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While we often like to think of ourselves as experts on ourselves, when it comes to mental health, trying to self-diagnosis can commonly lead to inaccurate treatment. The convenience of the internet search may often mislead us; given that every symptom search will lead us to some type of prognosis. It’s easy to diagnose yourself, but the likelihood that it will be accurate is not probable.

Misdiagnosis
Diagnosis is complicated and multi-layered. There are a number of subtleties a mental health care professional will consider when it comes to diagnosis. When we self-diagnosis, we might look at a particular symptom as a factor of our condition, but the reality is that a symptom can have many underlying reasons that we may not have considered. A clinician can discern how each specific symptom plays a role and can make the appropriate diagnosis.

Missed Diagnosis
Often times medical diseases can impersonate psychological syndromes. A self-diagnosis might lead us to believe we have a psychiatric disease, when the reality may be that the symptoms were related to an undetected medical condition. Symptoms related to hyperthyroidism, migraines, drug withdrawal, or an irregular heartbeat can appear psychological. Even more worrisome are more serious medical conditions like a brain tumor that can be the cause of symptoms. It’s best to seek a professional for a trusted diagnosis.

Under/Over Diagnosis
Self-diagnosis most commonly leads to underdiagnosis or overdiagnosis–both of which are dangerous. Examining ourselves is tough to do objectively, we often overlook things that we simply cannot see. The anxiety or depression we may be experiencing could be masking other disorders that are dangerous to ignore.

On the other hand, self-diagnosis may lead us to believe we are demonstrating symptoms of a disorder. We might think we have ADD, depression, or a sleep disorder that we aim to treat, when the symptoms may actually be related to something entirely different. Either way, self-diagnosis can add unnecessary stress that only adds to the situation.

Doctor-Patient Relationship
A healthcare professional is well studied in the field of mental disorders and they are there to support you and give you the help you need. The doctor-patient relationship is one you and your doctor should feel comfortable with. While many doctors may be interested in hearing your thoughts and will respect your opinion, it’s important to keep in mind that they have the experience to carry out a proper diagnosis.

It is important that you feel you can trust your doctor. If you feel that this is not the case, please seek a professional that you feel you can have a rapport with.

Neuropsychological, psychological and educational evaluations are commonly administered by professionals as a means to achieve accurate diagnosis–this can not be self-duplicated. Your health is most likely of great value to you, and self-diagnosis can lead to negative repercussions. The treatment you desire can be achieved under the guidance of a professional in a way that works for you when you have caring and thoughtful healthcare professionals on your side.

Speech imperfections are not uncommon in children and there are things you can do to support your child’s growth. There can be a number of factors that determine a child’s development in speech and language. Some of those factors are beyond your control–be it hereditary, growth patterns and physical maturity, or their environment–any of these can play a role in their development.

What to Notice
If you are feeling concerned about your child’s speech development, the first step is to start taking notice. Stuttering, lisps, and lengthy pauses in speech can all be indicators of speech imperfections. Hearing problems can also be associated with speech issues as well. Having an understanding of speech and language development benchmarks can be useful to tracking your child’s progress.

Ways to Help

Read
Reading books aloud with your child can be one of the most beneficial ways to boost their speech and language development. It exposes them to higher levels of vocabulary and helps their brain build recognition of speech patterns.

Encourage Sharing
Talking, reflecting, and sharing can not only help your child with their verbal expression, it can increase memory and listening skills. Help your child see the value in words both as ideas and forms of expression. Spending time talking with your child will allow you to build deeper connections and understand their thinking. If you need prompts to help get the conversation going try looking at family photos or chatting about a recent activity you did. Take a family trip and discuss the experience before, during, and after. The more you talk the more practice with speech your child gets.

Reduce Stress
When challenges are present, it’s normal for our brains to become overworked and stressed. If your child is uncomfortable, avoid forcing them to speak or correcting their speech, as this can lead to increased stress or feeling of shame. Instead find ways to relax with your child. Take time to slow down and spend some quality time together. Follow your child’s lead and let them become the center of attention. This will not only help to calm the emotional stress, it can also build self-confidence and acceptance.

Helping your child with speech imperfections is ongoing work. Seeking the help of a professional is the best way to support your child’s speech development–allowing you to identify their precise needs. Children experiencing issues in speech development benefit from the support and understanding of their struggle. Spending quality family time can alleviate the pressure and offer your child plenty of verbal practice in a safe and loving environment.

