Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety-based disorder from which sufferers develop obsessions and compulsions. Typically, the person with OCD believes something bad will happen if his obsessions and compulsions are not carried out. A child with OCD may wash his hands dozens of times a day or count to 1,000 every time he sees the letter A. With proper treatment and support, children can overcome their OCD.
You may have heard horror stories about how your friends' sweet little girls turn into absolute monsters during puberty. You may even remember being a bit of a terror yourself. Well, a 2008 study conducted by Dr. Sylvie Mrug, of the University of Alabama, blames much of this hostility on uninvolved parents. The results indicate that girls who go through puberty, particularly early puberty, without nurturing from or communication with their parents display aggressive behavior.
Parenting is difficult under any circumstances, but when your child has behavioral problems, you might dread each each day and doubt your abilities as a parent. The good news is that most child behavioral problems can be dealt with and improved at home once you know what you're dealing with and how to respond appropriately. Time, patience and a commitment to changing your own behaviors as well can improve your home situation and your child's school performance and social interactions.
Whenever you have a group of people who share the same home and interact on a regular basis, you're bound to have conflict and disagreements. Some minor spats blow over on their own when the involved parties cool off and others require a family effort that involves open communication and problem solving. Dealing with conflict as it arises helps to both keep peace in your family and teach children how to resolve conflict in their own lives in a healthy and productive way.
Violence among some children has become so prevalent that their parents are actually afraid that they will be attacked or killed by their own children. Violent kids can also hit their siblings, break things around the house and torture animals. Once you understand the reasons your child is violent, you can help him stop. Learning why children become violent also allows you to prevent your child from becoming violent.
Children who prove continually problematic may behave better with the guidance of a behavior plan. The purpose of a behavior plan is not only to ensure that the child's behavior stays within acceptable norms, but also to teach him how to behave properly in the future. By building a behavior plan yourself, or partnering with a medical professional to create this plan, you can increase the likelihood that your child modifies his behavior and learns the skills necessary to behave properly.
Practically no one suddenly decides at 35 years of age to become a smoker. In almost every case, smokers start this habit when they are young, before graduating high school. Pretty much, if you can make it past the teen years without using tobacco, you are never going to use it on a regular basis. As a parent, you've got your work cut out for you because even though tobacco companies cannot advertise to the extent they would like, they still get the message out to your children in movies and TV. Smoking still looks cool to many kids and kids typically discount the health risks because the future seems so far away.
Children who suffer from bipolar disorder suffer from fits of mania and depression, making it difficult for them to control their emotion-driven actions. Handling a child who suffers from bipolar disorder often also proves challenging to their parents, as these individuals must adapt to their child's unique behavior patterns. If your child is a bipolar sufferer, you can take some actions to help make his bipolar disorder easier for you both to handle.
For some children, depression comes and goes with the passing of the seasons. These children suffer from seasonal depression and, as a result, experience rises of upset or bursts of happiness as one season gives way to the next. If you think that your child may be a sufferer of this mental challenge, consider both the impact of this malady as well as what you may be able to do to ease the effects.
The behaviors associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder can seem strange to people who don't have it. You might wonder, for example, why your child washes her hands repeatedly, even when they are clean, why your child must count to 10 every time she enters a certain room or why she checks to make sure she closed her door over and over again. People with OCD have an anxiety disorder that manifests itself in thoughts they can't get rid of. These thoughts lead the OCD sufferer to have strong urges to engage in rituals to banish or ward off the thoughts. The problem with these thoughts and rituals is that they interfere with daily life. Children as young as 5 can have OCD, but the good news is that advances in treatment are being made all the time.
