Emotional Disturbance
Emotional Disturbance is a very broad category that a number of different diagnoses and disorders can fall under. Just having an Anxiety Problem, for example, does not put one in this category. Having an Anxiety Disorder may well qualify a student for a Section 504 plan, but to qualify for an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) the student’s disorder has to fit the criteria and it has to adversely affect a student’s educational performance.
Below you’ll find helpful information on several of the specific disorders that can fall under Emotional Disturbance.
View/Download the NYS Office of Mental Health Family Resource Toolkit
Children and Mental Health: Is This Just a Stage?
Teen Mental Health Crisis
How to Help Teens Struggling With Mental Health
Answers to common questions about identifying and compassionately addressing issues of anxiety and depression in adolescents. New York Times Article
Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Basics
A child with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has pervasive worries that cause distress about a variety of everyday things, including doing well in school or sports. He worries too much about everything. In this guide, you’ll find common signs and symptoms of GAD, criteria used for diagnosis and up-to-date treatment options.
How Anxiety Impacts the Way We Perceive and Think
How we see, hear, and think about what we experience within and outside ourselves determines who we are and how we relate to the world. Disorders such as anxiety not only interfere with but also impair these processes, creating a distorted view of our internal and external worlds.
NY Times: Why are more American Teenagers than ever suffering from severe anxiety?
“Parents, therapists, and schools are struggling to figure out whether helping anxious teenagers means protecting them or pushing them to face their fears.” By BENOIT DENIZET-LEWISOCT. 11, 2017
Possible genetic cause of Social Phobia identified
People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life. Researchers have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and depressiveness.
Click this link to read “With Anxiety, Are Your Thoughts Trustworthy?”
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is a mental health condition. It is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and other day-to-day activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends. But social anxiety disorder doesn’t have to stop you from reaching your potential. Treatment can help you overcome your symptoms.
Click this link to read “Social Anxiety – More Than Just Shyness”
Depression
Depression Basics
Depression is a type of mood disorder that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It can affect the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one thinks about things, and the way one feels about oneself. A depressive disorder is not a sign of weaknesses or simply a passing bad mood. Without treatment, depressive symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression. Depression can occur during adolescence, a time of great personal change. Teens may be facing changes in where they go to school, their friends, their after-school activities, as well as in their relationships with family members. These are all factors that can increase adolescents’ risk for depression.
Teen suicides are on the rise. Here’s what parents can do to slow the trend.- Los suicidios adolescentes están en aumento. Esto es lo que los padres pueden hacer para frenar la tendencia.
The two middle-schoolers had never met in person, but they both struggled with depression and were drawn to the same dark group chat. When one wrote that he planned to kill himself, the other took an image of his post. “I’m so freaked out,” she told me, her school counselor. “Please find him and make sure he’s okay.” With some assistance, I was able to figure out what Washington-area school the boy attended. When I called his principal, she was bewildered. Her student could be disruptive in class, she told me, but he didn’t seem sad.
Los dos estudiantes de secundaria no se habían conocido en persona, pero ambos lucharon contra la depresión y se sintieron atraídos por el mismo grupo oscuro de chat. Cuando uno escribió que planeaba suicidarse, el otro tomó una imagen de su publicación. “Estoy tan asustada”, me dijo, su consejera escolar. “Por favor, encuéntralo y asegúrate de que esté bien.” Con algo de ayuda, pude averiguar a qué escuela del área de Washington asistía el niño. Cuando llamé a su directora, estaba desconcertada. Su estudiante podría ser perjudicial en la clase, dijo. Yo, pero él no parecía triste.
Click this link to read the story.
Haga clic en este enlace para leer la historia. No disponible en español.
Chronic Illness & Mental Health
Chronic Illness & Mental Health
Depression is a real illness. Treatment can help you live to the fullest extent possible, even when you have another illness. It is common to feel sad or discouraged after a heart attack, a cancer diagnosis, or if you are trying to manage a chronic condition like pain. You may be facing new limits on what you can do and feel anxious about treatment outcomes and the future.
It may be hard to adapt to a new reality and to cope with the changes and ongoing treatment that come with the diagnosis. Your favorite activities, like hiking or gardening, may be harder to do.
Click on this link, to read the article.
World Health Organization: Depression – Living with someone with depression
This short video highlights the role of those living with a person with depression.
World Health Organization: Depression - Living with someone with depression
This short video highlights the role of those living with a person with depression.
