Parent Resources

David Edward Walker is the author of Coyote’s Swing: A Memoir and Critique of Mental Hygiene in Native America, which was published in February...

Peter Gøtzsche discusses the broadening of ADHD diagnostic criteria and the misleading and biased stimulant drug trials.

The ACE study tells of how adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of psychological and physical problems in adulthood. When will we start incorporating these findings into public health policy and medical care?

For many caregivers who assist their loved ones, the journey involves navigating the medical system and its many challenges. This time, the journey takes...

Two experts offer do's and don'ts on "being there" during the challenging and sometimes time-consuming process of safely discontinuing mental health medications.

Being re-grounded in my community reminds me that mourning and love are inseparable, and that “nothing about us, is for us, without us.”

From the Daily Mail (UK): Teenagers who see their mum and dad as loving caregivers are less likely to be cyberbullies than children with...

Leading ADHD researchers outline four mistakes that turned ADHD from a description of behavior into a medical disease.

From inews.co.uk: Family doctors say a lack of access to effective psychological therapies on the NHS is leading them to over-prescribe medication.

My son recently had a first psychotic episode due to excessive marijuana use and a head injury. He is currently in legal trouble for hitting a staffer while involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. Doctors now say he shows no sign of mental illness. He wants to get the charges dropped and go to rehab. Is there any way to have a psychiatric diagnosis voided?

A new study finds that newborn babies experience antidepressant withdrawal after birth if their mothers take SSRIs when pregnant.

Maureen Hannah, a Professor of Psychology at Siena College, New York, tells of experiences with the psychiatric system, both personally and professionally, and how poor care in the mental health system led to an unexpected and devastating family loss.

Risk of depression increased when children were taking methylphenidate for ADHD, but once they stopped taking the drug, depression risk dropped to normal levels.

My 19-year-old son has been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and ODD. He refuses to go to school or get a job; instead, he just hangs around and plays video games. He has prescriptions but refuses to take them. Frankly, he contributes nothing to the household but stress and is a bad role model for his siblings. How can I make him take his meds and shape up?

The suicidality that accompanies akathisia is the natural human impulse to escape being tortured. To save my wife, the woman I love, I was forced to argue for her continued torture.

Disturbingly, our study and others reveal that the black box warning is now ignored in many countries, since antidepressant prescriptions for children are on the rise again. Despite increasing certainty that antidepressants are ineffective and likely cause suicidal behavior in young people, psychiatry continues to claim that they reduce suicide risk.

Finnish psychiatrist Ben Furman reviews various non-drug therapies for children with aggressive outbursts of anger, including the Kids' Skills approach that he and social psychologist Tapani Ahola developed. These approaches focus on helping children come up with their own ideas for overcoming their problems with the help of family and friends.

My experience caused me to look into the origin of including the patient in decision-making about treatment and informed consent.

From Darcia Narvaez, PhD: Everyone needs to learn to grieve losses and deal with shock. Here are practices that build resilience in children (and everyone).

Imagine being a parent at a meeting with educators to discuss Johnny's academics or behavior. Suddenly, your child’s teacher is telling you that he needs to see a doctor for an assessment of a suspected “mental disorder,” which usually leads to a prescription for medication. Warned of “the risks against failing to intervene,” you will likely acquiesce.

My child talks about wanting to die. She is only 9 years old. There is so much information out there about what family or friends should say to people who are suicidal, but I’m wondering if there is special advice for supporting a child or young person versus an adult.

My eight-year-old son has trouble paying attention in school. He's always been very active and easily bored. The school had him evaluated by the school psychologist, who thinks he has ADHD. They are pressuring me to get him on stimulants and threatened to call Child Protective Services if I don’t. I feel very uncomfortable with this, but they seem to think it's the only answer. What should I do?

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?

I walked in on my teenaged daughter cutting her upper leg with a razor. I have also noticed multiple cuts and what look like cigarette burns on her wrists and torso. She’s always made excuses about them, but now I realize she has been self-harming for a while. She swears she isn’t suicidal. What’s this all about, and what can I do?

I have a young son who is being verbally bullied by his peers. He is a sensitive child— thin, wears glasses, athletic and intelligent. I suspect the problem may be related to anti-Semitism. I feel like telling him that he needs to fight the bullies with his fists. His mother advises him to ignore the bullies and to concentrate on his studies. What would you advise?