There are some ways to help you assess the type of anxiety that leads to inattention. Consider the following tips, which we’ve excerpted from an article from The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report newsletter:Catalog. Work with the child to develop a list of activities in which the child is calm and...

Just getting adolescents to even find their medicine or remember to take it is a big challenge, says Jess Shatkin, MD, Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine, and author of “Born to be Wild: Why Teens Take Risks, and How We Can...

In many cases, it will be immediately clear when an aggressive patient needs to be sent to the ER, says Ruth Gerson, MD, Director at the Bellevue Hospital Children’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program in New York, NY. If a patient is hurting people, including himself, and you determine a clear...

The following tips for overcoming conflict in the medication consent process were excerpted from an informed consent article in the May/June issue of The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report:1. If it’s not an emergency, take your time. When life and limb are at stake, we should act immediately—but that doesn’t usually...

Always screen for disturbances of sleep—they often are the key to other problems a child might be having. Look at factors from issues at school or in the family, as well as digital exposure and dietary habits (caffeine, carbs, etc).The following is a brief primer on common sleep disorders, from...

When used appropriately, screen media can be useful rather than harmful. But with children, there must be limits, says Mary G. Burke, MD of the Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation in San Francisco, who covered the topic in The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report.Since screen time can be addictive for susceptible individuals,...

All behavior is a code that a child uses to communicate, says Jessica Minahan, a board-certified behavior analyst and special educator, who co-authored The Behavior Code Companion. “Bad behavior” is often cloaked anxiety, and we can support education professionals by offering ideas that help anxious children.In an Expert Q&A in...

Despite lots of scientific investigation, the cause of TD remains relatively unknown. Most investigations seem to implicate hyper-functioning dopamine circuits. At least one study showed that antipsychotic medications, which block dopamine transmission, are beneficial in suppressing tics. (Robertson, MM. Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed 2012;97(5):166-175).That said, before you consider...

When children or adolescents come to your office showing signs of suicidal ideation, it’s necessary to conduct a focused assessment.During an interview in The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report, Cynthia Pfeffer, MD, Professor of psychiatry and director of the Childhood Bereavement Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY, recommends that...

An 11-year-old boy, who was admitted for suicidal ideation, is angry and wants to go home. He is marching up and down the hallways, screaming and flailing his arms in a menacing manner. You realize that medication to sedate him might be necessary, but you’re also considering a behavioral intervention.How...