Children and Adolescents

Diagnosing children with juvenile or pediatric bipolar disorder is largely an American phenomenon. Do we actually have more “bipolar” children in the United States—or are we simply labeling more of them as such? If it is ever fair to call a child “manic,” isn’t the child’s environment the direction in which we should look?

Severe infections requiring hospitalizations increased the risk of hospital contacts due to mental disorders by 84% and the risk of psychotropic medication use by 42%.

Study highlights the importance of early interventions for institutionalized children.

A new as-yet-unpublished trial of duloxetine (Cymbalta) for fibromyalgia has presented more evidence of suicidal events in teens.

Benzodiazepine prescription practices may be in response to an epidemic of distress, rather than being used to treat specific mental health diagnoses.

New research suggests that when parents model emotion suppression strategies in social interactions, their children’s approaches to social engagement may suffer.

Long-term opioid prescribing has not only been shown to not be helpful for chronic pain; it in fact worsens pain by repeatedly causing tolerance and withdrawals (the main symptom of which is pain). This is analogous to how psychiatric drug use, though often helpful initially, ultimately can cause people to become chronically “mentally ill.”

A new study in JAMA Psychiatry investigates the relationship between trauma and psychotic experiences.

A new meta-analysis analyzes randomized control trials of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for adolescents.

Researchers discuss the evidence that antipsychotic medications may cause brain atrophy in children, whose brains are still developing.

It would take decades before I recognized the trauma caused by repeatedly being separated from my mom when she was hospitalized. I grieved almost exactly the way children did who had lost a parent to death. Yet it was grief without closure because my mom was not dead, just... gone.

The fact that we shame people for acting like they need attention (and for actually needing attention) is self-defeating and maddening, not to mention absurd. Living in a society that punishes people for having fundamental needs like attention is probably one of the reasons people have developed behaviors “just” to “get attention.”

New research emphasizes the impact of school connectedness and community engagement interventions on students' mental health.

A qualitative study explores young adults’ childhood bullying experiences.

Journal releases a compilation of articles detailing how zero-tolerance policy may impact mental health.

Psychiatrist and psychologist outline pharmacological and psychotherapeutic strategies for discontinuing antidepressants.

New review ties increased screen time to increasing anxiety and depression among young adults throughout the United States.

Many individuals diagnosed with eating disorders describe and internal ‘voice,’ which may be linked to experiences of childhood trauma and dissociation.

A new study explores the interplay between social stress and quality of life for individuals self-identified with high-functioning autism.

A new study in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience has found that the smell of lavender extract has an anxiolytic effect.

Regular MIA readers may have noticed that we recently added a content box on the front page titled “Parent Resources.” This initiative has been a long time coming, and it is one that we hope will help us reach—and serve—a new group of readers. Many parents writing to us are desperately looking for a way out of the conventional system.

A recent review suggests that depression guidelines do not incorporate evidence for exercise within a stepped-care approach and may be over-reliant on pharmacological treatments.

Researchers investigate the impact of immigration policies on the mental health of arriving Mexican and Central American immigrants.

A recent Cochrane review has found that serious adverse events occur for about 1% of children and adolescents treated with Ritalin.

A new report on pediatric bipolar critically examines the current evidence base and calls for more research before the diagnosis is used.