Mental Health

Autism is a serious developmental disorder that usually develops before the age of 3. It's characterized by severe communication difficulties, language problems and behavioral issues. Autistic...

Everyday we hear about children being victims of sexual molestation. Our children are victims of people they should trust like family members, church members, friends, and strangers. It is a...

Bipolar disorder (sometimes called manic-depressive illness) is a mental disorder characterized by extreme mood swings. While the median age of onset for bipolar disorders is 25 years, researchers...

It is challenging to be a single parent. You have to juggle the competing demands of work, family and personal needs. If you have a child who is autistic, this juggling act becomes tenfold more...

Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are found to be comorbid in children which means that a child with ADHD could also have the diagnosis of...

Calming a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, sometimes takes extraordinary effort, as any parent of an ADHD child knows. It requires patience and perspective, and...

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) used to be known as Multiple Personality Disorder. It is a psychological condition in which a person has two or more distinct personality states, sometimes...

Early-onset childhood bipolar disorder is a mental illness involving extremes of emotion ranging from aggression to hyperactivity to depression. When kids have bipolar disorder, their illness...

Play therapy is a modality often used with children. It can be used for a number of different experiences and conditions that children may endure. It is especially effective to use play with...

Separation anxiety is a condition that may surface in children as they are dropped off at daycare, school or another location where the parent or primary caregiver is not present. The fear...

According to the National Institute of Mental Health fifty percent of mental illness cases begin by the age of 14. Not every case of behavioral changes requires mental health treatment. For...

We all feel the debilitating effects of stress and anxiety from time to time. Sometimes, we just need a time-out from these feelings--a quick distraction that keeps a minor stressful event from...

Children who have troubled home lives are often missing some of the necessary resources that are essential for survival. These missing resources, according to Dr. Ruby Payne, may be economic,...

The right to refuse mental health treatment is controversial; more so regarding children and adolescents. This often creates a battle between the patient and physician.

Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder struggle with an unusual amount of anxiety and have strong urges to perform rituals to relieve their anxiety. OCD can affect a child's quality of life...

A tearful three-year-old tugging on mom before preschool isn't alarming. Sometimes, however, anxious feelings continue into adulthood and lead to serious consequences. According to the Children's...

Explaining bipolar disorder to a child can be challenging and difficult, particularly if bipolar disorder affects one of the child's parents. Children are very intuitive and extremely perceptive...

Children with bipolar disorder are vulnerable to triggers in their environment, including stress or an unpredictable schedule. In addition, sometimes even the food a child consumes can trigger...

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness as known as manic-depression treatable illness. The illness causes extreme changes in the mood, energy levels, and behavior. The symptoms may be...

Many children suffer from anxiety in one form or another. There are problems with generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, forms of panic disorders and social anxiety. When a child suffers from...

Children need stable, consistent environments to come back to give them the courage to go out into the world and take risks. Children of a parent with bipolar disorder (BPD), however, do not...

Approximately 30 to 40 million Americans suffer from a fear of the dentist. Children can be particularly fearful of the dentist and can experience dentist visits as traumatic. Early dental fears...

Experiencing some anxiety is a normal part of childhood. First days of school, tests, problems with friends, family matters and other common childhood issues can all produce anxiety. However, for...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a group of behaviors found in about 4 to 12 percent of school-age children. The behavior can disrupt learning and normal development. ADHD must...

Bipolar behavior is often difficult to diagnose in children because it can mimic other common childhood disorders such as ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, obssessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder...

Dealing with a mentally ill child is devastating for families, both emotionally and financially. Finding financial support can be difficult, but help is available through the U.S. Social Security...

If your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, there is hope that they can still learn to read and write. In fact, many dyslexic children are extremely intelligent. If given a little help,...

Dyslexia is often overlooked in children or misdiagnosed as some other learning or attention disorder. Children become frustrated at their difficulties and try to hide them, often seeming to be...

Children who have ADD or ADHD are often energetic, on the go and in constant motion. They are hard to keep up with and they have difficulties sitting still long enough to focus on learning. So...

When children are born, your first thought is to wonder if they have all their ten fingers and toes. They are your precious gift. As they grow older, children will develop at varied paces. Some...

When your child is extremely active or has difficulty keeping their attention of something, it is hard to tell if it is normal behavior or if they have a real attention problem. How can you tell...

Children who are hyperactive or have attention difficulties are sometimes diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Parents who are finding it...

When our children are sad, it makes us want to do anything to cheer them up. Unfortunately, this becomes a daunting task if our children are depressed. How can you as a parent help a child who...

Bipolar disorder is a physiological disorder in which the patient swings uncontrolled between manic rages and depressive episodes. Though the disorder is very difficult to diagnose in children, it...

Some children are troubled for various reasons such as a parent's death or divorce, self-esteem issues, rejection from their peers or drug abuse. The important thing is that we not ignore them but...

Anxiety symptoms are known as the number one cause of health issues amongst America. However; detecting an Anxiety disorder in adults is much easier than in young children. For those children...

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder where people have certain thoughts that they cannot get out of their mind. These thoughts often compel the OCD sufferer to engage in...

Narcissism is characterized by a distorted self-image. Narcissists demonstrate behavior that is self-centered, constantly seek admiration and attention, exaggerate their self-worth and show little...

According to the Northwest Regional Council/Area Agency on Aging, major depression is a life-threatening mental disorder affecting 17 million people annually in the United States and nearly one in...

Children's anxiety is a blanket term for a group of disorders that cause a child to be afraid, worried or nervous to the point that they can no longer function normally. As this series of...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by compulsive, persistent thoughts or behaviors that create serious disruptions in daily routines and activities. The...

Anxiety disorders in preschoolers typically have two components: physical sensations like headaches, sweating and nausea, and emotional sensations like nervousness and fear, according to Keep Kids...

Your child has ADHD. They may think that they are weird, abnormal, or strange. It is important that parents explain to their kids that it is a biological condition, and that they are still a great...

Prozac is prescribed for children diagnosed with serious depression. The drug also is given to children who demonstrate early signs of what is considered obsessive-compulsive behavior in an adult....

Students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are especially prone to schoolwork problems because of their symptoms. Those who suffer from ADHD, whether or not they take...

Separation anxiety disorder is a normal phase of childhood development where a child feels anxious about separation from parents or leaving home. Most children 2 years of age or younger experience...

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a psychological condition typically affecting children and teenagers, characterized by frequent extreme tantrums and angry outbursts toward authority...

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder in which the patient undergoes intense swings from manic highs to depressive lows due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Though the diagnosis of BPD is most...

Doctors used to believe that only adults could be affected by bipolar disorder, but children are now being diagnosed with this condition. Because kids have such different and vivid personalities,...

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is difficult for both parents and the child with ODD. The characteristic rebellious, defiant and angry behavior interferes with the child's normal development,...