Child Psychology/Mental Health

This section provides parents with information on how to help children with emotional and behavioral development.  Tips on such topics as how to develop a positive self-image, develop self-control and learn appropriate social skills.  This section also provides information, self-help and referrals to professional organizations on a wide range of topics related to child and teen mental health issues.

Too Sick for School? School Phobia - Tips for Parents  No matter how much your child enjoys school, at some point they're probably going to try to convince you theyíre too sick for school. You may not be concerned if this happens once in a while, but when it occurs often in a week or two, you may want to know if something else is going on. As a parent you want to know if they're trying to avoid something or someone.

It's not unusual for children at school to be mean to one another. Just think back to when you were in school and you'll remember. Today's kids, it seems, can be far crueler than children from past generations ever thought of being. It could be this reason why your child says they're too sick for school.

When your child complains about not feeling well all week and yet miraculously gets better on Friday at 4:00 p.m., you know something is up. What are your options? How can you help your child get through whatever their problem is so they can go to school with their head held high?

You want to let your child know that they can come to you and talk to you about anything. It doesn't matter if the subject matter makes you or them uncomfortable, they'll be glad to know they can talk to you. Being available and truly listening to what they have to say is very important.

Ask them questions without sounding like you're a lawyer cross-examining someone on the stand. You can ask them questions such as "is everything okay at school" or "are you having problems with someone at school" without it sounding like the third degree. If they will answer you without looking away or avoiding the question, things are probably alright in that area. It's when they begin avoiding your eyes or stammering to find an answer that you may have hit on the problem.  -->

Shyness: How To Help The Shy Child & Teenager  Shyness is a common but little understood emotion. Everyone has felt ambivalent or self-conscious in new social situations. However, at times shyness may interfere with optimal social development and restrict children's learning. This digest (1) describes types and manifestations of shyness, (2) reviews research on genetic, temperamental, and environmental influences on shyness, (3) distinguishes between normal and problematic shyness, and (4) suggests ways to help the shy child.
What Is Shyness?



The basic feeling of shyness is universal, and may have evolved as an adaptive mechanism used to help individuals cope with novel social stimuli. Shyness is felt as a mix of emotions, including fear and interest, tension and pleasantness. Increase in heart rate and blood pressure may occur. An observer recognizes shyness by an averted, downward gaze and physical and verbal reticence. The shy person's speech is often soft, tremulous, or hesitant. Younger children may suck their thumbs: some act coy, alternately smiling and pulling away.



Shyness is distinguishable from two related behavior patterns; wariness and social disengagement. Infant wariness of strangers lacks the ambivalent approach/avoidance quality that characterizes shyness. Some older children may prefer solitary play and appear to have low needs for social interaction, but experience none of the tension of the genuinely shy child.



Children may be vulnerable to shyness at particular developmental points. Fearful shyness in response to new adults emerges in infancy. Cognitive advances in self-awareness bring greater social sensitivity in the second year. Self-conscious shyness-the possibility of embarrassment-appears at 4 or 5. Early adolescence ushers in a peak of self-consciousness. -->

ADHD - Attention Deficit Disorder in Children  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder – ADHD sometimes known as Attention Deficit Disorder – ADD is a condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of children have meet criteria for diagnosis, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 25 to 30 children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD. The condition was first described by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman in 1845. A physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry, Dr. Hoffman was also a poet who became interested in writing for children when he couldn’t find suitable materials to read to his 3-year-old son. The result was a book of poems, complete with illustrations, about children and their characteristics. “The Story of Fidgety Philip” was an accurate description of a little boy who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yet it was not until 1902 that Sir George F. Still published a series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in England in which he described a group of impulsive children with significant behavioral problems, caused by a genetic dysfunction and not by poor child rearing—children who today would be easily recognized as having ADHD.  Since then, several thousand scientific papers on the disorder have been published, providing information on its nature, course, causes, impairments, and treatments.

A child with ADHD faces a difficult but not insurmountable task ahead. In order to achieve his or her full potential, he or she should receive help, guidance, and understanding from parents, guidance counselors, and the public education system. This document offers information on the condition and its management, including research on medications and behavioral interventions, as well as helpful resources on educational options. -->

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