Warm Weather and Your Skin
Warm temperatures can do a number on your physical appearance. They can make your hair look and feel frizzy. They can even sometimes affect your complexion! That’s the reason the best warm weather skin tips can come in handy. Achieving and maintaining a beautiful complexion regardless of the season doesn’t have to be difficult.

Change Your Facial Cleanser
Cleansing creams can do wonders for people during the colder months of the year. Skin dryness in the wintertime is a big concern. Warmer weather, however, is all about gel cleansers. If you want to protect your complexion from unsightly and unpleasant pore clogging, use of a gel cleanser can work like magic! Gel cleansers also deeply cleanse the skin and can help you feel energized and fresh when temperatures outdoors are scorching hot.

Make Sunscreen a Part of Your Skincare Routine
Sunblock application is essential regardless of the time of year and weather, but it’s particularly critical in the summer. People tend to spend more time outside under the sun when the weather is pleasantly warm. They go outside to swim, hike, picnic and simply revel in gorgeous surroundings. This can be disastrous for people who fail to protect their complexions with sunblock, though. The sun’s intense UV (ultraviolet) rays can lead to skin cancer. They can also significantly speed up the aging process. If you want to keep wrinkles, fine lines, age spots and sagging at bay, you need to put sunblock on your skin any time you go outdoors. If you love relishing warm weather, you need to invest in a lot of sunscreen. Be sure to put sunblock on any part of your body that sees the sun, too. If you wear hats, long-sleeved tops, long pants and sunglasses, those things are big bonuses!

Invest in the Right Type of Facial Moisturizer
Humidity and thick and heavy moisturizers aren’t exactly the greatest match. If you want to avoid the pitfall of looking and feeling like a greasy mess in times of warm weather, you need to use the right face moisturizer. Stay far away from rich creams. Go for lightweight lotions that absorb easily and quickly into the skin. Go for formulas that are devoid of oils as well. Don’t make the error of neglecting hydration entirely, either. Muggy and sticky weather is definitely no reason to forsake giving your skin vital moisture.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, it has likely been a long and arduous path. Finally, the frustrations of behavioral and academic troubles have been identified at the source. You, your child, the teachers, and the school system can now move forward with accommodations that will help your child reach his fullest potential.

Here’s a sampling of the wide variety of school accommodations you may receive, depending on your child’s individual profile.

To Increase Focus
Fidgety, restless kids need a little extra help focusing on the tasks at hand. These may include:

• Seating him at the front of the classroom
• Setting a timer for short intervals during a long assignment and having the child show the work after each interval
• Calling on the child to participate in discussions and having him help collect papers, etc., to give him an opportunity to talk and move about
• Allowing child to use a fidget spinner or other device to channel energy and increase focus
• Developing verbal and physical cues, like a tap on the desk, to remind the child to get back on task

To Keep Homework Assignments On Track
Some kids with ADHD have difficulty organizing and keeping track of projects and homework. To help them develop these skills, accommodations include:

• Offering the child a second set of textbooks to be kept at home, minimizing the chance of forgetting a book
• Monitoring of assignment books to ensure that every homework and project deadline is included
• Allowing the child to use their phone or another alternative method to keep track of assignments

To Reduce Disruptive Behaviors
In the case of disruptive behaviors, the following accommodations may be offered:

• Teachers may be asked to choose their battles by ignoring minor outbursts
• Communication lines may be opened between parents and teachers to coordinate behavior modification efforts
• In case of an eruption of a disruptive behavior, the child will be brought to a pre-arranged place where he or she will have an opportunity to calm down

To Improve Academic Performance
Many children with ADHD have specific struggles with complex, multi-stage projects as well as specific subjects such as writing or math. Depending on your child’s individual profile, these accommodations may be available:

• Extra time will be allowed to complete classroom work
• Longer, more complex assignments will be broken up into smaller units with specific deadlines
• Written, verbal and/or visual instructions will be given to accommodate your child’s particular learning style
• Children who struggle with writing assignments may be able to print rather than use cursive, use a computer as well as spell-check and grammar-checking software, and may be given the option to present the assignment verbally rather than in written form.
• Children who struggle with math may be given extended time for tests and assignments, have the homework problems pre-written for them, and be allowed to use a calculator

ADHD is a challenge, but these tried-and-true accommodations can do wonders to provide every child with the best education possible.

