The prevailing theory about teenagers’ brains is that the prefrontal cortex — which is thought to control complex cognitive behavior and planning — isn’t fully developed. But new research out of the University of Pittsburgh is beginning to challenge that premise. The research was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual…
Denise Cullen made a deal with her son, Jeff, when he was young. If he waited until he was 25 to get a tattoo, she’d pay for it, whatever he wanted. It was a way of keeping him from getting something he’d later regret.
The young serviceman is back from deployment, safe again in his family home but having trouble sleeping, drinking more than usual, and uninterested in old friends and activities. His parents’ concern heightens with each day, but they aren’t sure how to approach their son without making matters worse.
Go Halloween costume shopping online and you’re sure to see them: “Gone Mental” costumes for adults and children with blood-stained tunics and straitjackets, “Asylum” wall decorations, even a 6-foot “Animated Asylum Patient” complete with “crazy” facial expression and blood-stained teeth.
The so-called runner’s high has an evolutionary explanation, according to researchers who have been exploring the phenomenon. A study by a team at the University of Arizona, led by David Raichlen, PhD, a professor in the School of Anthropology there, has found evidence to suggest that the runner’s high is an evolutionarily adaptive mechanism unique…
Shame and isolation are two unwelcome companions in the daily lives of parents of young addicts. There’s the shame of having a child who is heading for “jail, not Yale.” There’s the shame of having intensely negative feelings about the child you love. And there’s the shame of descending into dysfunctional parenting: enabling, screaming, lecturing,…
It is no secret that drug overdose deaths have increased substantially in the 21st century, but until now few have realized just how dramatic the rise in drug poisoning fatalities has been.
When Phil and Donna Satow lost their son, Jed, to suicide in 1998, they met with the president of the college he’d been attending to try to gain some understanding. Were there suicide prevention programs their son might have turned to, they asked. There was a counseling service, the president said, but it was shared…
Emotional, psychological and physical abuse during childhood lay the groundwork for the onset of mental illness, addiction and self-destructive behavior in later life.
What are the presidential candidates revealing about how they’ll handle our nation’s drug policy issues? It’s a crucial question.