Posts tagged as:

stress

Could vampire fiction be contributing to my daughter’s anxiety?

by Children's Hospital Boston staff on February 12, 2010

Michael RichMedia expert Michael Rich, MD, MPH, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston, answers your questions about media use. Last week, he discussed speech delays.

Here’s this week’s question:

Q: My daughter is in junior high, and I’m noticing signs of anxiety. She has become more needy of me, is more fearful, will no longer go upstairs alone, and just feels “randomly stressed.” She is a strong, organized student, has good friends, exercises, eats healthily, and (until recently) sleeps well. The only lifestyle red flag I see is that all year she has been reading very dark and intense books that include subjects like hooking up, angels, suicide, after-life, car accidents, and murder (The Vampire Diaries, for example). She starts a new one every 2-3 weeks. Could these books be contributing to her stress even though she likes them, or should I just accept this behavior as part of puberty?
Vexed About Vampires in Glencoe, IL [click to continue…]

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Do our youth really have more mental health issues?

by Kristin Cantu on February 8, 2010

Suicide postThat’s what a recent study is claiming. This study found that five times as many high school and college students are dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues as youth of the same age who were studied in the Great Depression era.

According to Children’s psychiatrist, Stuart Goldman, MD, the interpretation of these findings all depend on how you slice it. [click to continue…]

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Health headlines: Fitness supplements, ecstasy use and tongue-powered wheelchairs

by Children's Hospital Boston staff on January 30, 2010

Other stories we’ve been reading:

Multi Vitamin MadnessMore high school athletes are using fitness supplements with knowledge of their harmful effects. Parents don’t have to be fit in order for their kids to be fit – supporting your kids’ physical activity is what motivates them to be physically fit.

Scheduling recess before lunch is helping students and teacher alike. Menus with calorie listings have parents picking healthier options for their kids but not necessarily for themselves.

Parents who feel burned out at work are more likely to have kids who feel burned out at school. If parents use complementary or alternative therapies, their children are more likely to use them too. [Read our blog post on insurance coverage for alternative therapies.] Did you know that your child is more likely to have a mental disorder if you –as a parent – are bipolar?

cigarettesHigh cholesterol is putting 20 percent of teens at risk for heart disease. Healthy kids are more likely to die from ecstasy use than regular drug users. If your child smokes cigarettes, it’s much more likely that pot is next.

Toilet seat dermatitis is on the rise. Vaccinating babies against rotavirus could save two million lives a year. [Read our blog post on this year’s updated immunization schedule.] Female teachers might pass on math anxiety to girl students.

Teen pregnancies and abortions are on the rise. Parents shouldn’t be concerned if their children hear voices. There’s a new wheelchair that powered by the user’s tongue.

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A magic pill to lesson PTSD before it even strikes?

by Melissa Jeltsen on January 20, 2010

opium-poppyby Glenn Saxe, MD, director of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Center for Refugee Trauma

“ Into the bowl in which their wine was mixed, she slipped a drug that had the power of robbing grief and anger of their sting and banishing all painful memories”
-Homer, the Odyssey

Morphine and other opiates have been used by humans since the earliest times. The poppy has been a powerful cultural symbol for hundreds or, even, thousands of years. When a chemical agent has ‘traveled’ with humans for such a long span of time it usually means it has strong evolutionary value. A fascinating study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests morphine has the power to blunt the emotional aftereffects of trauma in people who’ve been severely injured. [click to continue…]

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Put downtime on your family’s to-do list this holiday season

by Claire McCarthy, MD on December 17, 2009

McCarthyClaire_dsc0463It’s nearly school vacation time—and you’re probably making plans (or will, once your shopping is finished) for things that will keep the kids busy during their time off. Museums, concerts, playdates—whatever fills the days in a useful, educational way. Because you can’t leave the days blank, right?

Actually, you can. And sometimes leaving them blank is exactly what children (and families) need. [click to continue…]

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This week on Thrive: Nov. 16 – 20

by Children's Hospital Boston staff on November 22, 2009

Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.

A son tells his story of how he got to know his father because of advances in epilepsy medication. More and more teens are infected with STDs. Uninsured trauma victims are more likely to die of their injuries. Is there a rise of violence in girls’ sports? Massachusetts takes action on school bullying. The HealthMap team gives its weekly H1N1 update. Children’s Claire McCarthy, MD, talks about how childhood stress can lead to adult depression. Our Mediatrician puts Michael Jackson’s dance moves in perspective and we get a firsthand account of how Thrive editor Matt Cyr and his family survived the swine flu.

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How childhood stress can lead to adult depression

by Claire McCarthy, MD on November 19, 2009

MccarthyClaire111408Childhood should be a happy time, not a stressful time—that’s something everyone can agree on. But for many children, childhood is very stressful. Family tragedy, natural disasters, poverty, abuse or exposure to violence (in the home, in the community, or when the country is at war) are just a few examples of what can turn childhood from a dream into a nightmare.

This is terrible for children. It’s not just a matter of robbing them of happiness; more and more research is showing that stress early in life can actually change the way a child’s brain works—for life.

A study in the journal Nature Neuroscience this month helps us understand why. Researchers stressed baby mice (by separating them from their mothers daily for the first 10 days of life). The mice that had this early life stress behaved quite differently from mice that didn’t. They showed signs of anxiety and had trouble learning—even a year later. The researchers tied this to a change in a gene that caused increased production of a certain brain chemical (arginine vasopressin). This in turn led to increased production of corticosteroids, a stress hormone, and to disruption in the parts of the brain that control mood and learning. [click to continue…]

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This week on Thrive: Nov. 9 – 13

by Children's Hospital Boston staff on November 15, 2009

Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.

An eco-perspective is explored on H1N1. Survivors of childhood brain cancer face a variety of late effects and why you need to get rid of your old glass thermometers. Children’s explores how babies understand expressions and emotions and offers tips on how to prepare your child for a flu vaccine. A new study reveals that parents are out of touch about knowing their kids’ stress levels and a Children’s expert gives tip on how to help kids cope with the stress of having a parent at war. The HealthMap team gives us our weekly H1N1 update and your questions are answered about whether or not your asthmatic child should get the H1N1 vaccine. Children are increasingly relying on food stamps and the Mediatrician dishes on telenovelas and toddlers.

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