Please consider discussing the effects of loneliness on children and young adults. It's the main source of behavioral problems and bullying.
Just read this book on Loneliness and I found it incredibly useful in regards to my son age 10: Auditory processing dysfunction, anxiety, dyslexia. It's very practical and stresses the importance of making social connections for all personality types. I know for him, anxiety gets in the way. It talks about how destructive loneliness can be in even altering your immune system and it's DNA connections. It made me think about ways that I can coach my son in body language and signals that we give off, to make him more successful socially. They suggest a practical approach using the acronym EASE: extend yourself, action plan, selection (quality of relationships not quantity), and expect the best.
Informative and practical book. Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection. You can check it out at www.scienceofloneliness.com.
Kit
Health for Life, M.D.
Dr. Claire McCarthy of Harvard Medical School answers your questions about family health and child welfare.
Email To A Friend
Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.
We all want the best for our kids, but raising healthy children is a challenge today--with controversy over everything from alarmingly high rates of childhood obesity to test-taking stress. Sorting through the reams of advice from books, TV and friends can test even the most dedicated parent's patience. Whom can you trust?
Over the next few weeks, Dr. Claire McCarthy, a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications and an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, will be taking your questions on family health. We'll publish some of her responses in our Sept. 17 issue and online.
McCarthy is an attending physician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and co-director of the pediatrics department at Martha Eliot Health Center, a neighborhood health service of Children's Hospital. The author of two books, "Learning How the Heart Beats" (Viking, 1995), and "Everyone's Children" (Scribner, 1997), Dr. McCarthy is also a contributing editor for Parenting Magazine.
© 2007
Discuss