UVM Blogs

With Father’s Day coming this Sunday, it seems appropriate to mention a recent article that likely confirms something most of us believe yet hasn’t been documented as much as one might expect.  To date, the vast […]

The book Children, Trauma, and Arts, a collaborative project  between the Vermont Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Arts Bus Project was released last week.  The Arts Bus travels from […]

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was finally released last week after several delays and an amazing amount of controversy and discussion.  The book, published […]

by Jim Hudziak, MD and David Rettew, MD

A few years ago, I was driving my son and three teammates to a hockey tournament in Montreal when I noticed it was oddly quiet in my car. Looking around, I saw four boys, […]

The idea of chores may seem a little old fashioned to some, but it remains a useful part of home life.  Apart from any direct benefit of getting certain tasks accomplished, chores can teach kids practical skills, […]

This month, the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sent a letter to members of the Vermont legislature, executive leadership, and our US senators and representative, calling for specific […]

A recent posting on Babysitting.net describes 10 Common Causes for Teenage Depression.  I thought it was a useful post and worth passing along.   I think it is also certainly worth noting that most frequently […]

An increasingly popular activity for parents of infants and early childhood education centers is to demonstrate to babies and encourage the use of basic sign language or “baby sign” for words such as “milk” or […]

Are children and adolescents in the United States too easily given psychiatric medications?  There has been a lot of attention to this question lately with many people both within and outside of the mental health […]

The phenomenon of comorbidity is extremely common in psychiatry.  While the term is used to denote the occurrence of two or more independent psychiatric disorders in the same individual, there is increasing […]

The media has been full lately with discussions and advice about the merits of different types of parenting (see previous blog posting of June 2012: Tiger-Attachment-Ferberization Parenting).  Adding further to […]

The New York Times is reporting data they received from the CDC’s National Survey of Children’s Health that the number of children who have received a diagnosis of ADHD has risen to 11% with some segments of the […]

It is commonly believed inattentive and hyperactive preschool children will likely “grow out” of these problems later in life.  Good data to support this claim, however, are lacking.  The Preschool […]

It might come as a surprise to many Vermonters, but we are one of the only states left in the country in which judges do NOT have the right to grant joint custody of children in divorce proceedings unless BOTH […]

Psychotic symptoms in children and adolescence, such as paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions, are relatively common and can be associated with a range of diagnoses.  Nevertheless, their presence understandably […]

(Editor’s Note:  I am very pleased to begin a new series of posts by our clinic’s family coach and social worker, Eliza Pillard, entitled “Eliza’s Wellness Pearls,” featuring tips for child wellness and health […]

The number of children and adolescents (under age 21) who are incarcerated has been steadily dropping since the mid-1990s according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that presents data from the U.S. […]

(Editor’s note:  I am very pleased to present a new posting written by one of our third year psychiatry residents, Dr. David DeVellis. -  DR)

by David DeVellis, MD

How often do you find yourself saying “I’d […]

We all know how important the right medications can be to health, but when they are not stored properly, these same medications can become dangerous instruments of misuse.  Diversion, suicide attempts, and […]

(NOTE:  This study has received a lot of press and coverage today but read on to gain new insights into important details of the study that may have influenced the results and interpretation)

The usefulness of […]

It is standard (and required practice) to give informed consent prior to beginning a new medication during which possible side effects are discussed.  While few would argue with this practice, clinicians have […]

While the genetic influence on intelligence has been well studied, less is known about school achievement and the genetic/environmental links between intelligence and school achievement. Previous work has also […]

by Jeremiah Dickerson, MD

Director, VCCYF Autism Assessment Clinic

As you may know, the Vermont Center for Children, Youth, & Families, in partnership with the State of Vermont, has established an Autism […]

Autism is generally considered to be a lifelong condition.  While treatment can certainly be effective, the goal is often described more in terms of symptom reduction rather than a true recovery (in which no […]

A provocative article in the NY times raises questions about the practice of giving stimulant medications to children who don’t meet criteria for ADHD but who nonetheless might benefit from their effects.   While […]

by John Koutas, MD

The beneficial short-term effects of ADHD medication on symptoms of ADHD and associated problems have been demonstrated in numerous studies.  Although ADHD symptoms often persist from […]

(Editor note:  I am pleased to post a new entry by one of our first year child psychiatry fellows – Feyza Basoglu, MD.  After all the new electronics many families received for the holidays, it gives us something […]

