Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) typically occurs in children, but it can also be present in early adolescence. Children can often be disobedient and argumentative, but consistent patterns of these behaviors could indicate an underlying disorder.
This article will discuss what ODD is, how to recognize it, and methods of treating the disorder.
Pediatricians should look for risk factors linked to teen suicide, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises. Risk factors include substance abuse, a history of physical or sexual abuse, mood disorders, being lesbian, gay or bisexual, and bullying, the group notes in new guidelines.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens, the group notes. The guidelines were first published in 2007, and were updated this year. Ben Shain, lead author of the new guidelines, said teen suicide rates may have increased because of the stresses and anger levels caused by electronic media.
They also may have risen because of a reluctance to use antidepressant medication, he said. USA Today notes the Food and Drug Administration required “black box warning” labels on antidepressants in 2004, which warn health care providers of increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior among children and teens who are taking the medication. The warnings led to a decrease in antidepressant prescriptions, the article notes.
Full story of pediatricians looking at risk factors linked to suicide at drugfree.org
Spanish researchers have studied adults’ accuracy in the recognition of the emotion causing babies to cry. Eye movement and the dynamic of the cry play a key role in recognition.
It is not easy to know why a newborn cries, especially amongst first-time parents. Although the main reasons are hunger, pain, anger and fear, adults cannot easily recognize which emotion is the cause of the tears.
“Crying is a baby’s principal means of communicating its negative emotions and in the majority of cases the only way they have to express them,” as explained by Mariano Chóliz, researcher at the University of Valencia.
Chóliz participates in a study along with experts from the University of Murcia and the National University of Distance Education (UNED) which describes the differences in the weeping pattern in a sample of 20 babies between 3 and 18 months caused by the three characteristic emotions: fear, anger and pain.
Full story of why babies cry at Science Daily
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Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education
When you rear-end the car in front of you at a stoplight, you may feel a mix of different emotions such as anger, anxiety, and guilt. The person whose car you rear-ended may feel angered and frustrated by your carelessness, but it’s unlikely that he’ll feel much guilt.
The ability to identify and distinguish between negative emotions helps us address the problem that led to those emotions in the first place. But while some people can tell the difference between feeling angry and guilty, others may not be able to separate the two. Distinguishing between anger and frustration is even harder.
In a study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientist Emre Demiralp of the University of Michigan and his colleagues hypothesized that clinically depressed people would be less able to discriminate between different types of negative emotions compared to healthy individuals. Clinically depressed people often experience feelings of sadness, anger, fear, or frustration that interfere with everyday life.
Full story of guilt at Science Daily
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Teenagers are often characterized as over-emotional, prone to outbursts that confuse their parents and leave teachers reeling.
But a study published in the July issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry says 1 in 12 adolescents may in fact be suffering from a real and severe anger problem known as intermittent explosive disorder (IED).
Study author Katie McLaughlin, a clinical psychologist and psychiatric epidemiologist, says IED is one of the most widespread mental health disorders – and one of the least studied.
"There’s a contrast between how common the disorder is and how much we know about it," she said.
IED is characterized by recurrent episodes of aggression that involve violence, a threat of violence and/or destruction of property, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It often begins around the age of 12, but scientists don’t know whether it continues into adulthood. (A similar study which focused on adults found 7.2% met the criteria for IED).
Full story of teen anger disorder at CNN Health
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