Should I let my teenager go to Ultra?

The Ultra Music Festival is the nation’s largest electronic music festival. It takes place yearly over a two week period in Miami. This year it is expected to attract about 160,000 young people from all over the country. It is a popular event for teenagers to attend because of the festive atmosphere and the large array of trendy electronic music available. However, Ultra does have a dark side.

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Why Is My Smart Teenager Getting Bad Grades?

One of the most common complaints I get from parents is this one: “I know my teenager has the intelligence to get good grades but he/she doesn’t and I don’t know why!” There is always a reason for this problem. In my experience, smart teenagers who get bad grades are preoccupied with something else. The majority of the time it is not by choice but a reaction to emotional difficulty.

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How to Explain the Importance of High School to your Teenager

Some teenagers hate high school. They don’t want to be there and they don’t want to deal with difficult people or situations. They don’t want to do work they consider useless and boring. Teenagers can have a difficult time tolerating the emotions that being forced to go to school can elicit. Often teenagers feel that they should somehow never experience frustration. There are developmental reasons for these beliefs that have to do with earlier childhood experiences when they had no responsibility at all.

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Cultural Differences between Parents and their Teens in Miami

Miami is an international and an immigrant city. People come from all over the world and especially Latin America to settle here. The vibrant mix of cultures can sometimes be difficult for families to deal with. For the teenagers of immigrants who are growing up experiencing a different culture than their parents it can become more and more difficult for them to communicate effectively with their families. Parents are more likely to adhere firmly to their original culture whereas teenagers tend to very quickly soak up the culture that they experience around them. This can lead to gaps between teenagers and parents on their levels of Americanism as well as on their levels of the parents’ culture of origin. In more serious cases parents and teenagers may have a significant language barrier between them, fertile ground for misunderstandings and conflicts to spring up.

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Adderall & ADHD Medication as Study Aids and Teens

For years teens and college students have been using medication intended for treating symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as study aides. The medications tend to be stimulants that increase concentration and energy in people who do not have ADHD. Teens use them to study all night long, cram, or to study for subjects that are boring to them. Obviously teenagers self-administering stimulant medication is very concerning. Without the supervision of a psychiatrist is it easy for teenagers to overdose. They may combine these drugs with other medications that may have dangerous consequences for them. Teens have also been known to develop symptoms of depression because of this medication, something a psychiatrist should definitely be aware of.

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