There isn’t a parent in the world who hasn’t witnessed a toddler in the grip of a full-blown, red-faced, flailing, screaming tantrum. As shocking as these outbursts can be, occasional tantrums are part of a child’s normal development. Young children have not yet achieved the verbal capacity to fully communicate their feelings or the self-control necessary to tamp down their surging emotions.

But not all tantrums are created equal. Certain patterns can be red flags that suggest professional help may be warranted.

High Frequency
Your child may pass through a phase when he or she is having a lot of tantrums. But if the frequency doesn’t slow over the months, despite all your efforts to teach him how to identify and control his outbursts, there may be a more serious underlying issue. Some studies have shown that children who experience at least five tantrums per day several days a week may be at risk for disruptive disorders, including ADHD.

Aggression
Biting, kicking, hitting, and throwing things are part of many an angry toddler outburst. After all, it feels good to punch that pillow, right? But if you find yourself ducking for cover or streaked with bruises almost every time your child has a tantrum, there may be underlying issues causing the outbursts, such as depression, oppositional defiant disorder, or ADHD.

Self-Harm
There may be no behavior quite as gut-wrenchingly disturbing as seeing a child hurt himself. Yet in the heat of a tantrum, some toddlers and preschoolers may exhibit self-injurious behavior like biting themselves, banging their heads, or scratching their skin raw. In these heartbreaking cases, the length and frequency of the tantrums don’t matter as much as the specific, consistent behavior, which strongly suggests the necessity of psychiatric intervention.

Endurance
A ten-minute tantrum might seem like forever to a parent trying to buy groceries in the check-out line, but if your child calms down in less than a half hour, consider yourself fortunate. Tantrums that routinely stretch for 30 minutes or more can be a sign of a more serious underlying problem. The same can be said if only extreme and external methods (such as a bribe or physical removal from the scene) succeed in calming the child.

If you have any concerns about your child’s ongoing behavior, never hesitate to seek out a mental health professional. Early intervention can do wonders.

We live in turbulent times. With so many of our men and women overseas in conflict-ridden countries, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has become a subject of headlines. But PTSD doesn’t just manifest amid veterans of foreign wars. About eight percent of Americans will experience PTSD in their lifetime, and women are twice as susceptible as men.

Whether you’re experiencing distressing and unexpected symptoms yourself, or whether a loved one is behaving out of character, knowing the three major symptoms will help you identify the disorder and get help fast.

Re-experiencing The Trauma
One of the major symptoms of PTSD involves continuing to relive the trauma in an emotional and intrusive way at least a month (but usually much longer) after the traumatic event. This symptom can manifest in several ways:

• Recurrent, vivid dreams or nightmares
• Sudden flashbacks triggered by visual, auditory, or other sensory cues
• Physiological reactions that coincide with the memories, flashbacks, or dreams such as elevated heart rate, sweating, etc.
• Repetitive play (in children) that may involve reenacting or restaging with toys the upsetting events

Physical And Emotional Isolation
PTSD sufferers often go out of their way to avoid places, events or people that may trigger memories and flashbacks of the event. This behavior can lead to physical and emotional isolation. They may also repress certain parts of the event, refuse to talk about it, or cycle in crushing waves of guilt, shame and/or blame. The weight of these emotions may strain their ability to participate in happy events or even muster any positive feelings.

Heightened Reactivity
PTSD sufferers are often on edge. They may exhibit an extreme startle response or become overly vigilant and protective, to the point where they don’t sleep well. Insomnia is not uncommon, as is swift anger and irritability. Many PTSD sufferers resort to substance abuse and self-destructive behaviors in an effort to numb their pain.

If you suspect that you or a loved one may be suffering from PTSD, contact a mental health professional as soon as possible to get the help you need.

As the parent of a child with a learning disability, negotiating the academic stresses of high school can be a challenge, even with many resources and support available. Continuing onto college, with its compressed schedule, large amounts of reading, and high stakes testing, may seem like an uncertain prospect. Yet, in 2014, over half of learning-disabled high school students intended to push through to higher education.

So what challenges do college-level students with learning disabilities face?

Know The Law
Many of the public school resources available to learning disabled students were born of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. This piece of legislation required public schools to offer an individualized and appropriate education for all children with disabilities. Generally, these rights end when the child graduates from high school.

