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Citation Belluck, Pam. "Promising Depression Therapy." Well Promising Depression Therapy Comments. New York Times, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Summary There is a new form of treatment for depression - it's still experimental, thus far, but it involves electric shocks to the brain. It's similar to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but unlike ECT, which is only administered for a couple of seconds while the patients are anesthetized, the new form of treatment, called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is given consecutively for 20 to 30 minutes to a fully conscious patient. It doesn't have nearly as high risks as ECT (which can cause memory loss), or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), another form of treatment, which has risks of seizures. With tDCS, there are few side effects. Not only that, but it's fairly inexpensive. Eventually, if the tDCS leaves the trial stages, it is simple enough that it may even be used at home. Michael Donnelly, one of the trial patients, vouches for its positive effects, as it worked where his medications did not.

I found this article very interesting in a hopeful sort of way. Depression is part of the foundation of many other mental issues or disorders and can even lead to suicide; if we find a way to combat depression effectively and with few side effects, then we may be able to help more people. For an example, we've learned in class that traumatic experiences can cause people to have eating disorders, from depression or from a feeling of lacking control in their life. But if this kind of therapy leaves the testing stages, because of it's low-risk and fairly low price, as well as easily administered, we can help more of those people. In particular, I think it would be a great thing because many people, especially parents of depressed kids or teens, worry about letting them take medication with high-risk side effects. From what the trials have shown so far, it also seems to be pretty effective. So I think that this therapy shows a great hope for people who are depressed and need help. Personally, I can't imagine being sad all of the time, so I think that being able to help these people, who are trapped in a perpetual state of despair or lethargy is something very hopeful and wonderful.

Citation Carey, Benedict. "Study Questions Effectiveness of Therapy for Suicidal Teenagers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Summary According to the journal JAMA Psychiatry, 55% of suicidal teenagers have already received some therapy before they thought about suicide, planned it or tried to kill themselves. About one in eighth teenagers had persistent suicidal thought at some point and a third of those who had the thought attempted within a year of having the idea. The study also suggests that access to treatment of depression in fact doesn't make a big difference and help prevent suicides.  In 2010, just between the ages 13 to 18, 1386 people committed suicide. Also they researched 6,483 adolescents and found 9% of male and 15% of female experienced some stretch of having persistent suicidal thoughts. They found out that suicidal behavior was often complex combination of depression, eating disorders, drug abuse.  Alice McConnell is a 17year old girl who committed suicide and her mom claims "there might have been some carelessness in the way the treatment was done." It turns out that Alice was not taking treatment regularly although her mom trusted her that she could take care of her medication. Ms.McConnell claimed " I think therapy does help alot of people, if it's handled right" 

I chose this article because I thought that this was a very relatable article and talks about suicides of our age. I was very surprised by all the facts and made me realize once again that suicide is a big problem and not a rare thing. I found it interesting that therapies and medication doesn't always help and could worsen suicidal thoughts. I agree with Ms.McConnel and I think there needs to be better ways of therapy and medication and many more people need to know the right way to handle people with suicidal thoughts.

PÉrez-peÑa, Richard. "Transgender Students Gain Visibility, and College Health Plans Respond." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Colleges today have started to become more aware of transgender students and have recently added transgender surgeries to their student health care plan. Although the number of transgender students in college is unknown, many elite universities have taken initiative to give students the attention needed to fix their gender identity. This issue was brought up by students who took a place for gay rights and hope to do the same with transgender people.  This article is intriguing since I did not know there was such thing as transgender surgeries or hormone injections. I think it is a good thing that colleges are starting to improve their health care plans for their students, because it shows that colleges are following up with their nondiscrimination policies. Students from different backgrounds stood up for something they believed in and helped make college a better environment for others who may be suffering from social, mental, or physical issues. Even companies today are adding sex change treatments to employee health care plans. 6 years ago there was no such thing as healthcare for sex change surgery but now over 36 colleges cover healthcare for transgender treatments. I am happy to hear that colleges today have started to put more effort in creating a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment for all their students.

Citation: "A Son ‘Cuts,’ and a Father Struggles." Motherlode A Son Cuts and a Father Struggles Comments. New York Times, 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2013. Summary: A father is trying to find out the meaning that lies under the scars of his son's cuts.  When he first noticed the cut, he believed his son when he told him that he got it when, he fell, but he was shocked when his daughter texted him that he was cutting himself.  This was hard for him as he has always made a conscious effort to protect his son.  The writer argues that tattoos are similar to cutting because you are piercing ur skin and tissue, but it is considered "socially sanctioned" self harm.  It is also apparent that there are more anonymous posts about teens cutting themselves rather than eating disorders or depression.  Some teens cut to share the pain or relate the pain with someone they know, or their celebrities that they look up to.  The writer thinks that it is more important to understand the stories than sending his son to traditional therapy which is recommended.

It is always sad when there are cases of teens causing self inflicted harm to themselves. Rather it is because they are being bullied, having family problems, depression, or whatever, it is never pleasant to hear abou these cases. The hard thing about trying to prevent this from happening, is that the teens will often not tell anyone doing this, and there is no real cure to this.

Citation: Gander, Maclean. "Column: Is ADHD Overdiagnosed?" USA Today. Gannett, 8 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. The questions asks about the treatment of ADHD. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a disorder that is diagnosed on subjective impressions of symptoms. This means that pediatricians can diagnose children with ADHD and put them on medication based strictly on intuition. The problem with these medications is that they have serious side effects. Also students diagnosed with ADHD live with being singled out of regular school environment. Another problem with this disoder is that the number of students diagnosed goes up everyday; in fact in a couple of decades, at this rate, 1 in 5 students will be diagnosed. The author MacLean gander also talks of how medication has really helped some children diagnosed with this disorder. MacLean finishes by saying how the problem is real and if school systems are not changed to fit the needs of these children, they will suffer life altering consequences.

I think that this is not only a good health topic, but a very controversial topic. I find it hard to believe that people may believe that ADHD is not actually a real disorder. Though it may be easily faked, because there is no biological symtoms that may suggest that a person has this disorder there are physical ones. My friends brother has ADHD and he said that the symtoms were really bad nausea, diaria and suicidal thoughts. He immediately got off the medicine but never went to see about his disorder again. This made high school and getting goods grades very difficult. This is why it is so difficult to decide what to do about this situation, because there is no middle way. I think that ADHD is a serious disorder. Because of the growing diagnoses, the education system will have to be changed to accommodate the needs of these students.