Help for Troubled Teens

The character of a person is shown through his or her personality — by the way an individual thinks, feels, and behaves.  When the behavior is inflexible, maladaptive, and antisocial, then that individual is diagnosed with a personality disorder. 

Most personality disorders begin as problems in personal development and character which peak during adolescence and then are defined as personality disorders. 

Personality disorders are not illnesses in a strict sense as they do not disrupt emotional, intellectual, or perceptual functioning.  However, those with personality disorders suffer a life that is not positive, proactive, or fulfilling.  Not surprisingly, personality disorders are also  associated with failures to reach potential.

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Many teens experience a time when keeping up with school work is difficult.  These periods may last several weeks and may include social problems as well as a slide in academic performance.

Research suggests that problems are more likely to occur during a transitional year, such as moving from elementary to middle school, or middle school to high school.

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Emotional Health

What Should I Know About My Teenager’s Emotional Health?

The teenage years are a time of transition from childhood into adulthood.  Teens often struggle with being dependent on their parents while having a strong desire to be independent.  Ideally, they are maturing from the one-sided self-centeredness of childhood to a self-identity that balances responsible self-interest with care and love for others.

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Alcohol and Teen Drinking

A child who reaches age 21 without

smoking, abusing alcohol or using drugs

is virtually certain never to do so.

- Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Chairman and President,

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are not only adult problems — they also affect a significant number of adolescents and young adults between the ages of 12 and 20, even though drinking under the age of 21 is illegal.

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ADD/ADHD and School

There are so many concerns surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of ADD/ADHD that parents must be knowledgeable and cautious.  It is usually the school that approaches parents to have an assessment for ADD/ADHD and parents often feel pressured in having the traditional drug treatment to ‘correct’ their child’s behavior.

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ADD/ADHD:  Medication Concerns

Although no chemical imbalance has ever been proven, health professionals prescribe psychostimulant medication (such as Ritalin, Strattera, Adderall) as the primary treatment in correcting the ‘chemical imbalance’.  In 2000, more than 19 million prescriptions for ADHD drugs were filled, a 72% increase since 1995.

However, with the known side effects of these drugs and without knowledge or evidence of long-term results on growth and development, is medication really the best option?

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ADD & ADHD:  Possible Causes

Although health professionals often state that ADD/ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder caused by a brain chemical imbalance, there is simply no reliable test to prove this — no physical or chemical abnormality validates ADHD as a medical disease.

Before accepting a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, parents should rule out other conditions that show similar behavior symptoms.

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ADD & ADHD 

Attention Deficit Disorder describes the characteristics

of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity

that may be present in some children and adults.

Although health professionals often state that ADD/ADHD is a brain-based biological disorder caused by a brain chemical imbalance, there is simply no reliable test to prove this — no physical or chemical abnormality validates ADHD as a medical disease.

Since there can be no diagnosis without a disease, what is there?

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