Mood swings are normal especially if teens are under pressure, but mood swings that occur more often than the usual is something that a parent must be concerned about. Do you know that 1 out of 7 Americans have Bipolar disorder? What are the chances that your child is one of the 14.28% who is suffering from this kind of mental state?

Bipolar disorder is a category of mood disorder that is characterized by an onset of conspicuously arduous mood (mania) followed by sudden episodes of total depression or vise versa. Often times, the person with bipolar disorder could even feel a mix of both mania and depression alternating rapidly which is clinically called, mixed episodes.

Some parents mistake bipolar disorder with ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because both illness is characterized by symptoms of the patient acting, thinking or speaking in an abnormally fast pace. If that is the case, how do you determine if your child has bipolar disorder? Kidshealth.org, enumerated the signs of bipolar disorder in two categories – mania and depression:

Symptoms of mania include:

-racing speech and thoughts

-increased energy

-decreased need for sleep

-elevated mood and exaggerated optimism

-increased physical and mental activity

-excessive irritability, aggressive behavior, and impatience

-poor judgment

-reckless behavior, like excessive spending, making rash decisions, and erratic driving

-difficulty concentrating

-inflated sense of self-importance

Symptoms of depression include:

-loss of interest in usual activities

-prolonged sad or irritable mood

-loss of energy or fatigue

-feelings of guilt or worthlessness

-sleeping too much or inability to sleep

-drop in grades and inability to concentrate

-inability to experience pleasure

-appetite loss or overeating

-anger, worry, and anxiety

-thoughts of death or suicide

If these symptoms are present, parents are advised to seek professional help as soon as possible because the state is very difficult. A lot of people with bipolar disorder discover the existence of their problem during adulthood although they don’t necessarily incur it during their childhood. This condition may stay very long and regular stabilizer medication should be taken, some sample drugs used are lithium, sodium valproate, carbamazepine and many others. Doctors are finding alternative ways of controlling sudden onset of manic-depressive attacks.

Self-injury, sometimes referred to as self-harm (SH), self-inflicted violence (SIV) or self-injurious behavior (SIB), refers to a spectrum of behaviors where demonstrable injury is self-inflicted. The term self-mutilation is also sometimes used, although this phrase evokes connotations that some find worrisome, inaccurate, or offensive.

A broader definition of self-injury might also include those who inflict harm on their bodies by means of eating disorder, as well as tattooing or body piercing that goes beyond the limits of culturally accepted body modification.

A common belief regarding self-injury is that it is an attention-seeking behavior; however, in most cases, this is untrue. Most self-injurers are very self-conscious of both their wounds and scars, and go to great lengths to conceal their behavior from others. They may offer alternative explanations for their injuries, or conceal their scars with clothing. Self-injury in such individuals is not associated with suicidal or para-suicidal behavior.

The person who self-injures is not usually seeking to end his or her own life; it has been suggested instead that he or she is using self-injury as a coping mechanism to relieve emotional pain or discomfort. However, studies of individuals with developmental disabilities (such as mental retardation) have shown self-injury being dependent on environmental factors such as obtaining attention or escape from demands.

Methods of Injury

A common form of self-injury involves making cuts in the skin of the arms, legs, abdomen, inner thighs, etc. This is colloquially referred to as “cutting”; a person who routinely does this may be colloquially called a “cutter”.

The number of self-injury methods are only limited to an individual’s creativity. The bodily locations of self-injury are often areas that are easily hidden and concealed from the detection of others.

Examples of self-injury other than cutting include:

* Punching, hitting and scratching
* Choking, constricting of the airway
* Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms
* Picking at or re-opening wounds (dermatillomania), ulceration, or sutures
* Hair-pulling (trichotillomania)
* Burning, including cigarette burns, and self-incendiarism (as well as eraser burns, chemical burns [example; salt and ice burns])
* Stabbing self with wire, pins, needles, nails, staples, pens, or hair accessories
* Pinching or clamping, as with clothes pins, paper clips, etc.
* Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins
* Self-poisoning; for example by over-dosing on medication and/or alcohol, without suicidal intent
* Self-injury among individuals with developmental disabilites often involves relatively simple actions, such as banging one’s head against a hard surface, punching hard surfaces, biting oneself (usually hands or arms), or picking wounds. It may also include pica, the swallowing of nonfood items, which can be extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal.

