Teenagers are especially vulnerable to mental health problems, and when it comes to those who within the LGBT community, that vulnerability is even greater. LGBT mental health statistics make sobering reading and the numbers say volumes about our most vulnerable teenagers. Recent surveys have shown that those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender [...]
Substance-induced mood disorders, as they imply, are mood disorders caused when someone either starts or stops taking a particular substance. These disorders impact the way that you think, feel, or act, and the mood change can last for days or as long as several weeks. Prescription medications and illegal drugs can result in depression, an [...]
In recent years, there has been much media coverage regarding the rise of autism in young children. Though a specific cause has not yet been discovered, a variety of theories have run rampant (though they have all been disproven). For quite some time, it was believed that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine was a [...]
If a young person has a particularly intense experience which harms or threatens their physical or emotional well-being, they may develop trauma. When adolescents suffer from trauma, this can have a major impact on their life. Not only can it impact on their daily life, but it can also affect their social skills. This, of [...]
Many people have never heard of MDMA (short for methylenedioxymethamphetamine). On the flip side, most have heard of ecstasy. Otherwise known as the love pill or the club drug, ecstasy heightens perceptions of sound and color and is also known to increase the physical sensation of touch, especially during physical intercourse. Ecstasy contains hallucinogens, which [...]
Expressive therapy is a common practice used with young children, teens, and adults, in both individual and group settings. The intention of this unique approach to therapy is to help the patient develop and grow personally, and ultimately to transform to the person that they want to be. Expressive therapy for children and teens struggling [...]
Young adults are very vulnerable to addictions, and in many cases, are more vulnerable than any other age group. During the teen years, the brain and body are still in development. In particular, the area of the brain that makes rational decisions is not well-established. And in reality, these parts of the brain are often [...]
With nearly 300 million cell phones in use in the United States, that puts the country third overall in the world when it comes to total mobile phones in use. In a 2017 article, Bill Gates was quoted as saying that on average, a child gets his or her first smartphone at the age of [...]
It seems that the prevalence of marijuana use is on the rise among today’s teenagers, and this isn’t just because marijuana is becoming legalized in certain states across the country. Many teenagers are trying marijuana, and some are using it quite regularly. In fact, today's teens are more likely to use marijuana than tobacco. Even [...]
It has to be hard to be a teenager these days. While we all were teenagers at one point in our lives, it is most likely that we remember all of the good times. We remember prom, barbeques with our friends, late study nights at the library, and graduation, among many other things. We probably [...]
Teen alcohol abuse has become a tragic element of our society’s evolution and a very real threat to the safety of teenagers in the United States. Teens today are drinking just as much, if not more than, the generations prior. In fact, a majority of teens will have tried alcohol at least once before they [...]
Social anxiety, sometimes known as social phobia, can be very difficult to cope with at any time in life and requires careful management. However, for young people who are still in school, it can be especially hard to handle as the isolating nature of the disorder. Social anxiety is an overwhelming and long-lasting fear of [...]
Most people experience some traumatic events in their life from time to time, and this includes children and teenagers. Some experts believe that up to 40% of adolescents and children will go through a minimum of one traumatic event at some point in their lives, but while the majority of people bounce back to normal [...]
With summertime comes time at the beach, fun in the sun, and hanging out with friends. But for teenagers struggling with mental health issues, especially those who avoid social settings, it can mean a summer spent in front of an electronic device, sleeping far more than what is healthy, and other poor behaviors. For many [...]
Teens, as part of their natural behavior, seek attention as they are trying to find their way in the world. They are discovering their skills and talents, and when they find something that they are good at, they often want to share it with others. On top of increasing independence that parents are offering to [...]
Today’s teenagers are subject to many pressures that we as parents, will never understand. The teen years are difficult regardless of when you grew up, but teens now experience far more pressure to succeed academically and feel pressured by parents to do more, and be more. Aside from that, the increasing presence of technology in [...]
Nomophobia a recently named phobia that can affect everyone in this digitally dependent age, but is a greater threat to teen development. Think about how much we all use our cell phones. We can probably all attest to the fact that if we are a smartphone user, the device has somehow become an extension of [...]
Mental health problems such as anxiety and depression are on the rise amongst teenagers, and finding ways to help young people to overcome the challenges that those conditions raise and improve their emotional well-being is an ongoing concern amongst clinicians and parents alike. While there is no real substitute for professional counseling or therapy for mental [...]