World Health Organization: Depression - Lets talk
Depression affects people of all ages, from all walks of life, in all countries. It causes mental anguish and impacts on people’s ability to carry out even the simplest everyday tasks, with sometimes devastating consequences for relationships with family and friends. It is also the largest cause of disability worldwide.
This short video highlights the public health and economic arguments for ensuring that treatment for depression is available to everyone who needs it. This video has been produced as part of the World Health Organization’s “Depression: let’s talk” campaign, which began on 10 October 2016 and runs for one year.
“Depression: let’s talk” campaign, which began on 10 October 2016 and runs for one year.
Living with "The Black Dog"
It is important to remember that the Black Dog (i.e. Depression) can begin to grow in children and in teens. It’s not just adults. When the Black Dog appears in children it becomes a “member” of the whole family. Luckily, as pointed, out there are effective treatments to help manage the depression, and even send it away on long holidays, and maybe even with children and teens, away for good.
Bipolar Disorder in Teens & Young Adults
Bipolar Disorder in Teens & Young Adults
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Basics
A child with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has pervasive worries that cause distress about a variety of everyday things, including doing well in school or sports. He/She worries too much about everything. In this guide, you’ll find common signs and symptoms of GAD, criteria used for diagnosis and up-to-date treatment options.
How Anxiety Impacts the Way We Perceive and Think
How we see, hear, and think about what we experience within and outside ourselves determines who we are and how we relate to the world. Disorders such as anxiety not only interfere with but also impair these processes, creating a distorted view of our internal and external worlds.
NY Times: Why are more American Teenagers than ever suffering from severe anxiety?
“Parents, therapists, and schools are struggling to figure out whether helping anxious teenagers means protecting them or pushing them to face their fears.” By BENOIT DENIZET-LEWISOCT. 11, 2017
Possible genetic cause of Social Phobia identified
People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life. Researchers have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and depressiveness.
Click this link to read “With Anxiety, Are Your Thoughts Trustworthy?”
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is a mental health condition. It is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and other day-to-day activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends. But social anxiety disorder doesn’t have to stop you from reaching your potential. Treatment can help you overcome your symptoms.
Click this link to read “Social Anxiety – More Than Just Shyness”
Disruptive Mood Disorder (DMD)
Irritability in Children - Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
Obsessive / Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Basics
Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions (which cause marked anxiety or distress) and/or by compulsions (which can completed can serve to neutralize anxiety).
Information on the OCD can be found at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Adding Psychotherapy to Medication Treatment Improves Outcomes in Pediatric OCD
Youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who are already taking antidepressant medication benefit by adding a type of psychotherapy called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), according to an NIMH-funded study.
Click this link to read the abstract in the 9/11 issues of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
PANDAS
PANDAS:- Questions and Answers
PANDAS is short for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.
PANDAS: Fact Sheet about Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections
A child may be diagnosed with PANDAS when: obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or tic disorders suddenly appear following a strep infection or the symptoms of OCD or tic symptoms suddenly become worse following a strep infection.
Information on PANDAS
PANDAS is an acronym for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. These disorders involve the sudden onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tics in children following a strep infection such as strep throat or scarlet fever.
Click this link to read an interview about PANDAS
Click this link to read the NIHM information on PANDAS.
Trichotilomania
Video on Trichotillomania
A first-person account from a delightful 16-year-old discussing her dealing with her Trichotillomania.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI) - Iniciativa Nacional de Estrés Traumático Infantil (NCTSI)
SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative improves treatment and services for children, adolescents, and families who have experienced traumatic events.
La Iniciativa Nacional de Estrés Traumático Infantil de SAMHSA mejora el tratamiento y los servicios para niños, adolescentes y familias que han experimentado eventos traumáticos.
Click this link to get resources and information.
Haga clic en este enlace para obtener recursos e información.
PTSD - Self Care is not Selfish
“Self-care is not selfish.” U.S. Army Veteran (1989-1990) Kathleen Dardis explains why people should get PTSD treatment:
Dealing With Trauma - Recovering From Frightening Events
From the NIMH – “It’s natural to be afraid after something scary or dangerous happens. When you feel you’re in danger, your body responds with a rush of chemicals that make you more alert. This is called the “flight or fight” response. It helps us survive life-threatening events.”
National Center for PTSD: Treatment Decision Aid
If you’re not sure what kind of treatment is best for you, check out our Decision Aid to learn about and compare effective PTSD treatment options.
Click this link to go to the site.
What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
This whiteboard video from the Veteran’s Health Administration explains trauma and PTSD symptoms using hand-drawn whiteboard animation that reflects the story being presented (1 of 6 videos in series). Going to the site will let you watch the other 5 videos in the series.
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