Adolescent Mental Health

Through the stories of kids and parents in the middle school trenches, a New York Times best-selling author reveals why these years are so painful, how parents unwittingly make them worse, and what we all need to do to grow up.

¿Te gustaría verte diferente? ¿En ocasiones quisieras cambiar a tus papás? ¿Te has dicho: “Nadie me comprende”? ¿Te has cuestionado si eres normal? Si contestaste que “sí” a la mitad de las preguntas anteriores, entonces eres perfectamente normal. ¡Así que este libro es ideal para ti! Porque trata temas como los amigos, tener confianza en ti, aprender a decir no a las drogas y, en general, cómo enfrentar los problemas y retos de la juventud.

In The Teen Interpreter, psychologist Terri Apter looks inside teens’ minds—minds that are experiencing powerful new emotions and awareness of the world around them—to show how parents can revitalize their relationship. She illuminates the rapid neurological developments of a teen’s brain, explains the power of teenage friendships, and explores the positives and pitfalls of social media.

Let's take stock of young America. Compared to previous generations, American youth have more schooling (college enrollments have never been higher); more money ($100 a week in disposable income); more leisure time (five hours a day); and more news and information (Internet, The Daily Show, RSS feeds). What do they do with all that time and money? They download, upload, IM, post, chat, and network. (Nine of their top ten sites are for social networking.) They watch television and play video games (2 to 4 hours per day).

Ser mentalmente fuerte en el mundo actual es todo un logro. Como adolescente que se enfrenta a la presión escolar, la presión social, la presión familiar y, además, la presión deportiva, tienes que esforzarte por mantener una mente sana junto con un cuerpo sano. La ansiedad por el rendimiento es real, y también lo son las distracciones, así como el peso de las expectativas de los demás.

All parents want their daughters to become confident, happy, self-sufficient women, but the turbulent years of early adolescence can be difficult to navigate. From Tweens to Teens invites parents to rethink how they prepare their daughters to face these difficult developmental years.

Amy Jo Burns grew up in Mercury, Pennsylvania, an industrial town humbled by the steel collapse of the 1980s. Instead of the construction booms and twelve-hour shifts her parents’ generation had known, the Mercury Amy Jo knew was marred by empty houses, old strip mines, and vacant lots. The year Burns turned ten, this sleepy town suddenly woke up. Howard Lotte, its beloved piano teacher, was accused of sexually assaulting his female students.

What can parents and other concerned adults do to prevent the next Sandy Hook? Are there red flags that warn us if our children might become victims or perpetrators of bullying or of sexual assault? How do we know when a child or young adult is at risk for suicide or just moody? These are certainly questions most parents have wondered about, especially at a time when childhood dangers seem increasingly hard to predict or control.

Kids are coming out as trans at younger and younger ages, which is a good thing for them. But what written resources are available to parents, teachers, and mental health professionals who need to support these children? Elijah C. Nealy, a therapist and former deputy executive director of New York City’s LGBT Community Center, and himself a trans man, has written the first-ever comprehensive guide to understanding, supporting, and welcoming trans kids, covering everything from family life to school and mental health issues, as well as much more.

Do you have a child who loves to play hockey and dreams of being on a college, NHL or Olympic team one day? So many children dream of this success, yet so few reach it. How come? In this book, Building an Uncommon Champion, Jennifer Matras will teach you from years of experience of working with athletes and also training with retired Navy SEALS, who are known as the best of the best, on how to help your child get to the next level along with helping them sustain success for a lifetime.

In Saving Our Sons, Dr. Gurian features the latest research in male emotional intelligence, male motivation development, neurotoxicity and the male brain, and electronics and video game use. Linking practical solutions with strategic new policies based on 20 years of field work through the Gurian Institute, Dr. Gurian provides a seven-stage model for the journey to manhood in the new millennium. Moving effortlessly between the practical and the political, Dr. Gurian also tackles social and cultural issues facing our sons.

Have you ever wondered why some people grow so fast, using their mind intelligently and others lag way behind their entire life. Do you want to explore and hack the power of your mind? If your answer is yes, you are going to find inspirational, real stories and actionable advice in this short guide. Hack Your Mind is loaded with actionable advice to get you going faster on your mind hacking journey.

Ambition—the want, the hunger, the need to achieve—is woven into America’s fabric from the first colonization to capitalism. From our first gold star assignment to acceptance at the “right” college to hustle and grinding our lives, we celebrate our drive, even as we gatekeep who is permitted to strive--and how visibly. Even as we burn out. When we can’t even. When we know: work won’t love us back.

Mental health has become the principal concern as adolescents struggle with a host of issues. This book provides psychotherapists with a clear theoretical understanding and practical application for navigating the increasingly complex adolescent experience as young people adjust and respond to the present day world.

Homework horrors, chores, and not-so-friendly friends - that’s enough to make any kid’s brain hurt. The secret to staying cool is easy: It’s called mindfulness - and this book gives kids fun activities to practice it on their own. Mindfulness for Kids applies mindfulness exercises to stories and real-life scenarios that kids go through at home, school, and with friends. Shared through the voices of five children.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who in his perennial best seller On Killing revealed that most of us are not "natural born killers" - and who has spent decades training soldiers, police, and others who keep us secure to overcome the intrinsic human resistance to harming others and to use firearms responsibly when necessary - turns a laser focus on the threat posed to our society by violent video games.

No matter how old you are, there's a good chance that the word popular immediately transports you back to your teenage years. Most of us can easily recall the adolescent social cliques, the high school pecking order, and which of our peers stood out as the most or the least popular teens we knew. Even as adults we all still remember exactly where we stood in the high school social hierarchy, and the powerful emotions associated with our status persist decades later. This may be for good reason.

In recent decades, the lives of people in their late teens and twenties have changed so dramatically that a new stage of life has developed. In his provocative work, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett has identified the period of emerging adulthood as distinct from both the adolescence that precedes it and the young adulthood that comes in its wake. Arnett's new paradigm has received enormous worldwide scholarly attention due to his book that launched the field, Emerging Adulthood.

From two leading child and adolescent mental health experts comes a guide for the parents of every college and college-bound student who want to know what’s normal mental health and behavior, what’s not, and how to intervene before it’s too late. All parenting is in preparation for letting go. However, the paradox of parenting is that the more we learn about late adolescent development and risk, the more frightened we become for our children, and the more we want to stay involved in their lives.

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens' lives? In this eye-opening book, youth culture and technology expert Danah Boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens' use of social media. She explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, Boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers' ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions.