After helping my sons, Alex and Sammy, recover from two different mental disorders that hit them in their teens, I spent a decade looking into what is known about preventing mental illness in babies and young children for my book, A Lethal Inheritance, A Mother Uncovers the Science...

"Have you had any serious health conditions?" asked my son's psychiatrist (who I'll call Dr. C.).

It was just after 5 p.m. on the day I brought my 18-year-old son Alex to UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute to find out why, over the course of 12 months, he'd lost the ability...

In light of the continuing controversy surrounding Whitney Houston's death, including questions of blame and responsibility for what the coroner may determine was an overdose involving drugs and alcohol, here is a look at the science behind the central and often misunderstood concept of self-medication in mental illness, addiction and...

Love it or loathe it, the memoir is thought of by many readers and critics as the most popular and relevant book genre of our time. Depicting life's messiest moments, memoirs provoke strong feelings; just mention the M-word at a dinner party and watch the sparks fly. Now writing a...

At age seventeen, my son "Alex" lost his ability to finish a whole sentence or get even a half night's sleep, or face the other kids at school. The doctors who examined him at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute told me he should stay for a month so they could make a...