All over the country people are horrified at Sandy Hook Elementary School and our hearts go out to all the families affected by this tragedy.  While many facts of the shooting remain to be […]

In classic models of psychiatric risk, particular child characteristics are seen as generally negative things that under the wrong conditions can get amplified  into full-fledged psychiatric disorders.  A newer […]

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) is a new entity coming to DSM5 in May 2013 that describes children with noncyclic but frequent and severe outbursts along with a chronically irritable mood.  The […]

It is well known that babies get upset, but are infants who get REALLY upset and are very difficult to manage more likely to have behavioral problems later in life?  The data so far has been somewhat inconclusive […]

Concern has been raised that the proposed DSM5 changes to the criteria for autism may reduce the number of individuals who meet criteria for the diagnosis and are thus entitled to services.  You can see a previous […]

The Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP), in collaboration with the Division of Child Psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Fletcher Allen Health Care, and Vermont Center for […]

I thought I would pass along a posting that describes 6 misconceptions about seeing a therapist.  While the origin of the post is from an online psychology degree site,  I thought that the information was […]

Beginning in January, physicians will have the new option of a liquid long-acting methylphenidate treatment that requires only once-daily dosing.  The medication, made by NextWave Pharmaceuticals (which will be […]

Clinicians of all types who write antipsychotic medications prescriptions for children with Medicaid insurance will soon be receiving surveys to complete on each child.

The Agency of Human Services (AHS), […]

The debate about pacifiers as useful aides to soothe crying infants versus developmentally stunting crutches has been with us for decades. This group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin and elsewhere […]

Living somewhere between the worlds of science and politics has been the longstanding debate regarding the negative effects of cannabis abuse.  While there have been some studies linking its use to lower IQ, most […]

As the Halloween season approaches, I have again been reminded of the frequent concern of parents who are considering using medication as part of the treatment plan for their child’s emotional-behavioral […]

The practice of letting infants cry it out on their own when they wake up at night versus picking them up and soothing them has been an ageless parenting dilemma, especially since sleep expert Ferber popularized […]

(Editor’s note:  Primary care clinicians pride themselves on being able to handle medical emergencies, but the best response after an emotional trauma is less well known.  We often hear after such events that “counselors have been called in” but what do they actually do?  On this 9/11 anniversary, Robin Pesci, who directs a local crisis response [...]

A proxy for the level of exposure to prenatal androgens is the length of the second finger digit relative to the length of the forth finger (although not all studies support this link). Lower ratios are generally associated with more male typical behaviors. A new study published in the journal Development and Psychopathology examines a group [...]

Idiopathic Toe-walking refers to children who habitually walk on their toes rather than using a typical gait and for whom no specific cause has been found.  It has been a traditional red flag to clinicians and parents alike for developmental problems including autism.  There is little systematic study, however, of the phenomenon and its predictive…[Read more]

Welcome to a new format to assist Vermont primary care clinicians in delivering high quality mental health assessment and treatment to children and families.  We all know the problem all too well:  emotional and behavioral problems are extremely common, affecting at least 1 in 5 children.  Vermont like every other state has a critical shortage [...]

Last year’s warnings from the FDA about dose-dependent QTc elongation and cardiac arrhythmias including Torsade De Pointes among patients taking citalopram at higher doses have been supplemented by warnings issued by HealthCanada on escitalopram (Lexapro), the S-isomer of racemic citalopram.  The FDA’s 2012 guidelines exclude escitalopram but…[Read more]

by John Koutras, MD The risk factors for children developing post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a medical trauma are complex and include medical and family factors, among others.  A concept of “relational PTSD” has been proposed which suggests that parent and child symptoms mutually influence…[Read more]

A new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry reports on the increasing use of antipsychotic medications in youth.  The study analyzed nearly half a million medical visits over a 17 year span (1993 through 2009).  Results showed that the number of medical visits that included an antipsychotic medication per 100 persons rose in children [...]

How many times have you heard a psychiatric diagnosis questioned based on the possibility that the behaviors are JUST something else.  You know the drill: “C’mon doc, are you sure this ADHD thing isn’t a fancy label for kids who are JUST (insert lazy, bad, spoiled, etc.)?” Another common one is “Can’t a kid JUST be sad [...]