For college students with learning disabilities, the important legislation is the Americans With Disabilities Act. Through this act, students with disabilities continue to have the right to be accommodated, but only if they are otherwise qualified. That is, college students must pass the tests and courses for which they are accommodated. Otherwise, the college has the right to remove them from the program like any other student who fails to maintain passing grades.

Know Your Student Disability Services
Although colleges that receive federal funds are legally obliged to comply with the Americans Disability Act, many institutions of higher education struggle to provide the range of services necessary for a wide variety of physical and academic accommodations. Furthermore, pushback from professors is common.

As expected, some colleges are better than others in encouraging learning differences and disabilities. Check out top-ten lists to find the best fit for your child.

Know What You Need
The most important tool that any student with a learning disability can develop is self-advocacy. Bereft of the structure and active care received in the elementary/high school education system, a student must learn to articulate the disability he has and ask for the help he needs. To take advantage of the resources offered, make sure the student:

• Submits proper documentation of the learning disability to the Student Disabilities Service office
• Can articulate the specific kinds of accommodations that help him in tackling his disability
• Asks where and how to access specific resources, such as technology assistance, digital recorders, speech-to-text technology, etc.
• Asks to discuss with SDS staff as to how to best introduce the subject with professors, if necessary

Only you and your child know what he or she is capable of. A learning disability shouldn’t dissuade them from pursuing their academic dreams.

Children grow at different rates, both physically and cognitively. Some are born chatterboxes and others remain the strong and silent type until they suddenly speak in full sentences. The first three years of life are critical, for this is when a child’s brain is most receptive to speech and language development. Delays are like canaries in the coal mine, red flags for possible cognitive or learning disabilities.

Make sure your child is on track by checking out these age-related developmental milestones.

The First Year
Hearing is vital to developing early speech and language, thus many of the early milestones involve attention and focus. By his first birthday, your child should:

• Clearly hear you when spoken to, and turn in direction of sounds
• Recognize some words, like bottle
• Use simple gestures like waving and lifting arms to be picked up
• Use “nonsense” sounds (other than crying) to get attention
• Respond to simple requests like “wave to grandma” or “want more?”

The Second Year
During the second year, your child is developing the cognitive capacity to understand more complex language and vocalize it as well. By his or her twenty-fourth month, your child should:

• Be adding more words to his vocabulary every month
• Be able to vocalize harder consonant sounds, mostly at the beginning of words
• Point to familiar things that you specify, such as the family pet or a toy
• Listen to songs and rhyming patterns
• Put two words together as questions or descriptions, such as “Daddy hat” or “more cookie”
• Respond to simple questions and commands like “Kick the ball” or “Where is Grandma?”

The Third Year
Though your child has been cognitively developing language for two full years, this is generally the period he or she refines skills and uses them so that both speech and comprehension appear to blossom. By your child’s third birthday, he or she should be able to:

• Sit and be absorbed by a book for longer periods of time
• Understand the difference between simple opposites such as “up” and “down” and “in” and “out”
• Know a name for most things and ask if he doesn’t
• Follow simple two-part directions
• Be generally understandable, even though he may trip over words or stutter

If your child doesn’t seem to be reaching early developmental milestones, consider consulting an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist. Early intervention can do wonders to put your child back on track.

Yes, stress is bad for you. Long-term stress can exacerbate headaches, heart disease, weight gain, anxiety, depression, and even cause some cognitive impairment. Doctors, psychiatrists, and friends are always telling you to take it easy . . . but how, exactly, do you do that when you’re so stressed that you feel like your mind is about to explode?

Check out these quick, in-the-moment 10-minute de-stress ideas.

Rock On
Music really does tame the savage beast. It doesn’t matter whether you pick classic hard rock, dubstep, or Mozart piano sonatas, so long as the music is something you love and has the power to influence your mood.

Get Moving
In the middle of the workday, you may not be able to take a jog in a nearby park. But there are other ways you can exercise, such as:

• Dance in your office for ten minutes (like nobody’s watching)
• Take a brisk walk around the block
• Do twenty push-ups and twenty jumping jacks
• Perform some yoga poses

Meditate

Regular meditation has been shown to have immediate as well as long-term effects on your mental and physical health. If you’re already in the habit of spending some mindful time during your day, then taking an extra meditation break can go a long way to lowering your cortisol levels.

