Last weekend's events in Tucson have again brought the issue of bizarre behavior and mental illness among young people to the surface. Having worked with teenagers for many years I can recall numerous teens whose behavior caused me concern. It would always makes me uncomfortable when I had to sit down with a parent and discuss disturbing behavior that I or their teachers had observed. Sometimes the parents were able to shed light on the issue. Other times they were grateful that someone shared their concern. In such cases I was able to recommend where to go for help. Yes, there were times when I faced denial on the part of the teens family. It was a risk, because in such cases I could face an angry mom or dad.
The reality is that teens, more than any other age group, are susceptible to mental health issue. Most schizophrenics are diagnosed during the late teen and early adult years. The developing brain leaves teens and young adults especially vulnerable to delusionary behavior and obcessive disorders. Advances in media and in video gaming can only exacerbate the issue. Unfortunately, because the changes happen over a period of time, many parents miss it, or don't recognize it until it's too late. Most mental disorders can be treated in diagnosed early.
There is a stigma attached to mental illness, and that often prevents parents from seeking help even if it's observed. The reality is, if your child is running a 105 degree fever for three or more days you will seek medical help. If your child breaks a bone, you take them to the doctor to have it treated and set. Why not the same thing when the issue invovlves an illness of the mind?
What are the warning signs? Some initial ones might include:
Changes in behavior, especially withdrawal,
Sudden mood swings,
Failure to make eye contact when speaking to you or someone else,
Fits of violence or anger.
....I would like to say that this shooter in AZ was mentally ill due to a worm in his brain from eating unclean food, such as Pork, Oysters or Crabb and Lobster, Catfish - the food is been pointed out recently becoz doctors are now taking note of Deut 28 - when it says "blessed will you be when you obey the Law (Creator's) and cursed will you be when you don't"...the Law hasn't been done away with as most christians teach becoz the curses are real and people are suffering and dying because of the curses which proves the Law is in charge !! Another cause of these worms is touching a door knob when someone who touched it last didn't wash their hands from using the restroom !! Which brakes one of the main Laws "Loving your neighbor as yourself"....It is all about the Law - every situation in life centers around either obeying the Law or breaking the Law - either there are Positive Results for keeping the Law or Negative Consequences for breaking the Law...but it is indeed all about The Law and parents who break the Law often their children or down to the 3rd and 4th generation will receive the Curse ....the parents of this shooter were confused about their son because they ate unclean food as well and never would have expected him to kill - but as more of these stories surface and this occurs every day of the week - parents will hopefully start to take an interest in the behavior of their kids more because the parents of these monsters will never be at Peace until The Law is made a part of everyone's lives...and then and only then will we have True Peace !!.....
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