4 Troubled Teens Blog

A University of Colorado professor has received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to design "family focused" therapy for young people who have bipolar symptoms.

Dr. David Miklowitz, a leading expert on bipolar disorder, will be working with young people ages 8 to 17 years old, who have risk factors but who may not necessarily been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

"One of the key questions we are asking is if you intervene early with family-focused treatment, do you actually delay the onset of the full disorder or perhaps reduce its severity once it has manifested?" Dr. Miklowitz said.

People usually do not undergo treatment until after they are diagnosed as bipolar.

Read more about Bipolar Disorder in Teen Girls at BoardingSchoolsforGirls.com.

Labels: bipolar, treatment_programs, diagnosis

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Psychiatrist Candida Fink, MD, and Joe Kraynak, MA, have released a book titled Bipolar Disorder for Dummies (Wiley, 340 pages, $19.99). Developed as a practical guide to understanding, treating and living with bipolar disorder, the book offers an explanation of the brain chemistry that causes the disease, and discusses the latest medications and therapies available.

"It offers sound advice and self-help techniques that you and your loved ones can use to ease and eliminate symptoms, function in times of crisis, plan ahead for manic or depressive episodes and feel better. Topics covered include: diagnosis and treatment, selecting a mental health specialist, mood charting, managing employment-related issues, and how bipolar disorder affects children."

The sound advice and techniques offered in Bipolar for Dummies can help families navigate this often unpredictable disease, and help them do it together - rather than letting the disease tear them apart.

Learn about Bipolar Disorder in Girls.

Labels: brain_chemistry, bipolar, girls

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

When officials at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, announced this week that they would provide free birth control pills and condoms to children as young as eleven years old, many Americans reacted with criticism.

"I think it makes people nervous to think middle school students are having sex," Michael McCarthy, principal of King Middle School, said in defense of the decision. "Frankly, it makes me nervous. But there's a small population out there that needs protection."

According to data from the School of Public Health at Columbia University, only 4 to 5% of children under 12 have had sex. By age 14, that figure is 18 to 29 percent, with more boys being sexually active than girls. However, a 2005 report from the Pacific Institute for Research and Education found that only 8% of children ages 12 to 16 years old reported having sex.

If your middle school aged daughter is heading down the wrong path don't delay in getting her the help she needs. Visit BoardingSchoolsforGirls.com to find an all girls school for her today.

Labels: sex, schools, birth_control

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Recovery from an addiction is hard for both men and women. But women often have unique sets of issues that can make recovery much more difficult. Many women who have been sexually or otherwise physically abused turn to drugs or alcohol as coping mechanisms. They often suffer from nearly-debilitating depression. Add to that the victimization that can happen to a woman who's trying to 'score' her next hit, and women seeking to recovery are often broken emotionally and psychologically.

"Those pieces don't magically mend just because someone puts down the drink or the drug. In some cases, the withdrawal of the substance can cause all of those old psychological wounds to being to fester anew. And those issues... have implications as to how much a person is able to recover."

Unfortunately, most recovery programs are based on male experiences. Alcohol Anonymous' 12-Step program, for example, can conflict with the ways that women are often taught to deal with domestic violence.

Copper Canyon Academy is a private boarding school for girls in Arizona. Learn more about their residential treatment program for struggling girls.

Labels: girls, recovery, addicts

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

In the past 22 months, 150 children have died in the U.S. as a result of a game often called 'The Choking Game' or 'Blackout'. The goal of the game is to achieve a feeling of euphoria that's caused when the flow of blood and oxygen is first cut off from the brain, then allowed to come rushing back.

"The game and its addictive high is decades old, said Michelle Borba, an educational psychologist in California who has studied dangerous childhood games...'While it's never safe, the trend that's the scariest now is that kids, once they've played it on a dare or with friends at a party, will try it again alone...'"

In order to disrupt the flow of blood and oxygen, kids put pressure on the arteries in their necks, usually by tying something around their necks and essentially choking themselves. Some experts think many more kids may have died from this game than are reported, because accidental asphyxiations can look like suicides. It's game that parents need to be aware of and need to be talking about with their kids. Look for warning signs like marks around the neck or bloodshot eyes.

Like choking each other, teens often engage in risky behaviors such as drug use because they don't know the dangers. Learn how you can help at the Teen-Help-Directory.

Labels: risky_behaviors, death, euphoria

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

A juvenile treatment center in St. Paul, Minnesota is trying to teach at-risk young men something about patience and discipline by having them teach those principles to "at-risk" dogs. The dogs, residents of an animal sanctuary called Home for Life, have been deemed unfit for adoption and many have come from abusive or neglectful situations.

"Five students meet with the dogs twice a week for eight weeks, and during the program they'll also take field trips to observe different careers involving animals - from the University of Minnesota veterinary program to doggie hydrotherapy... At the end of the program, the teens run their dogs through the Therapy Dogs International certification test."

Though the program is only in its second season, it's being considered a success. As the teens learn to gently persuade and teach the dogs, they experience success that boosts their confidence and helps them begin to heal from their own abusive or otherwise destructive pasts.

Learn more about SunHawk Academy, a residential drug treatment center, for teens struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.

