Earlier today we reported on new research that shows a link between a parent’s mental health and an increase in the likelihood of having a child develop autism. The research examined Swedish hospital records of children born between 1977 and 2003 who were diagnosed with autism and compared them with children who were not diagnosed […]

Well, maybe not all teens, but I mistakenly thought that something like 80% or 90% of teens were strongly into social networking sites like Myspace and such, given how much you hear about the two being connected.
So I was a little surprised with the release of the Pew Internet and American Life report last week […]

A recent study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston concludes that chronic sleeplessness in adolescents is linked to many health problems, including those of a psychological nature. The study involved interviews with 3,134, 11 to 17 year old kids. More than twenty-five percent of the children had one or […]

Keeping Kids Healthy is an award winning, long running public television program about pediatrics and parenting. Their archives feature lots of half-hour productions about mental illnesses and behavioural issues in children. One, about bipolar disorder in children, is the second most viewed video in my Vodpod collection, with hundreds of views compared to dozens for […]

We’d like to give a hat tip to the New York Times health blog, written by the intrepid Tara Parker-Pope, for her entry on our article published earlier this week by our resident expert, Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D. — The Family Bathroom Waltz. If you didn’t get a chance to check it out, it’s well worth […]

Scientists have long believed that since schizophrenia is associated with abnormal brain structure and functioning that a mothers’ stress during pregnancy could adversely affect brain development in the fetus, even causing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Now there is strong evidence to support these assumptions. According to a report in the Archives of General […]

Parental alienation syndrome is a term coined by the late forensic psychiatrist Richard Gardner to describe a phenomenon he witnessed where children were being turned against one parent, usually as the result of a divorce or bitter custody battle. He described parental alienation syndrome (PAS) as a “disorder that arises primarily in the context of […]

It has long been hypothesized that it’s unhealthy for pregnant women to change the cat litter, but now more then ever, pregnant women have a reason to hand over the pooper-scooper responsibilities. A recent study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry claims that individuals exposed to the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, which is carried […]

Last night 20/20 aired an almost entire episode about “Anger in America”. The television show spent a good bit of time attempting to dispel myths the general public believes about anger and the best way of dealing with it. However, one part of the show that hit pretty close to home with me […]

Parents of children with mental disorders can sometimes become very absorbed into reading up on the best new innovations in therapies and medications available to treat their children’s mental illness. They may spend a great deal of time researching and testing different therapies in order to find which one works the best for their […]

While most children occasionally exhibit tempter-tantrums, researchers warn that parents may want to be especially vigilant of certain types of tantrums. A recent study finds specific types of tantrum behaviors which appear to be connected to depression or disruptive disorders in children ages three to six.
The researchers, out of the Washington University […]

Today while surfing YouTube, I came across an interesting video titled “My Name is Lisa”. This film is about a young girl’s challenges to cope with her mother’s progressing Alzheimer’s disease. The video was a submission to YouTube’s “Project Direct”, a competition for film creators who have “something to say”.
I appreciated this video […]