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Suicide remains a leading cause of death and is a major public health concern. Studies have demonstrated that many individuals who die by suicide often see their primary care physician soon before the event. Thus, it is important to know whether suicide screening might potentially prevent some of these tragic deaths. To that end, the […]
Tags: primary care, screening, suicide, US Preventive Services Task Force
One of the many disturbing aspects of youth suicide is the concern that they can be “contagious” in the sense that one suicide or suicide attempt increases the risk that others around them will follow suit. A recent study that surveyed thousands of Canadian adolescents did indeed find that having a schoolmate that died by […]
Tags: copycat suicide, suicide, suicide contagion
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 there isn’t a single cause but several that can conspire to work together. A child with a genetic predisposition for depression […]
Tags: depression
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 hedge on concluding that the QT effects are […]
Tags: cardiac warning, celexa, citalopram, escitalopram, lexapro
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 […]
The recent tragedy surrounding the attempted suicide in Walpole NH reminds us all that the danger of youth suicide remains active in our own backyard. Drawing upon the recently blogged Vermont Youth Suicide Prevention Platform and the new website http://www.umatterucanhelp.com , it is worth thinking again about some suggestions for parents and primary care clinicians. […]
Tags: depression, suicide
The Vermont Youth Suicide Prevention Platform 2012 was released yesterday by the Center for Health and Learning. This program is developed from a grant awarded to the Center from SAMHSA and features 10 specific components, including a new website http://www.umatterucangethelp.com/ designed for youth to access themselves to get important information of what to do if […]
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHA) recently issued a report based on new survey results. One area of focus was major depression among adolescents. Major findings from the survey included the following: 1.9 million youth (8% of the population) between the ages 12-17 experienced a major depressive episode in 2010, a rate […]
Tags: depression, medications
Traditional models of child emotional-behavioral problems often posit the presence of genetic “vulnerabilities” that can be realized in the presence of specific environmental triggers. A series of new studies, however, suggest that some genes may make children more sensitive to both negative and positive environments. Three separate studies that were published together examine the interaction […]
