Archive for the 'Mental Health' Category

Deciding On Your Child’S Medications For Adhd

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Many erroneously believe that ADHD, (or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), is simply bad behavior. If a parent disciplines their child better, then the problem will go away. Well, the issue is not that simple. Why? It’s because there are physiological factors involved with the disorder. And, if these issues are not treated, the child will still suffer from the disease, (regardless of the amount of discipline they receive).

This is why most doctors recommend prescription medications for ADHD sufferers. And, usually these medications will fall into two categories: stimulants and non-stimulants.

Examples of stimulants include Ritalin, (the most infamous), Dexedrine and Adderall. All of them work the same way. Basically, they try to alleviate ADHD symptoms by increasing the amount of Dopamine in a child’s brain. This is a neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in making a person feel good.

Yet, for many ADHD children, the benefits associated with stimulants are short-lived. This is because they have a host of side effects including:

Heart problems

Sleeping difficulties

Psychiatric problems

Headaches & Stomach Aches

Addictive

For these reasons, doctors may want to recommend another category of medications for ADHD: non-stimulants. Specific examples can be seen through Strattera, antidepressants and blood pressure medications, (though only Strattera has been FDA-approved as an official medication for ADHD).

Like stimulants, non-stimulant ADHD medications try to control the disease by altering the child’s brain chemicals. However, instead of focusing on dopamine, they try to increase the brain’s norepinephrine, another chemical that affects a person’s mood.

But again, this doesn’t come without serious risks and side effects. They are as follows:

Suicidal thoughts

Tiredness

Nausea

Headaches

Irritability

That’s why you may want to consider an alternative medication for ADHD. How can you find one that will work? You will have to think outside of the box and consider homeopathic remedies.

For example, many parents find that various homeopathic herbs are so powerful they can, (on paper), be considered medications for ADHD. Here are just a few examples:

Centalla Asiatica – Also known as Gotu Kola, this herb relieves ADHD by increasing the brain’s blood flow.

Green Oats – Green Oats serves as a type of nerve tonic, which helps to calm the child, (especially if it’s given over a long period of time).

Panax Gingseng – As a medication for ADHD, this herb works on a different principle. Basically, it flushes out the child’s immune system, so any toxins that might be responsible for the disease never reach the brain.

Fiberzon, Gravizon and Envirozon – These botanicals also work on the same principle as Panax Gingsing. They purify the immune system, so that the child’s body as a whole functions better.

Another remedy can be found through a child’s dietary habits. True, diet is not considered a medication for ADHD, but you’d be surprised at how healing, normal everyday foods can be.

In conclusion, conventional medications for ADHD aren’t perfect. They are full of side effects, and sometimes they don’t even work. Remember too, that ADHD is not a life-threatening disorder. If it’s possible to treat the disease with a homeopathic remedy, wouldn’t that be better than succumbing your child to a lifetime of harmful prescription drugs which may not even work? Indeed, it’s definitely worth trying, especially if you work under the guidance of a homeopathic doctor.

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School To Work – How To Ensure Smooth Transition For Autistic Children

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Whether the autistic child has just graduated from high school or passed out from college, learning practical and proven ways to deal with life outside a secure and disciplined environment that is mainly academic, is very essential to helping them adjust to the demands of a competitive environment, such as a work culture demands.

Many autistic children are financially dependent to a certain extent, if not fully reliant, on sustenance from their parents, much like regular kids are, but the situation is more complicated for autistic children as opposed to normal kids who are better able to fend for themselves since they do have have the mental and physical limitations of autism disorder preventing them from adjusting to a new life and coping with work demands -even when both sets of kids may be initially scared of the change.

Their time to live among peer groups in a controlled environment is over and instead of facing known situations every day as in a school routine, autistic children venturing into the professional world have to deal with new, hitherto unknown sets of living situations while applying themselves to a career, which can be intimidating for them, without help from a support group or parental guidance.

Learning ways to deal with people in a business environment and distinct differences existing in behavioral modes in school and work culture is very important for autistic children as proper grooming, hygiene and knowledge of work-place behavior constitute their elements for succeeding in a difficult, complex and rapidly advancing work culture. These are children that have needed assistance in brushing teeth and combing their hair or other such regular things normal children dismiss as being routine, but which are hard work for autistic children and thus, caregivers need to be sensitive and make autistic children aware of these expectations their work-place will have from them besides teaching them appropriate behavior in the work environment.

