Posts by The REACH Institute
Noor Jihan Abdul-Haqq, M.D.
Associated Press
Newly Created Free Resource on Childhood Anxiety Helps Pediatric Primary Care Providers and Parents Read Article
Read MoreDealing with mental health issues in injured student athletes
When student athletes can’t play, their mental health may suffer.
Read MoreFauquier
Local foundations join to support mental health education in Virginia Read Article
Read MoreThe Virginian Review
Foundations join to support mental health education in Virginia Read Article
Read MoreDon’t panic about panic attacks
“The impairment from a panic attack doesn’t come from the episode itself,” said REACH faculty member James Wallace, MD. “It comes from the patient’s and family’s reaction.”
Read MoreAssessing and treating substance abuse
“The risk of substance use starts at about age 10,” said Sam Chang, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist on the REACH faculty. “Prevention has to start before that. By the time kids reach adolescence, the horse has left the barn.”
Read MoreIs it ADHD? Or something else?
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common behavioral health disorders, affecting approximately 9% of all children and adolescents. About 75% of pediatric patients with ADHD have comorbid mental health conditions, ranging from oppositional-defiant disorder to anxiety and mood disorders.
What is a busy clinician to do? How do you discern whether a child who is, say, having difficulty focusing at school and at home has ADHD, anxiety, both, or something else?
Read MoreWhen and how to send kids to the emergency room
“The first thing I would say to any clinician is that it’s never wrong to send a child to the emergency room,” said Amy Dryer, MD, pediatrician and REACH faculty member.
Having spent 10 years in a hospital emergency department, Dr. Dryer is intimately familiar with the criteria ER physicians use to decide to admit psychiatric patients: a medical condition, suicidal ideation with a lethal plan, homicidal ideation, or active psychosis.
However, she emphasized that your decision to refer to the ER doesn’t hinge on whether the patient is likely to be admitted. “If what they’re telling you makes you uncomfortable,” she said, “go ahead and refer them.”
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