Parents often have the tendency to dismiss sibling aggression as normal behavior, with some even considering it a useful tool to teach children how to manage conflicts. As it turns out, such behavior may have serious psychological repercussions. It had been previously shown that sibling bullying was a potential risk factor for depression and self-harm […]

Mortality rates in people with psychotic disorders are much higher than the general population. Life expectancy rates are estimated to be 15-20 years lower among individuals with psychotic disorders. This gap appears to have widened during the last few decades. So far, most concerns regarding premature mortality in patients with psychotic disorders have centered on […]

Receiving a cancer diagnosis as a teen can be truly traumatizing in every aspect. Cancer takes a physical toll on the body, a mental toll on the mind and creates a whirlwind of stress around the patient and their loved ones. Therapy usually consists of a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation and those alone […]

The Psychiatric Ratings using Intermediate Stratified Markers (PRISM) project is a €16.5 million public and private European consortium that will use advanced technology to unearth the causes of social withdrawal. PRISM isn’t looking for an antidote to shyness. Acute social withdrawal is often a harbinger of schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and depression. This article examines how PRISM […]

If you fell off of your bike and broke your arm, specialized sensory receptors (known as nociceptors) found in the skin, muscle, joints, bone and organs would send a signal to your brain to tell you that you’ve been injured. In response to breaking a bone, your body also has a system in place (i.e., […]

Temperament refers to “built-in” tendencies to react to external stimulation in a consistent way over time. These tendencies are shaped either positively or negatively through interactions with others. Part 1 and part 2 of this series discussed how to understand temperament and promote positive interactions that bring out the best in everyone. Temperament is determined […]

Temperament is a manner of behaving that is fairly consistent over time. As discussed in part 1 of this “Understanding temperament” series, temperament is closely related to personality. Understanding individual temperament can help parents realize that their children’s behavior should not be taken personally. Like hair color, people simply are the way they are. Parents […]

People become who they are due to a combination of nature and nurture. Nature refers to inherited characteristics, such as genetic composition and instinctual traits, such as temperament. Nurture refers to environmental characteristics that influence people, such as physical environment and life experiences. Nature can be modulated or shaped over time through nurture, which is […]

Most mental health clinicians are proponents of early intervention and for most mental disorders. The notion of preventing escalation and substance abuse by treating symptoms early has been widely shown to improve outcomes for many mental illnesses, including psychotic disorders. Psychotic disorders cost billions of dollars in health care expenses each year, mainly due to […]

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, roughly 1 in 5 adults in the United States struggle with mental illness in any given year. That’s a startling 43.8 million people, or enough people to fill the entire state of California and then some. Of course, mental illness isn’t just an issue that affects adults. […]