I’m writing in response to your column about the parent whose 4-year-old daughter, Grace, talks up a storm at home but would not talk at school. But she never interacted with the neighborhood children, would not speak to kids at school, and only talked in a low voice to her preschool teacher. The girl’s teacher helped the parents figure out what was wrong that she had a childhood anxi-ety disorder called selective mutism. She says children with the anxiety disorder understand language, often are bright and are able to talk nor-mally in settings where they are comfortable, secure and relaxed. She also is founder of the Selective Mutism Group-Childhood Anxiety Network, the major national advocacy group for selective mutism. She developed a treatment plan and suggests parents consider the same diagnosis if a child is developmentally on track at home but si-lent in social settings for more than a month. read more

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NEW YORK, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Each year more than 17 million Americans will suffer from an anxiety disorder and more than 19 million Americans will suffer with a depressive illness. World Health Organization ” /> World Health Organization reported that 69 percent of patients with depression reported physical symptoms as the sole reason for their visit to their primary care doctor. To bring awareness to the signs and symptoms of anxiety and depressive illnesses and to assist individuals in finding help, 13 national health organizations have organized National Anxiety and Depressive Awareness Week May 6-12, 2007. They greatly impair the individuals that suffer with them, as well as the lives of their family and friends,” states Mary Guardino, executive director of Freedom From Fear, a national nonprofit mental illness advocacy organization and one of the sponsors of the event. The screening site on the web and the toll-free number will offer referrals for a free screening from mental health professionals throughout the U. read more

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Barend van Zyl appears outside a Cape court. Cape Town - Science graduate Michael Barend van Zyl was convicted on Thursday in the Cape High Court of the axe-killing of his former partner. Van Zyl wept during the two-hour judgment, especially whenever Judge Daniel Dlodlo referred to his gay relationship with his victim, estate agent Andre Weitz. Van Zyl attacked Weitz in June 2004 at his home at The Poplars apartment complex in Thornton. Weitz's body was found there in a pool of blood after Van Zyl was found wandering around naked at night in Plettenberg Bay, Weitz's car parked nearby. The judge said Van Zyl had not given the court an explanation, and the evidence led to the inescapable conclusion that he was the killer. read more

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