Mental Health Series #1: The Explosion of Psychiatric Medicine

October 24, 2008, 9 am–2 pm
Newton Wellesley Hospital
Free for members; $50 for non-members
CEUs are awarded for this Event

• The Explosion of Psychiatric Medication
  Chris Bellonci, M.D.
• Helping Children & Adolescents Cope with Anxiety Disorders
  Donna Pincus, Ph. D.

Our first Mental Health Series conference explores the common phenomenon of prescribing psychiatric medication to treat a variety of disorders in children and adolescents. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of certain diagnostic labels to explain impulsive and aggressive behavior such as Bipolar Disorder. This presentation looks at some of the underlying forces that might be impacting trends and implications for our work with children, youth and their families. The second part of the conference will be an interactive talk which will provide participants with state of the art information about the nature of anxiety disorders in children. The presenter will provide the participants with concrete tools that are currently used to treat children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. This will include treatment for specific phobias, panic disorder and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, as well as school refusal.