Take A Deep Breath
Nothing will make you tense up more than having someone tell you to take a deep breath when you’re anxious, angry, or just worked up. Yet deep breathing techniques can help lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety. The goal is to fill your body with oxygen as well as return your breathing to the easy, slower pace of when you are calm and relaxed.

Have A Healthy Snack
Eating shouldn’t be the first response to stress. But if you tend to lose your temper when you’re “hangry,” stopping to consider the fact can help you manage the stress before it arises.

Phone A Friend
Unburdening your woes to a trusted friend or family member can help, so long as that good friend knows how to listen emphatically and not escalate the situation.

Kiss And Tell
If you’re at your wit’s end and within walking distance of a loved one, take advantage of the contact. A quick hug and kiss can work wonders.

Go For A Laugh
Laughter is nature’s organic stress reliever. You may not be in the mood to watch that 10-minute internet video reel of newscasters dorking out on TV, but by the end of it, you’ll likely feel better.

Do Mindless Tasks
Cross-stitching, knitting, and Rubik’s Cubes occupy your hands and give your mind a repetitive task on which to concentrate. These kinds of tasks direct upsetting thoughts away, at least for the moment.

Buy A Stress Ball
Stress balls work in the same way exercise works. They’re subtle, can fit into your pocket, and come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and materials.

Stress is inevitable, but how you handle it can be modified. If you ever feel overwhelmed by the stresses of everyday life, contact a mental health professional. They can provide you with tips and techniques to better cope.

Americans spend billions of dollars a year and uncounted hours on dieting aids and nutrition efforts to get our bodies in peak health and condition. If only we spent a fraction of that considering our mental health, which is also strongly affected by the foods that we choose put into our body.

Make sure your brain is getting the vitamins and minerals it needs by checking out these 5 foods that promote mental health.

Whole Grains
Blood sugar spikes and troughs have long been shown to exacerbate a number of mental health issues, worsening the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and ADHD, among others. Unsteady blood sugar can also affect focus, concentration, and memory in everyday life.

A diet low in simple sugars and higher in complex carbohydrates helps mitigate the blood-sugar rollercoaster effect. Whole grains like oats, beans, whole wheat, wild rice, and soy are an integral part of such a diet. They provide carbohydrates that require more work for your digestive system to break down. Glucose is thus released slowly, helping you feel full longer while providing a steadier stream of fuel.

Fish
A human brain consists of about 60% fat, which may be why it craves healthy fats and oils. In particular, omega-3 fatty acids are involved in the biosynthesis of some neurotransmitters, notably serotonin and dopamine, which are key molecules responsible for mood. Since our cells cannot make these essential nutrients on their own, we depend on our diet to supply them.

Salmon, which is high in omega-3, has long been considered a brain food, but other fish such as mackerel, anchovies, and sardines also provide brain-boosting fatty acids. To a lesser extent, omega-3 can be found in walnuts, flax seeds and chia seeds. If none of these appeal, do what your grandparents did and take a spoonful of cod liver oil every day.

Leafy Green Vegetables
Spinach, dark green lettuce, kale, and turnip greens provide lots of folic acid, one of the B vitamins. Broccoli provides an essential trace mineral, selenium, necessary for proper thyroid function. Deficiencies in B vitamins and selenium have been shown to exacerbate depression and sleep disorders.

Your mother was right: Eat your greens.

Foods Fortified With Vitamin D
Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, produced naturally in your body in reaction to UV rays. About 75% of American teens and adults don’t get the vitamin D they need, and the deficiency is over 90% for African-Americans. Vitamin D levels have been shown to have an effect in those suffering from Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD) as well as depression.

Vitamin D is an oil-soluble vitamin, so it’s more common in fatty foods like fish, liver, cheese, and the yolks of eggs. It can also be found in fortified cereals and juices.

Lean Meats
A scientific study in Australia showed a striking correlation between the amount of red meat eaten and mental health. With all other factors taken into consideration, the women who ate less red meat were almost twice as likely to have a depressive or anxiety order.

Beef rules when it comes to providing essential minerals such as iron and zinc. These nutrients are found in higher levels in the brain than in any other part of the human body. Zinc deficiency has been linked to depression symptoms and ADHD, and iron deficiency has been linked to irritability, mood swings, and depressive symptoms.

Improving your diet is one vital aspect of mental health care. If you’re sure you’re getting the nutrients you need but are still experiencing difficulties, never hesitate to contact a trusted mental health professional.