Autistic children who have had proper schooling are usually at a learning level of being able to control outbursts of the emotional kind they may have been prone to in earlier stages and are capable of following instructions and doing highly skilled tasks, besides some showing a marked distinction at music or math.

The main area of negotiation that autistic children need to be guided about is dealing with relationship problems as they are simple by nature and presume others to be good, like them, which unfortunately, is not always true of all people in this changing world; thus, they get taken advantage of and suffer due to the dubious ethics of others. So, it is important for caregivers of autistic children leaving a school environment for a work one to inculcate in them realistic, worldly teachings and make them survivors in a competitive work place for their own good besides having a potential employer clue in other workers about the child’s condition so as to enable a healthy work-place relationship among colleagues who may need to be educated about what comes with the disorder and how to treat an autistic individual right.

Preparing the autisitc child about ignorance and intolerance that may come his or her way at the workplace due to personal factors or even lack of awareness about thier condition is very necessary to prevent disappointment and emotional issues later. Going in for counselling, speaking to other supportive family members or seeking advice from a caring guide can help boost an autistic child’s confidence in approaching work life after school life and make the change a happy and healthy one.

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How to Deal With Child Psychiatry

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

All kids misbehave some times, but behavior disorders go beyond mischief and rebellion. With behavior disorders, your child or teen has a pattern of hostile, aggressive or disruptive behaviors for more than 6 months. Normal behavior in children depends on the child’s age, personality, and physical and emotional development. A child’s behavior may be a problem if it doesn’t match the expectations of the family or if it is disruptive. If you see signs of a problem, ask for help. Poor choices can become habits. Kids who have behavior problems are at higher risk for school failure, mental health problems and even *******. Classes or family therapy may help parents learn to set and enforce limits.

From the different studies carried out by experts on child psychiatry, two important strategies for studying development include the longitudinal study in which a particular group of children is studied over a long period of time, sometimes from infancy through adulthood. The second method, which is more popular because it is less expensive, is called the cross-sectional method. In this strategy a group of children or adolescents at a particular age are studied at that age. In order to compare different ages, different samples would be studied but no group would be studied over time.

Parents may choose to use physical punishment (such as spanking) to stop undesirable behavior. The biggest drawback to this method is that although the punishment stops the bad behavior for a while, it doesn’t teach your child to change his or her behavior. Disciplining your child is really just teaching him or her to choose good behaviors.

Questions to ask while studying child behaviour and psychiatry

Have there been any abrupt changes in his life? A move or something like that?

Ask him first to find out the reason behind the anger, talk to the teacher and ask if there is anything you and she can do together to help your son find some different outlets for his anger. Anger many times stems from underlying issues that he may be afraid to talk about.

How are his grades, how is his attention span? What is he like at home? Is he open and friendly with everyone, or has he isolated himself from others as well as being angry? There are alot of other changes that can occur that will give you clues as to wether or not it something serious.

Has his eating habits changed? Do you and your wife belong to any of the learning disabilities associations? There are parent support groups for kids of various ages, maybe you need to talk with parents who have gone through this with their teens and they have some stratagies they can offer.

Perhaps you need to go with him and talk to his pediatrician or family doctor about the pills and why he’s hiding them or not taking them. Maybe they have an adverse effect on him that only he’s aware of.

Next maybe he needs to repeat the grade he’s in. Holding kids back when they’re in this kind of emotional upset may be in the long run beneficial to him. Explain it like a ball player being sent to the minors to hone his skills more, then he can come back to the big leagues.

Rewarding child when they do something good

Ask the child to do a task. Set a timer. If the task is done before the timer rings, your child gets a reward.

Write a short list of good behaviors on a chart and mark the chart with a star each time you see the good behavior. After your child has earned a small number of stars (depending on the child’s age), give him or her a reward.

In a short time (about an hour) put a mark on a chart or on your child’s hand each time you see him or her performing a good behavior. For example, if you see your child playing quietly, solving a problem without fighting, picking up toys or reading a book, you would mark the chart. After a certain number of marks, give your child a reward.

Ask your child to play quietly alone or with a sibling for a short time (maybe 30 minutes). Check on your child frequently (every 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the child’s age) and give a reward or a token for each few minutes they were quiet or playing well.

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