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How to Talk to children About Tragedies:  https://www.ncfr.org/resources/resource-collections/how-talk-children-about-tragedies Helping Children Cope with Tragedy Related Anxiety:  https://mhanational.org/helping-children-cope-tragedy-related-anxiety

Join Dr. Brown as he concludes the Child Development series while discussing ages 13+. Show notes: The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents by Lisa Damour Ph. D. The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E Jensen and Amy Ellis Nutt

Dr. Brown continues his series on Child Development. Join him in this episode while he focuses on the school age (6-12.) Show notes: Ages and Stages by Charles E. Schaefer (Author), Theresa Foy DiGeronimo (Author)

Ages and Stages: A Parent's Guide to Normal Childhood Development Paperback – August 15, 2000 by Charles E. Schaefer (Author), Theresa Foy DiGeronimo (Author) The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind Paperback – September 11, 2012 by Daniel J. J. Siegel (Author), Tina Payne Bryson (Author)

Ages and Stages: A Parent's Guide to Normal Childhood Development Paperback – August 15, 2000 by Charles E. Schaefer (Author), Theresa Foy DiGeronimo (Author) The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind Paperback – September 11, 2012 by Daniel J. J. Siegel (Author), Tina Payne Bryson (Author)

Show Notes: McLeod, S. (2023). Piaget's 4 stages of development & cognitive theory. simplypsychology.org/piaget. North Shore University Health System. (2023). Toddler growth and development.  northshore.org/pediatrics/ages-and-milestones/toddler

There are 2 take-home messages regarding infants: 1.  Touch and physical contact are critical for physical health, mental health, and a sense of trust in the world. 2.  Intellectual stimulation spurs cognitive development so talk, sing, read, and play with your infant. Bigelow, A.E. (2020). To have and to hold: Effects of physical contact on infants and their caregivers. National Library of Medicine. 61:101494. Greicius, J. (2013). The benefits of touch for babies, parents. Stanford Medicine: September 22, 2013. Harmon, K. (2010).  How important is touch with your infant?  Scientific American: May 6, 2010. Maruwada, M. (2022). 10 Cognitive Activities For Infants To Boost Development, Mom Junction. December 20, 2022.

Show Notes:  Bullying affects children.  It is not something that children have to learn to live with and it is not a "normal" part of childhood.  We can identify the isgns and symptoms and find meaningful ways to intervene. Davis, S. & Nixon. (2010).  The youth voice research project:Victimization and strategies.  http://njbullying.org Gini, G. & Pozzoli, T. (2013). Bullied children and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis.  Pediatrics.  9 (11). Bullying Prevention.  (2022).  Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.  www.pbis.org

In this podcast, Dr. Brown emphasizes the rates of bullying and the nature of the thoughts behind bullying.  He also emphasizes how the process is unhealthy for the bully. Stay tuned for part 2! References: Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2019).Preventing bullying. National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019 Patchin, J.W. & Hindula (2019) Cyberbullying data.  Cyberbullying Research Cennter.

So, the take-home message surrounding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is that it is a disorder that affects a child's ability to focus and/or his, her, or their ability to manage energy and impulses.  BUT.... that is not all that it impacts.  A child who cannot focus well or manage energy or impulses well has a difficult time learning, participating in activities, mastering activities, developing friendships, and ultimately forming an identity.  These children do not have the art, sports, grades, music, clubs, or activities that help them identify who they are. At the same time, some of the most accepting kids in school are those who are engaging in the  at-risk behaviors where we would not want our kids joining in. A Beginner's Guide on Parenting Children with ADHD: A Modern Approach to Understand and Lead your Hyperactive Child to Success (Successful Parenting) by Richard Bass What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew: Working Together to Empower Kids for Success in School and Life by Dr. Sharon Saline, Dr. Laura Markham, et al.

While it is valuable to understand and review, with our children, the lures and statistics that people use to abduct children, the key element here is that school-aged children (especially those between the ages of 5 and 11) may not have developed the conceptual reasoning to understand that a person who is acting nice, may still be a mean person.  To try to overcome this, monitor your childrens' activities and friends while also talking with them and role-playing with them the acts of running and screaming if they are approached by even a nice stranger.  "No adult stranger should ever approach you!" DeBecker, Gavin.  (1997)  The Gift of Fear. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - https://www.missingkids.org/HOME

Impulse control is the art of the pause.  Those who do not learn to stop and consider their options struggle academically, socially, in career settings, and with long term friendships and romantic relationships.  Children can learn to pause and manage impulses by learning to identify feelings, solve problems, delaying their own responses, managing consequences and even playing games. Morin, A. (2021) Impulse Control Techniques That Work for Children. verywellfamily.com

Tune in this week as Dr. Brown continues the discussion on the 3 fundamental skills that are important to our children. Today Dr. Brown talks about the delay of gratification, or willpower, and how you can help teach this skill to your children. 

