Q&A: Is My Child Being Overdrugged?
My eight-year-old daughter has diagnoses of ADHD, depression, anxiety, and ODD. She is taking four prescribed drugs, but she is still suffering and her behavior hasnât changed much. Her doctor is suggesting adding yet another med. Iâm wondering how many drugs are enough? I am starting to think she should go off some of them. I want to trust the psychiatrist, but Iâm just not sure anymore.
Q&A: My Child Is Self-Harming. How Can I Help?
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. Sheâs always made excuses about them, but now I realize she has been self-harming for a while. She swears she isnât suicidal. Whatâs this all about, and what can I do?
Q&A: How Can I Best Advocate for My Child in the Mental Health System?
Steve McCrea, MA, advises on how to research options, set goals, look out for a child's interestsâand speak up, if need be.
Study Finds No Increased Risks for Pregnant Women Who Discontinue SSRIs/SNRIs
A new article published in Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology finds pregnant women that chose to stop using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin...
Teen Arts Exhibition: Beyond Labels And Meds: What It Feels Like To Be Me
28 teen artists share the power of their creativity in this collection of profoundly moving, courageous, and beautiful artwork.
Q&A: My Child’s School Is Pressuring Me to Give Him Stimulants
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 donât. I feel very uncomfortable with this, but they seem to think it's the only answer. What should I do?
Student Counseling Services: Do They Really Help the ‘Mentally Ill’?
I used to think that the counseling center would help me to resolve my inner conflicts. That visiting the center would do some good for me. I have since realized that most mainstream âmental healthâ is more damaging than helpful. These days if student counselors see any problem with a student visiting the center, they send him or her to see a psychiatrist.
Giving Caregivers a Platform: Leigh, Mother of Melissa
This is the story of a young woman who suffered through the agony of "kindling" and other drug-related harm, eventually dying by suicide. This is also the story of her motherâs path ahead.
Q&A: My Child is Being Bullied
I have a young son who is being verbally bullied by his peers. He is a sensitive childâ 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?
Q&A: May I Take My Foster Child Off Her Drug Cocktail?
I recently became the foster parent of a 10-year-old girl. She is on a cocktail of several medications prescribed to treat behavioral problems, according to her social worker. They don't really seem to help her. What are the considerations involved with withdrawing her from the meds, and what power do I have to influence this decision?
Q&A: My Child Is Suicidal. What Should I Do?
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 Iâm wondering if there is special advice for supporting a child or young person versus an adult.
Q&A: How Can I Best Support My Child’s Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs?
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.
Q&A: Dad Is Coercing Son to Get Off Meds
My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia five years ago and now lives in a residential facility with a holistic treatment approach. However, his father has repeatedly and aggressively tried to coerce him to get off medication. My son and his provider have repeatedly asked him to stop, and the stress of his fatherâs pressure is setting him back. What should we do?
In Memory of Sandra Escher, Pioneer on Voice-Hearing
Sandra Escher, who helped create a foundation for the Hearing Voices movement, recently passed away. She was the first researcher in the field of children who hear voices.
The Real Myth of the Schizophrenogenic Mother
Acknowledging the role of trauma inflicted by a given individualâs mother is not the same as laying all blame for âmental illnessâ at the feet of motherhood. Meanwhile, a mountain of evidence has accumulated linking schizophrenia to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and many other categories of adverse childhood experiences.
Making Mental Health an Ongoing Priority:Â A Patch Adams Approach
My brotherâs sudden death and Mental Health Awareness Month spurred me to spend May making small, very personal efforts to both honor his memory and move the mental health conversation forward.
Charles Spencerâs Story of Boarding School Abuse Is Haunting
But parents are still sending children away to board, and itâs still dangerous.
Russell Razzaque, MD – Short Bio
Dialogical Psychiatry: In his column, Dr. Russell Razzaque, a UK-based psychiatrist, discusses mindfulness and related practices that help clinicians connect with themselves in order...
Healing From Transgenerational Trauma: My Mum, My Daughter, & Me
Emotional trauma is the type of wound that, if not processed and integrated, can become a void that expands to swallow not just the traumatized person but also their children and grandchildren.
SAFE: Survivors And Families EmpoweredâAn Update
We hope to combat the increasing reliance on force, too often used with the justification âfor your own good.â
The Faulty Reasoning That Turned ADHD Into a Disease
Leading ADHD researchers outline four mistakes that turned ADHD from a description of behavior into a medical disease.
Placebo EffectâNot AntidepressantsâResponsible for Depression Improvement
In adolescent depression treatment, those who received a placebo but thought they received Prozac improved more than those who received the drug and knew it.
Lexapro for Children: Drug With No Meaningful Benefit and Increased Suicidality Gets FDA Approval
Response and remission rates were the same in the drug versus placebo groups, and Lexapro increased suicidality sixfold.
Childhood Trauma Is Not a Mental Illness
My childhood was stolen by systems focused on labeling and medicating me instead of healing the effects of abuse and neglect.
Antidepressants Still Linked to Increased Suicide Risk
Bias and financial conflicts in antidepressant trials âcontribute to systematic underestimation of risk in the published literature.â