For full discourse of the resource, please click here.

from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Statistics on eating disorders and teen body image:

• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).
• The average American woman is 5’4″ tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5’11″ tall and weighs 117 pounds.
• Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (Smolak, 1996).
• 51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet (Mellin et al., 1991).
• 46% of 9-11 year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets, and
• 82% of their families are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets (Gustafson-Larson & Terry, 1992).
• 91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, 22% dieted “often” or “always” (Kurth et al., 1995).
• 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, 1996).
• 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak & Crago, 1995).
• 25% of American men and 45% of American women are on a diet on any given day (Smolak, 1996).
• Americans spend over $40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year (Smolak, 1996).

The Juvenile Justice System was instituted during the Progressive Era, a period of social reform in the U.S. It was initially designed to assist vagrant youth that were being dealt with within the adult system. Since that time it has been effected by numerous policy and philosophy changes. The landmark policy that established the system we currently operate under was the 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act called for a “deinstitutionalization” of juvenile delinquents. It required that states holding youth within adult prisons for status offenses remove them within a span of two years (this timeframe was adjusted over time). The act also provided program grants to states, based on their youth populations, and created the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

Through reauthorization amendments, additional programs have been added to the original Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The following list highlights a few of these additions:

• 1977 – Programs were developed to assist learning disabled children that entered the juvenile justice system.
• 1984 – A new missing and exploited children program was added.
• 1984 – Strong support was given to programs that strengthened families.
• 1988 – Studies on prison conditions within the Indian justice system were called for.
• 1990 – The OJJDP began funding child abuse training programs to instruct judicial personnel and prosecutors.
• 1992 – A juvenile boot camp program was designed to introduce delinquent youth to a lifestyle of structure and discipline.
• 1992 – A community prevention grants program gave start-up money to communities for local juvenile crime prevention plans.

Source.

Here’s a list of resources you can visit for parenting help:

Raising Kids: If it’s about raising kids, it’s here.
Parenting Help: Free Tips, Advice, Resources & Guidance
Family Education
Company Dedicated Exclusively to Connecting Women: iVillage
Focus on the Family, Focus on your child. Enjoy the journey.
Helping Parents Reach Out to Troubled Teens: Troubled teen Solutions
Advice on Key Parenting Issues
Trouble Teen Help Information
Teen Parenting Help 100% Free & Unbiased!
Help For Parents: Complete Online Parenting Resource
Pregnancy and Parenting Discussions
Parenting and Family Life

Anxiety disorders can take many forms. You may experience free-floating anxiety without knowing exactly why you’re feeling that way. You may suffer from sudden, intense panic attacks that strike without warning. Your anxiety may come in the form of extreme social inhibition or in unwanted obsessions and compulsions. Or you may have a phobia of an object or situation that doesn’t seem to bother other people.

Despite their different forms, all anxiety disorders share one thing in common: persistent—and often overwhelming—fear or worry. The frequency and intensity of these fears can be immobilizing, distressing, and disruptive. Characteristics of an anxiety disorder include:

• Anxiety which is constant, unrelenting, and all-consuming
• Anxiety which causes self-imposed isolation or emotional withdrawal
• Anxiety which interferes with normal activities like going outside or interacting with other people

The toll an anxiety disorder takes on your life can lead to other problems as well, such as low self-esteem, depression, and alcoholism. Anxiety can also negatively impact your work and your personal relationships. But the good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. With the help of a qualified mental health professional, you can get relief from your worries and lead the life that you want.

credits.