Troubled Teens Resources

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
has long been an area of concern in teen crisis intervention. The condition can seriously sabotage a teen’s efforts at school, thus bringing on feeling of inadequacy, leading to social and emotional problems. For those parents who have the finances to try alternative treatments for ADD , neurofeedback, not covered by most insurance policies, is getting good parental reviews.

“The concept of neurofeedback, also known as EEG biofeedback, dates back decades, to the discovery of measurable electrical impulses in the brain. Research and recent improvements in technology have made its use more practical for a broad range of clinicians.

A typical session, 20 to 45 minutes long, involves watching a computer screen with electrodes pasted to your head. The brain scan - signals go out, not in - delivers feedback of neuronal activity. Patterns are visible to both therapist and client in real time.

Acting somewhat like a coach, the practitioner monitors brain activity and presents various computer exercises or games - a child might work to control the successes of hungry Pac-Man-type blobs, for example - to train the client to shift the particular brain-wave patterns that play a role in a given neurological condition.

The technique has been most widely studied and applied with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, although it is used to treat a wide range of disorders linked to abnormal patterns of brain waves.”

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When a parent receives any diagnosis for their teen it is imperative that they get more than one opinion. Especially in the area of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder where even mental health professionals will tell you that too many children and teens are being misdiagnosed.

“When Leslie Morley’s daughter was in the third grade, her teacher believed she had a learning disability and tried to put her in remedial classes. When tested for intelligence, however, results showed that she was an extremely bright girl.

Nadia Webb, a neuropsychologist and faculty member at James Madison University, discussed the misdiagnosis of gifted children and adults…”Children are easily misdiagnosed by teachers and administrators,” Webb said.”

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Feedback from colleagues and friends seem to confirm the alacrity with which some teachers jump on to the ADHD bandwagon.Parents with gifted children already recognize them as such and are well aware of those traits that are so easily mis-identified as ADHD when, in many cases, it amounts to little more than boredom.

Elaine’s daughter, a budding musician,was always scribbling new compositions when she should have been doing math. Lyrics filled her mind instead of spelling lists. Her natural shyness coupled with her preoccupation with the music in her head triggered a diagnosis of bi-polar. Thorough testing revealed a mentally healthy, if frustrated, musical prodigy. An extensive search of teen boarding schools and specialty schools produced a private girl’s music academy a few hundred miles away. Though the separation is hard, her daughter’s happiness and academic progress makes it well worth it.

For basic guidance and information on ADHD , visit Troubled Teens.us.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is often associated with other disorders. Teens diagnosed with ADHD are also often experiencing depression or extreme anxiety. That is one reason why early diagnosis is important. Teen age drug abuse is often a concern for the parent who doesn’t wish to medicate their teen. But, by the same token, an undiagnosed ADHD teen, in attempting to diminish their anxiety or blow off their depression, often starts to self-medicate on their own.

The newest reports suggest that along with anxiety and depression may come a more increased risk for bulimia and anorexia.

“Results showed that girls with ADHD were 3.6 times more likely than girls without ADHD to develop eating disorders. Also, girls with both ADHD and an eating disorder were more likely than girls who only had ADHD to experience depression, anxiety, and disruptive behavior disorder.

They concluded that ADHD increases the risk of developing an eating disorder significantly.

This research could have an influence on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in young girls. Because these girls are so much more likely to develop an eating disorder, it may be essential that girls with ADHD be screened regularly for eating disorders or unhealthy eating attitudes.

With eating disorders, prevention is often much more effective than treatment after the fact. If ADHD is a risk factor for an eating disorder, doctors have one more tool for detecting and preventing eating disorders early, making recovery much more likely.”

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One of the first concerns that parents of ADHD teens express is that medicating their teen will set them up for full blown teen age drug abuse.If nothing else, some parents feel that it will introduce them into a life long habit of seeking answers from a pill bottle. Though such concerns are understandable, there is no definitive research to support those fears.

What research has shown is that animals used in testing did later demonstrate drug seeking behavior, but the doses that they were administered were 50-200 times higher than any human would ingest.

“What is relevant is what we know about adults and teens who were give medications as children. Ten studies that have addressed this important issue.

• Six of the studies demonstrate clearly that earlier treatment results in reduced substance abuse.
• Three studies show no difference.
• One study shows higher risk for substance abuse connected to earlier treatment.
• No study shows any increased risk of substance abuse when the severity of ADHD is factored in.

Treatment isn’t all that matters. So does treatment response. Studies show that adolescents with ADHD who respond well to their medications are at lower risk for substance abuse compared than those who respond poorly to their medication.

In summary:

• Stimulant treatment of ADHD appears to result in reduced alcohol and drug problems, not increased substance abuse.
• Some ADHD youth and adults self medicate with substances to treat their ADHD and self esteem problems. Treating ADHD with medication may reduce this phenomenon.”

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You may have witnessed Oppositional Defiant Disorder behavior before you ever knew it had a name. It is the child whom parents love, but whom they dread dealing with. It is the child who will not bend, will not negotiate, will not be considerate and knows no boundaries.

There are many factors that come into play when determining why a child develops Oppositional Defiant Disorder and it can become confusing to the parent who is struggling to simply find the most effective means dealing with explosive and disruptive behavior.

Moreover, parents need assurance that there are programs that will help their son or daughter thrive in school. Many times parents will seek out a specialty school that has a staff trained in the behavioral therapies developed for kids and teens coping with ODD and ADHD.
Below is a synopsis of some basic guidelines, with more details at the link below.

• Establish a secure and supportive environment. A child with ODD needs to have security. He needs to know that mom and dad will always be there for him…
• Create a schedule and stick with it. Children need a schedule. This is especially true of the child with ODD. He needs to know what comes next in his day…..
• Set up clear and concise boundaries. Your child must know what will happen if he pulls his sister’s hair, or breaks all the toys in his bedroom in a fit of rage…..
• Be consistent. You will need to mete out the exact same discipline every time your child breaks the rule..
• Never shout or get angry with your child. A child with ODD literally shuts down when being yelled at. He cannot hear you……

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A diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder does not instantly sentence your teen to years of Ritalin or Adderall. Many parents are dismayed to contemplate the possibility of medicating their teenager, concerned about possible drug dependencies later in life as well as possible health ramifications.

Parents who wish to exhaust every “natural”, non-medicated alternative choose to work with those mental health professionals who have developed programs that teach the ADHD teen behavioral “tricks”, e.g., harnessing the energy of ADHD, learning to utilize hyper focus and gaining mastery over restlessness and anxiety. Schools for troubled teens and specialty schools have emerged, over the years, specializing in “non-medicinal interventions”.

“A U.S. study shows non-medicinal interventions help prevent behavioral and academic problems associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Researchers from Lehigh Valley Hospital… focused on 135 children aged 3 to 5 who showed significant symptoms of ADHD — a mental disorder that makes it difficult for children to control their behavior and pay attention. Early intervention techniques included highly individualized programs that often rely on positive supports to reinforce behavior.

Using a variety of early intervention strategies, parents reported, on average, a 17-percent decrease in aggression and a 21-percent improvement in their children’s social skills. In the classroom, teachers saw a 28-percent improvement in both categories. Early literacy skills improved up to three times over their baseline status.

The researchers suggest a multi-tiered approach to intervention…”Medication may address the symptoms of ADHD, but it does not necessarily improve children’s academic and social skills,” study leader George DuPaul said in a statement.”

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Any parent who has researched Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder will tell you that it can be a depressing venture. Worse case scenarios are that an undiagnosed ADHD teen will be more likely to do drugs, deal with more severe emotional issues and may even end up attending schools for troubled teens, or drug rehab.

Then some speculative research is interesting and, if nothing else, gives food for thought.Much has been said in the last year about the fact that technology exacerbates conditions such as ADHD.

“In his book, Cleary cites research performed Oxford University neuroscience professor Susan Greenfield as noting in part “that the ubiquity of digital technology is altering the shape and chemistry of our brains, and that violent video games and intense online interactivity can generate mental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorder, and hyperactivity.”

Another viewpoint hypothesizes that ADHD might be a “favorable evolutionary adaptation to our tech-centric world…”

“…the increase in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) among the “Millennium Generation” of younger people could actually be the start of an “evolutionary adaptation” to the increasingly fast-paced world of digital technology.

…video games, texting, and other online applications are best performed by minds with the circuitry to jump at a nanosecond’s notice back and forth from screen to screen and application to application.

Following this proposition forward, the seeming inability of some younger folks to concentrate on just one thing, one thought, one application, could be attributed to a rewiring of neurons to keep up with the herky-jerky pace of life.”

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Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder concerns have produced much in the way of teen crisis intervention programs to address the constellation of behavioral problems that accompany it. Now there is new information for parents of ADHD teens to digest concerning the possible affects of Ritalin.

Teen help for adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, Is thankfully, far more extensive than just a few years ago with new studies emerging offering a great deal of hope for non-medicinal treatments. Parents distressed by the latest studies on Ritalin can find many other choices to consider.

“Young children taking Ritalin for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder may experience chemical changes in their brains, say U.S. researchers who expressed concern about long-term prescriptions.

In one of the few studies to probe the effects of Ritalin on the neurochemistry of the developing brain, scientists found changes in areas linked to “higher executive functioning, addiction and appetite, social relationships and stress,” the study’s senior author Dr. Teresa Milner, a neuroscientist at New York’s Weill Cornell Medical College, said in a release.

The findings, published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest doctors must be careful in their diagnosis of ADHD before prescribing Ritalin. That’s because the brain changes noted in the study might be helpful in battling the disorder but harmful to youngsters with healthy brain chemistry, said Dr. Milner.”

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Teens at risk for behavioral problems display a variety of characteristics, making it very difficult for parents to determine if the teen is slipping into a rebellious stage or if there are deeper problems to be addressed. Parents of ADHD teens are concerned that the ADHD pre-disposes their teens to Oppositional Defiant Disorder or predisposes them for problems with teen age drug abuse.

“Many children with oppositional defiant disorder have other treatable conditions such as ADHD, depression and anxiety. If these conditions are left untreated, managing ODD can be very difficult for the parents, and frustrating for the affected child. Kids with oppositional defiant disorder may have trouble in school with teachers and other authority figures and may struggle to make friends.

ODD may be a precursor to other, more severe behavioral disorders such as conduct disorder, but this is controversial.”

Though the factors that may lead to ODD are not known, the more risk factors in evidence, the stronger the likelihood of it being present. They are as follows:

• Having a parent with a mood or substance abuse disorder
• Being abused or neglected
• Harsh or inconsistent discipline
• Lack of supervision
• Poor relationship with one or both parents
• Family instability such as multiple moves, changing schools frequently
• Parents with a history of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder or conduct problems
• Financial problems in the family
• Peer rejection
• Exposure to violence
• Frequent changes in daycare providers
• Parents who have a troubled marriage or are divorced

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Troubled teenagers are often diagnosed with ADHD or ODD. Parents are then set with the task of reviewing that diagnosis and accepting or rejecting it’s conclusions. They then may opt for a program of prescribed medication or one of the many emerging behavioral programs designed to assist the at risk teen with the symptoms of ADHD or ODD.

Like every issue there are two sides and there is a very large group of mental health professionals, as well as parents, who have problems with such diagnosis and challenge the conclusions that dictate that ADD/ODD symptoms represent behavioral problems or that such behavior requires psychiatric care.

“Over six million children in the US are on drugs that control the symptoms of so-called Attention Deficit Disorder - ADD. There are millions of kids on anti-depressant and anti-psychotic drugs. Despite the clinical hype surrounding these drugs, the actual clinical methods employed for diagnosis are bogus to non-existent. For the most part the average psychiatrist bases his/her clinical assessments on guidelines that support the preconceptions and prejudices of the profession.

There is absolutely no basis for describing ADD or ADHD as “a disease”, because psychiatry cannot establish any clinical data that offers a clear biological cause for this behavior across-the- board. Clinical jargon to justify their efforts to render non-conformist behavior “pathological”, is a long way from proving ADD is a disease.”

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Specialty schools and schools for troubled teens often have behavioral programs that address what some call simple rebellion. They concentrate on teaching the teen how to manage conflicting emotions, criticism and failure. They train the teen in the disciplines necessary to live a productive life.

Parents simply must study both sides of the issue and then see which school of thought best addresses the behavioral problems that their troubled teenagers are exhibiting.