Children and Adolescents

Study finds adults with a pro-inflammatory diet have a greater incidence of depression.

New research examines important factors of adherence when prescribing exercise to treat depression.

New data shows that calls to US poison control centers have increased significantly for children taking stimulant ADHD drugs.

Alterations in gray matter and white matter development found in infants of mothers taking SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.

A new study examines the extent to which patterns in prescription drug misuse and substance use disorder symptoms can be predicted by education level

The only way out of the epidemic of feeling-people-turned-medicated-psychiatric-patients is to rebrand and reframe feeling as a cultural collective. And I believe it starts with our messaging as parents and our orientation toward shadow elements like anger and sadness. We have to model a conscious relationship to our own dark parts, and we have to show our children what it looks like to move through these spaces. Feelings can be messy, wild, and sometimes ugly to our constrained sensibilities.

Researchers point to the risks of using antipsychotics with youth and caution against the practice.

Increased frequency of digital media use can increase symptoms of ADHD among adolescents, study finds.

People who reduced antipsychotic use by tapering were doing just as well after five years as those who continued using the drugs.

Researchers find that valproate decreases brain volume in a region associated with emotion processing across all participants.

To what extent are healthcare providers equipped to assess nuance in the experiences of pain among nonverbal children?

New research has found that a childhood ADHD diagnosis is not predictive of adult functioning in boys.

During the past twenty years, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and American psychiatry have adopted a "medicalized" approach to preventing suicide, claiming that antidepressants are protective against suicide. Yet, the suicide rate in the United States has increased 30% since 2000, a time of rising usage of antidepressants. A review of studies of the effects of mental health treatment and antidepressants on suicide reveals why this medicalized approach has not only failed, but pushed suicide rates higher.

When I was training to be a child psychiatrist in the mid-1990s, childhood depression was considered to be rare, related to adversity, and generally unresponsive to pharmaceutical treatment. Since then much has changed. The psychiatrization of the pain and struggles involved in growing up has caused considerably more harm to young people than good. I believe the science is on my side in this conclusion.

It is important to distinguish, and not simply pathologize, experiences that are manic-like because they are time-honored states of mind associated with aspiration, ambition, and goal-achievement. The need to generate boundless energy, overtalk the issues to sustain single-minded focus and motivation, and have a somewhat grandiose vision of what can be accomplished, combined, can eventuate in a manic mix of tendencies necessary to bring higher-order goals to fruition.

New research demonstrates the lasting effects of mindfulness training on stress and wellbeing among university students.

A new review highlights the effects that psychiatric diagnosis has on children and adolescents’ social relationships and views of self.

After seeing the family for two sessions I came to the conclusion that what Adam was suffering from was inconsistent discipline, temper tantrums and misbehavior that were inadvertently encouraged by his parents. The correct prescription for Adam was not an antipsychotic medication that might cause him harm, but family therapy to help the parents implement a behavioral program that would fit Adam’s needs.

Research investigates clinicians’ perspectives on best care practices and the complicated realities of providing care in the face of agency limitations and mechanized interventions.

Study of students without an ADHD diagnosis finds that stimulants (Adderall) have little impact on cognitive performance.

I care deeply about the mental and physical health of children, including my own son’s. I don’t want students to suffer in silence and shame. But I am very concerned about just how this topic will be taught in schools. Adults need to get honest about the harm our systems and institutions cause to students every day, often in the name of “help.”

Researchers investigate the first-person experiences of people who disagreed with their psychiatric diagnosis of psychosis.

Researchers parse out factors within urbanicity that leads to risk for psychotic experiences.

If I had a clinical problem, why was something as ancient and simple as meditation helping me? And if normal positive human habits could be so profoundly useful, why the heck was the field marketing pills and “clinical” coping mechanisms to me instead? This frustration helped me jump ship from the medical mindset and hop into the world of humanity.

A new study suggests needing to appear perfect to others leads to mental health stigma and a higher risk of untreated psychological distress.