Anxiety

Statistics

Warning Signs

• Extreme irritability during infancy
• Fearfulness in toddlerhood
• Very shy behavior around puberty
• Inability to relax or face fear

Prevention

• One approach targets 3-to-5-year-olds who show inhibited behavior. Parents are taught to expose the kids, gradually, to situations that frighten them rather than indulge fears

Statistics

• If you have a schizophrenic parent, your risk for the illness is 5 to 15 times as high as that of the general population
• Still, 90% of schizophrenics have no family history

Warning Signs

• Visual or auditory hallucinations
• Serious attention problems in childhood
• Jumbled thinking and difficulty expressing thoughts or ideas

Prevention

• An intervention developed in Maine uses low-dose antipsychotic medication and family psychoeducation for kids who are having prepsychotic symptoms

Statistics

• Substance-abuse rates in kids have been dropping for more than a decade, but it pays to remain alert. One-third of 8th-, 10th- and 12th-graders have used some kind of drug (including alcohol) at least once

Warning Signs

•Thrill-seeking and impulsivity in childhood
• An early diagnosis of depression, an anxiety disorder or ADHD
• Significant mood swings

Prevention

• Efforts led by peers may work better than those led by teachers. Programs that focus on teaching practical skills (how to avoid peer pressure, for instance) are more successful than scare tactics

Statistics

• 5% of adolescents experience depression in a given year; 20% eventually do
• Around age 13, depression becomes twice as common among girls

Warning Signs

• Declining interest in personal care or appearance
• A tendency to ruminate
• Expressions of powerlessness
• Persistent pessimism

Prevention

• One successful program helps at-risk kids change negative thinking patterns. Also, a Harvard approach teaches symptomatic kids that depression is treatable and has genetic origins, lifting the stigma

Statistics

• At least 12% of those who perform high-stress rescue or police work develop PTSD. Rates among military men and women deployed to war zones may be triple that

Warning Signs

• Fear that fails to diminish even after leaving a scary environment
• Exaggerated responses to stress
• Inability to sleep

Prevention

• Forcing victims to relive their trauma tends not to prevent illness. Rather, general psychotherapy shows promise in pre-empting symptoms among those who have undergone extreme stress

Source : Time.CNN