Autism is increasing at an alarming rate, according to Autism Society Canada, and may have doubled in the past decade. About 105,000 Canadians have an autistic or other developmental disorder, and 3,000 new cases were diagnosed in Canada in 2002. Statistics from school boards in Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Quebec show an average increase in […]
Autism Is The Child Of Social Disconnection Read More »
Addictions always originate in unhappiness, even if hidden. They are emotional anesthetics; they numb pain. The first question — always — is not “Why the addiction?” but “Why the pain?” The answer, ever the same, is scrawled with crude eloquence on the wall of my patient Anna’s room at the Portland Hotel in the heart
Embraced By The Needle Read More »
Nine-year-old Naomi stood in front of the mirror, an expression of rage on her face, her left hand pulling at her hair while with her right she wielded the scissors. Shiny black locks fell to the floor. When her mother, shocked at this act of self-mutilation, tried to intervene, the child pointed the scissors at
In Treating Depression, Drugs Are Not Enough Read More »
The report of a Port Hardy teacher taping a seven-year-old hyperactive boy’s head to his desk ought to ring alarm bells about the ill-preparedness of our educational system to cope with the increasing number of children struggling with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other neuropsychological problems. This particular teacher’s response may not be typical either of
How Not To Deal With Hyperactivity Read More »
The trial of two British Columbia teenagers, awaiting judgment, has again highlighted the problem of school bullying. The girls were charged with uttering threats in the wake of the suicide of 14-year-old Dawn-Marie Wesley. In November, 2000, Dawn-Marie killed herself shortly after she was accused of spreading false rumours. She was allegedly threatened with a
There Is A Cure For Bullying Read More »
