LDC Blog

Mental Health Matters! is a blog on children's mental health topics, begun in July 2009. You can find the weekly posts here. Visit that site if you would like to join in the discussion.

Mental Health Matters! will also be posted and archived on this site.

In this blog, the Center’s mental health experts comment on children’s mental health matters, drawing on their own clinical experience at the Center, current research and new findings in the field. From time to time we will address controversial topics with an eye to providing balanced, practical information to parents who are making decisions about how to promote the healthiest development in their own children or grandchildren.

  • Are Medications for Children's Emotional Conditions Overused?

    Few questions related to children’s mental health are more controversial than whether psychotropic medications are over prescribed for children. There is no doubt about the dramatic increase in their rise and the efforts of the pharmaceutical industry to market them. Are these trends...

  • Is Bipolar Disorder Overly Diagnosed in Children?

    Lucy Daniels Center mental health clinicians have long felt that Bipolar Disorder is overly diagnosed in children, and it now seems that most experts in our field have come to agree with us. Many people who develop Bipolar illness—which usually appears in late adolescence or...

  • Pesticides and ADHD

    The relationship between certain food and symptoms the ADHD symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and overactivity has long been a source of interest, claims, and strong controversy. Despite individual testimonials, careful an unbiased scientific studies have failed to consistently show any...

  • Spanking increases children's aggression

    Many American parents use corporal punishment as discipline, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that corporal punishment has little value and many possible negative effects. Many cultures across the world do not use corporal punishment at all in their child rearing. In one representative...

  • When does autism first appear?

    For some time, based on parent reports and studies, we and others in the field have believed that the very high majority of children with moderate or severe autism start showing signs at either of two times: during their first months of life or during their second year. An important new study...

  • Why do poor children get more antipsychotic medication?

    The use of anti-psychotic medication has been increasing at a stunning rate in recent years, for children and adults. Perhaps you have recently seen television ads promoting the use of Abilify if an adult depression has not “responded” to standard anti-depressant medication. Abilify...

  • Watching bullying can be toxic

    School bullying is no laughing matter. Fortunately, schools and governmental agencies are recognizing that bullying victims often carry scars long after the event occurs. New information supports other prior research suggesting that students who merely observe bullying can be profoundly...

  • School violence: Should the shrinks rush in?

    Few things in our contemporary world terrify parents as much as the prospect of serious violence occurring in their school. It seems that hardly a year goes by without a shooting incident at a school somewhere or other. It has become customary for mental health professionals to come to a school...

  • How many children have mental disorders?

    How many children experience mental disorders? Over the years, many studies have tried to answer this question. Such studies are always difficult and expensive. The best estimates in the field have been that somewhere about 10 to 15 percent of children experience substantial emotional...

  • Is autism on the rise?

    Twenty years ago, autism was a rare condition that parents rarely thought about. Now, most parents know or know of a child diagnosed with autism. Their children may attend a school with a special classroom for autistic children. As many as 1 in 150 children are said to have this condition. Is it...