The truth is, the more convenient life gets, the more frustration we tend to feel. We are starting to see this more and more in our children who are more easily made sad, anxious, and angry over relatively minor issues. In today's episode, Dr. Brown discusses the first of 3 fundamental skills that are critically important for our children - frustration intolerance. How do we solve it? Tune in to learn more.

About one half of Americans now get their news, sometimes, or often, from social media. Often this news is raw and uncontrolled featuring images of blood, violence, sounds of gun fire, screaming or pictures of people injured or dying. In addition to that about 51% of kids now get their first cell phone between the ages of 9 and 11. The combination of these two trends means that our children are more aware of tragedies than children have ever been. In this episode Dr. Brown will provide you with actionable ideas on how to talk with your children about these tragedies. 

To give, give, give or demand, demand, demand? Tune in this week as Dr. Brown discusses if it is best to spoil your children or to be strict. 

In Part 3 of the Mental Health Series, Dr. Brown talks more in-depth about how you can help your child through mental health illness with real, actionable ideas.  Mindset for recovery – the parent’s mindset Fight guilt/self-condemnation Help your child fight self-condemnation – best mindset is that this is not my fault, but I can take responsibility for recovery Communicate with your child’s therapist demand explanation learn the therapeutic intervention     4. Relapse prevention Situations – ongoing stressors Events – stressful one-time events People Places Thoughts Feelings Behaviors CDC website pages about suicide: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factors/index.html National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/home Marlatt, G.A. & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. The Guilford Press. 558 pages.

In Part 2 of the Mental Health Series, Dr. Brown focuses on a tough, but important topic. Suicide. He will discuss what indicators to look for and how you can help your child through this time.  In 2019… 10th leading cause of death in US 2nd leading cause of death among individuals between ages of 10 and 34 2.5 as many suicides as homicides Indicators that trigger concern about suicide: A. Individual Previous suicide attempt Discussion or threats of suicide Impulsive or aggressive tendencies Mental illness, such as depression Social isolation Criminal problems Financial problems Job problems or loss Legal problems Serious illness Substance use disorder Hopelessness Helplessness B. Relationship Adverse childhood experiences such as child abuse and neglect Bullying Family history of suicide Relationship problems such as a break-up, violence, or loss Sexual violence C. Community Barriers to health care Cultural and religious beliefs such as a belief that suicide is noble resolution of a personal problem Suicide cluster in the community/school – suicide can be contagious D. Societal Stigma associated with mental illness or help-seeking Easy access to lethal means among people at risk (e.g. firearms, medications) Unsafe media portrayals of suicide E. How to respond 1. ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. The only acceptable answer to the question, “Are you thinking of harming yourself?” is, “No, I am not thinking of harming myself.” Unacceptable answers: I wouldn’t do that. I’m fine. I’m okay. I don’t believe in that. It is against my faith.     4. If you believe that your child is suicidal, take him/her/them to the nearest emergency department for an evaluation to see if the child needs inpatient care. If they do not, then contact your child’s pediatrician for follow up, or if you child is already seeing a therapist, contact the therapist (after the emergency room visit.) CDC website pages about suicide: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factors/index.html National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/home Marlatt, G.A. & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. The Guilford Press. 558 pages.

May is mental health awareness month. We want to break down this important topic into a series of 3 episodes. In this episode, Dr. Brown discusses signs and symptoms of mental illness in children and adolescents. Listen to part 2 as Dr. Brown dives into the topic of suicide and Part 3 as he discusses the Recovery Mindset.  Signs and symptoms (We tend to look for changes in these areas and, unless it involves a safety threat, we are almost always looking at several symptoms. A single symptom or even a couple of symptoms are not enough to make a diagnosis unless the symptoms are disrupting a person’s life.) A. Family  Violation of the family love, affection, playfulness norm  Frequent disobedience  Change in relating to the family or time with the family B. Behavior Change in sleep Change in appetite Decline in hygiene Change in appearance Change in social group Decline in ability to experience pleasure Hyperactive behavior Abuse of alcohol or drugs Change in sex drive Inability to carry out daily activities or responsibilities Frequent temper tantrums Avoiding friends and social activities C. Thoughts/Thinking Problems with concentration Problems with memory Confused thought Frequent nightmares Difficulties understanding or relating to other people Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality) Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)  Thinking about suicide D. Feelings Excessive anxiety, worry, fear Sadness – feeling down Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of Euphoria Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger Difficulty tolerating frustration Intense fear of weight gain What to do – if you are concerned that your child is suffering from some of these symptoms, it is healthy to seek help. Your child’s pediatrician is a great place to start. That physician can direct the care regarding medical and psychotherapeutic interventions. CDC website pages about suicide: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factors/index.html National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/home Marlatt, G.A. & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. The Guilford Press. 558 pages.

Hi, I'm Dr. Scott Brown, come talk to me!