Wine, women, and song or sex, drugs, and rock and roll, parents have worried about their teens for generations. Steering adolescents in a positive direction, motivating them to be successful, happy, and healthy and away from all sorts of potential pitfalls is more than a full-time job. Add to this the negative influences of a…
Details
Teens don’t like to stand out from their peers. Just take a picture of a group of teens to prove the point: they tend to wear the same type of clothes, sport the same hairstyles and even adopt the same posture in front of the camera. Teens have not fully come to grips with their…
Details
Everybody knows teens can be moody. But mood disorders are more than the emotional ups and downs common to all adolescents. The most common mood disorders fall into two categories: bipolar disorders and major depression. Less than a generation ago, physicians believed that mood disorders only affected adults. Doctors now believe they nearly always begin…
Details
Despite the fact that statistics in recent years show that teenage drinking has decreased, it is still a significant problem among young people. Alcohol is the most frequently abused substance by teenagers. Pediatric professional journals report that three quarters of teens try alcohol before they reach graduation day. More than half of high school seniors…
Details
Continued from What is Binge Drinking? Binge drinking is a dangerous and costly activity that doesn’t only affect young adults. While the behavior is often more subtle in older adults, it is no less harmful or concerning. And as people age, they are more likely to suffer the progressive health consequences of bouts of heavy…
Details
The illicit drug heroin has been in America for well over a century and has been associated with crime, poverty, and inner-city neighborhoods for decades. But heroin addiction, on the rise from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast, is now claiming a new set of victims: teens and adults in the suburbs.
Alcohol is the substance most frequently abused by teenagers in America. According to medical reports, 14 percent of teens admit to having been drunk at least once in the past 12 months. Eight percent of teens who drink, binge drink, meaning they consume five or more drinks at one sitting.
Bipolar disorder is the common term for a group of mental illnesses that center on unusual, dysfunctional fluctuations in normal mood. The American Psychiatric Association currently recognizes three main forms of these illnesses, as well as several secondary forms. People affected by a bipolar disorder have increased chances of developing a substance use disorder (the…
Details
Teenagers are in a turbulent life phase. There are many normal developmental reasons why teens change how they dress, speak and behave. But teenagers are also at risk for substance experimentation which could lead to addiction. That’s why it is important for parents to be on the lookout for any clues indicating something may be…
Details
“Bath salts,” a group of drugs containing amphetamine-type stimulants, are linked to an estimated 22,904 hospital emergency room visits in a single year. That’s according to the first national study tracking these drugs since their emergence five years ago. The report is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and is based…
Details