Children and Adolescents

Mod Vive reports that "The rampant self-diagnosing of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is out of control. There is also an increasing amount of people...

In England, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has become big news. The increasing understanding of the level of childhood sexual abuse and how this produces mental anguish has of course reached the psychosis arena, and encouraged academic study. Whilst the majority of psychiatrists continue to privilege a biological explanation of psychosis, more and more workers recognise abuse as at least a trigger if not a cause of psychosis. It's important to develop thinking points for teams struggling with, or more generally avoiding, the CSA/psychosis link.

The Washington Post says "The latest numbers from the Center for Disease Control showing a steep rise in the number of children with autism...

Patient advocates and bioethicists have launched a call-in campaign demanding action on psychiatric research abuse at the University of Minnesota.

Salon.com points out that "While data point to at least some over diagnosis (of ADHD), at least in boys, the extent of this problem...

Research in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology finds that "Over the last two decades, the increased use of atypical antipsychotic medications, often...

The U.K.'s Guardian newspaper concludes that "The government is right: children need love as much as they do vitamins – and a lack of...

The Journal of Clinical Medicine explores pediatric bipolar disorder through the eyes  a young American, whose story "reveals several issues that afflict contemporary psychiatry, particularly in...

As I walked alone up the stairs to the Rayburn House Office Building this morning to attend the hearing of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on H.R. 3717 - the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act - I thought about how I wasn’t truly alone. In spirit with me were all the people who had experienced scary, coercive, and dehumanizing interventions in the name of help. In spirit with me was every mental health provider who went into the field hoping to really make a difference in their communities, but became cynical and discouraged in the face of so many broken systems and broken spirits.

Dear Senator Deeds: Hello from another fellow Virginian. First, I want to extend my deepest condolences for the horrific tragedy that befell your family last year, and for the loss of your precious son Gus. I think I know, at least in part, how agonizing it is when our loved ones cannot access helpful supports, and how it feels to watch in horror as they spiral downward into darkness and despair. We all agree that our mental health systems are broken. Those of us who have been down the hellish road of struggling with our mental health and have found recovery have developed a new vision that will take us forwards, not backwards. Please give us the opportunity to share that new vision with you.

My new book, Debunking ADHD: 10 Reasons to Stop Drugging Kids for Acting Like Kids, is scheduled to be released tomorrow, on April 1st. Really, no joke. To be honest, when my editor informed me of this unique release date, it didn't strike me as the most complimentary day to publish research that has been years in the making and is ultimately a very serious subject. As time passed and the big day has slowly approached, however, the release date has come to feel completely serendipitous! April Fool's Day is indeed the perfect day to re-energize a powerful movement to put an end to the drugging of kids for acting like kids. Like an unkind April Fool's Day prank, ADHD is a complete joke.

Esquire discovers that "By the time they reach high school, nearly 20 percent of all American boys will be diagnosed with ADHD. Millions of...

Martin Harrow's study tracing the effects of antipsychotics on 139 schizophrenia (SZ) and mood-disordered patients over 20 years, just published in Psychological Medicine, finds...

David Kupelian writes "Two-and-a-half years ago, a groundbreaking peer-reviewed study out of California-based Kaiser Permanente documented a significantly increased prevalence of children born with autism...

PsychCentral offers a take on noncompliance: "The moment we decide for others why they experience something as they do is the moment at which...

Treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with stimulants affects growth and is likely to cause a higher BMI in later adolescence, according to research from...

The recently released report from Express Scripts showing a dramatic rise in the use of stimulant medications, often prescribed for ADHD, also shows that...

The safety of our children is a sacred obligation we strive to preserve. Anything or anyone that harms them becomes the object of our...

Although psychotic experiences (PEs) and schizophrenia are thought to share similar etiological risk factors, PEs also co-exist with depression and, according to research from...

Research from Australia asks the question noted above, and answers "subtle, but diverse, structural brain alterations, altered electrophysiological functioning and sleep patterns, minor physical...

Subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson have agreed to pay $5.9 million to settle Montana's lawsuit over the company's fraudulent marketing of Risperdal.  According to...

Children who reported experiencing frequent nightmares between 2.5 and 9 years of age were significantly more likely to report psychotic experiences at age 12, regardless...

According to the University of South Dakota's The Volante, "In 1993, about four percent of American college students used prescription drugs for nonmedical uses, according...

Research from the University of East Anglia find that children who experienced chronic, but relatively common, family difficulties - such as arguments, tension, or...

Like so many others, I have wanted to embrace the idea that research supports such beliefs as “ADHD is a chronic disease plaguing children”, and/or “Bigfoot exists”. I mean, who wouldn’t? We assume that research is based on sound evidence; information we can trust. Who wouldn't want to believe evidence that there is a simple medical explanation for those annoying behaviors exhibited by children in the process of developing into responsible young adults?