If Your Adolescent Has Depression or Bipolar Disorder: An Essential Resource for Parents (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative) - Softcover

Evans M.D., Dwight L.; Andrews, Linda Wasmer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195182103 ISBN 13: 9780195182101

Publisher: OUP USA, 2005

Synopsis

The Adolescent Mental Health Initiative series addresses some of the major mental health issues facing teenagers today―eating disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, and schizophrenia. Of the dozen or so books planned for the series, the first four, including the two presented here, focus on how parents and other adults, including teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, and even pediatricians, can help afflicted teens overcome the disrupting and often devastating challenges of these disorders. Each book is an authoritative guide that offers essential information such as how to go about getting a diagnosis, what the latest treatment options and prevention strategies are, how to help teens cope with mental illness at home and at school and, perhaps most importantly, what the warning signs and red flags are that parents and other adults should look out for in teenagers who may be at risk for these diseases. Combining the expertise of leading psychiatrists and psychologists with the experience of everyday people who have faced these disorders in their own children, the books are designed to help adults deal effectively with adolescent mental illness and to empower them to act immediately and wisely in getting teens the best available treatment possible.

While coping with teenage moodiness can be difficult under any circumstances, it can be especially challenging if a teenager has a serious mood disorder. This concise, readable book is the definitive guide to understanding and getting effective help for adolescents with depression or bipolar disorder, designed for parents and other adults in contact with afflicted teens. It combines the most current scientific expertise available today―including the newest treatments and medications and the latest research findings on mood disorders―with no-nonsense, hands-on advice from parents who have faced these disorders in their own children.

Among other topics, the book addresses the biochemical roots of adolescent mood disorders, the ongoing debate over psychiatric medications for young people, and practical strategies for helping a teen cope at home and at school. It concludes on a hopeful note, by reviewing the latest scientific evidence on methods of stopping mood disorders before they start or minimizing the risk of recurrence. A growing body of research now shows that early diagnosis and treatment of depression and bipolar disorder may reduce the severity of these diseases, both now and in the future. Including red flags to look out for and warnings on the dangers of doing nothing, this book will provide the information and tools parents need to help adolescents achieve the best possible outcome.

About this title

Review:

"This small book took a long time to emerge, but was well worth the wait.... Well-structured and accessible, the text presents warning signs, causal factors, the range of treatments (mostly medication and psychotherapy), coping strategies, and prevention...good practical advice."--ForeWord Magazine

"Evans and Andrews act as Sherpas through the thickets of adolescent depression and bipolar disorder, guides who point out the warning signs and who offer support and advice for the depressed or the wild emotional ride of a bipolar teenager."--Kirkus Reviews

"A truly essential resource for parents of adolescents with depression or bipolar disorder. Clearly written, practical, and thoroughly up-to-date, this book focuses on the specific challenges of getting the best treatment for teens. Read this book, not just to know, but to know how."--Kate Pravera, Ph.D., Executive Director, Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation

"This is a wonderful, understandable, science-based resource for parents trying to understand and help their teenagers who are suffering much more than the usual turmoil of adolescence. It speaks both to the origins and treatments of adolescent depression, and helps parents understand what they can and can't do to help their children."--Alan I. Leshner, MD, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Executive Publisher, Science

"An extremely helpful guide for parents feeling powerless, afraid, lost, or paralyzed. In easy to understand language, it covers difficult topics such as suicide, involuntary hospitalization, explosive situations, and school bullying. This guide explains how parents can help their child while taking care of themselves."--Lydia Lewis, President, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

"This book provides a clear, intelligent explanation of what depression and bipolar disorder are. And it offers many directions and resources to help parents and teens cope with these serious but treatable illnesses. For those of us in families with depression or bipolar disorder--that is, almost all of us--this book delivers three crucial things: knowledge, help, and hope."--Paul Raeburn, Author of Acquainted with the Night: A Parent's Quest to Understand Depression and Bipolar Disorder in his Children

"This book by Evans and Andrews, is concise and easy to read, yet amazingly comprehensive and filled with practical, clinically and scientifically sound information. Since there is no other book like this one available, it fills an important, unmet need for parents. Clinicians will also find it very helpful as a highly informative book, either to give or recommend to the parents of younger patients that they are treating for mood disorders."--Lewis L. Judd, M.D. Mary Gilman Marston Professor, and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego

"This is overall a positive yet realistic book which will empower parents who often feel overwhelmed and helpless."--Quarterly Journal of Mental Health

About the Author:

Dwight L. Evans, M.D. is Ruth Meltzer Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He was chair of the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative's formal Commission on Depression and Bipolar Disorder, a blue ribbon panel of leading authorities convened in 2003 to assess the current research on these disorders. Dr. Evans has received numerous awards including The Beck Award for excellence in suicidology and the Mood Disorders Research Award. Linda Wasmer Andrews is a freelance science writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the author of nine books, including Emotional Intelligence, and a regular contributor to Self magazine.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0195182103
• ISBN 13: 9780195182101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208