Labels: treatment_programs, therapy, responsibilty

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

A study of 723 teenagers in juvenile prisons found a significant link between suicide and the inhalation of vapors from household products.

Inhaling vapors or "huffing" substances such as nail polish remover, antifreeze, gasoline, lighter fluid and others was correlated with increased thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts.

The link was significant - 81% of the girls and 60% of the boys who "huffed" were also suicidal.

The researchers were unsure whether suicidal teens are more likely to "huff" or if that behavior caused suicidal ideation.

Researchers from the Universities of Pittsburgh, Denver and North Carolina collaborated on the study, which appears in the journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Teen suicide can be prevented. Learn how to help http://www.boardingschoolsinfo.com/teen-suicide.html.

Labels: suicide, delinquents, huffing

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A British team of social scientists studying a sharp increase in teenagers with conduct problems concludes that higher delinquency levels are not the fault of single parents.

Since 1982, more British adolescents are fighting, lying, stealing, and being disobedient to adults. The new study from the Nuffield Foundation shows that the rates of delinquency are similar for teens from all kinds of families regardless of income or size. Teens with single parents or stepparents fared the same as those from traditional families.

According to the Office of National Statistics, by the year 2014 fewer than half the couples in Britain will be married.

This study appears in Social Science and Medicine.

Get free parenting tips and advice for parents of teens at ByParents-forParents.com.

Labels: delinquents, single_parents, disobedience

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Researchers at Ohio State University found that the impact of divorce on teenagers varies by their ethnic group.

Dr. Youngmin Sin studied 700 American high school students in grades 10 to 12 of Hispanic, European, Asian or African ethnicity. He and his colleagues found that European- and Asian-American teens experienced the most disruptive effects in terms of academic performance, behaviors, and psychological well-being. Hispanic- and African-American teenagers did not encounter as many problems because they are already facing so many disadvantages, Dr. Sin concluded.

This study appears in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Labels: teens, divorce, ethnic_groups

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

About one in four American children ages 3 to 17 years old participates in virtual worlds on the Internet. This means every month about 8.2 million children play games on websites like Webkinz and Club Penquin, according to research by Nielsen NetRatings.

By 2011, the same researchers estimate that about half of all American children will participate in computerized worlds of animals, games and avatars.

Labels: internet, virtual_worlds

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

When Gary Parker started studying the behavioral patterns of teens with suicidal tendencies, he discovered something shocking: one-third of teens who commit suicide visit a doctor in the week before they die. Parker also found that many doctors and nurses miss the warning signs, which are evident if they know what to look for.

"A year later, a suicide prevention presentation...has made its way around the state [of Oklahoma] and overseas to China, reaching more than 2,000 people so far, and garnering Parker a national award from the medical clothing maker Cherokee."

The 30-minute presentation not only dispels some of the myths about teen suicide, but provides resources and a referral list for caregivers.

Labels: suicide, prevention, warning_signs

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

The phrase "at-risk" usually conjures images of inner city environments; kids who grow up in poor or broken homes and turn to risky behavior in attempts to find acceptance and belonging. But recent studies have shown that the face of at-risk kids is changing and their geographic locations are shifting.

"Recent research shows that the highest rates of emotional problems can be found among upper middle-class children, whose parents have high levels of education and income. Affluent pre-teens and teenagers rate the highest for depression, anxiety disorders and substance abuse of any group of children in the United States."

Affluent parents often place high expectations on their kids. In and of itself, that's not a bad thing. But when the expectations aren't coupled with encouragement and help, a teen or pre-teen can quickly become overwhelmed, and thoughts like "I'm not good enough" start entering his head. Sadly, research has found that, on average, parents spend less than 5 minutes a week engaged in meaningful conversation with their kids, while the kids spend over 1,600 minutes a week watching television. Parental involvement is key for this new segment of "at-risk" kids.

Labels: at_risk, affluence, suburban_teens

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A recent study conducted by a team from Duke University shows that treating mildly to severely depressed teens is best done with a combination of medication and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). Cognitive-behavior therapy teaches teens how to recognize and appropriately handle the distorted thoughts and feelings that lead to depression.

"After 12 weeks, 73 percent of patients receiving [Prozac] and CBT, 62 percent of those receiving [Prozac] only and 48 percent of those receiving CBT only responded to treatment."

After 36 weeks of treatment, the combination group still had the highest percentage response. Depression currently affects 5 percent of the adolescent population, increasing the stress of family relationships and the risk of suicide.

DrugRehabTreatment offers information and help for parents dealing with adolescent drug treatment.

Labels: depression, treatment_programs, therapy

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

People who are most susceptible to gang influence are those who have little or no structure or family support. Consequently, community services which provide some of that support not only meet immediate needs, but help curb the influence of gangs.

"During its first year, the Trinity Nursing Center for Infant Health saw 600 babies whose parents were court-ordered to bring them there for care. But from that staggering number came some good: the ability to mentor troubled teen mothers."

Many of the moms wanted to get away from the gang exposure that they encounter daily in their neighborhoods. They were also seeking affirmation and acceptance, which they found at the nursing center.

Labels: parental_involvement, support, gangs

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments