Psychiatry and Society

Treat schizophrenia as you would any other serious medical illness in your teenager "My 18yr son is aggressive, hearing voices, and not sleeping." "Since the last two months he is not attending college. He talks to himself in his room and is not going out with his friends." "He feels he is being tracked through the TV and yesterday assaulted his mother when she put it on." "We tried taking him to our doctor but he refuses saying there is nothing wrong with him." This is a common introduction to the more severely ill teenagers presenting at Pathfinder Clinic. Why teenagers with schizophrenia refuse to see a psychiatrist  Teenagers refuse to see a psychiatrist for illness related and personal reasons Illness related factors Schizophrenia is a brain disease. Your teenager has difficulties recognising his own symptoms. In schizophrenia there are changes in brain structure, chemistry and functioning. The individual is unable to ...

ADHD teens with appropriate life skills can live independently Does your  teenager with  ADHD have the life skills to survive in hostel? She did well in her 12th board exams and scored high in the CET. To attend the engineering college of her choice she has to move from home to a hostel in another city. Given her difficulty organising her daily schedule, would she be better off doing the same subjects at the local engineering college? The answer would depend on her personality and the life skills she has acquired. ADHD teenager personality types Teenagers with ADHD are of 3 character types: the optimistic, the terrified and the lost. They are placed into these categories depending on their productivity and anxiety (either too much or too little). The optimistic teen does not worry. He is excited about the independence that college life will bring, but may not realise that freedom comes with responsibilities (financial, social and personal). If he's still disor...