome and Oppositional Defiance Disorder are just some of the conditions we hear about more often these days – and that attract considerable [...]
