More U.S. Children Being Diagnosed With Youthful Tendency Disorder

October 5, 2000

----- Original Message -----

From: Kathy

Another comorbidity to worry about! This is *sort of* on topic--and Kel hasevery symptom!

Kathy, thanks for the chuckle! I really needed it today as I was blue after receiving another diagnosis to add to Ian's "alphabet soup" (Tourettes). I had been thinking of all the letters I'd hoped to see associated with my children's names such as Dr., PhD., President, etc. instead of the ones we've received - OCD, ADHD, OHI, ttm, ts, etc. I will proudly add YTD to their names! Sometimes I find it hard to remember that, despite everything else, they're still just kids.

Thanks for the reminder!

December 19, 2006

More U.S. Children Being Diagnosed With Youthful Tendency Disorder

September 27, 2000 | Issue 36•34

REDLANDS, CA– and Beverly Serna's daughter Caitlin was only

four years old, but they already knew there was a problem.

Day after day, upon arriving home from preschool, Caitlin would

retreat into a bizarre fantasy world. Sometimes, she would pretend to

be people and things she was not. Other times, without warning, she

would burst into nonsensical song. Some days she would run

directionless through the backyard of the Sernas' comfortable

Redlands home, laughing and shrieking as she chased imaginary

objects.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28223/print/

Onion Med Watch

When months of sessions with a local psychologist failed to yield an

answer, and Beverly took Caitlin to a prominent Los Angeles

pediatric neurologist for more exhaustive testing. Finally, on Sept.

11, the Sernas received the heartbreaking news: Caitlin was among a

growing legion of U.S. children suffering from Youthful Tendency

Disorder.

" As horrible as the diagnosis was, it was a relief to finally know, "

said Beverly. " At least we knew we weren't bad parents. We simply had

a child who was born with a medical disorder. "

Youthful Tendency Disorder (YTD), a poorly understood neurological

condition that afflicts an estimated 20 million U.S. children, is

characterized by a variety of senseless, unproductive physical and

mental exercises, often lasting hours at a time. In the thrall of

YTD, sufferers run, jump, climb, twirl, shout, dance, do cartwheels,

and enter unreal, unexplainable states of " make-believe. "

" The Youthful child has a kind of love/hate relationship with

reality, " said s Hopkins University YTD expert Dr. Avi

Gwertzman. " Unfit to join the adult world, they struggle to learn its

mores and rules in a process that can take the entirety of their

childhood. In the meantime, their emotional and perceptive problems

cause them to act out in unpredictable and extremely juvenile ways.

It's as though they can only take so much reality; they have

to 'check out,' to go Youthful for a while. "

On a beautiful autumn day in Asheville, NC, six-year-old Cameron

Boudreaux is swinging on a park swingset–a monotonous, back-and-forth

action that apparently gives him solace. Spotting his mother on a

nearby bench, Cameron rushes eagerly to her and asks, " Guess what? "

His mother responds with a friendly, " What? "

Common YTD Warning Signs

With unbridled glee, Cameron shouts, " Chicken butt! " --cryptic words

understood only by him--before laughing and dashing off again,

leaving his mother distraught over yet another baffling non-

conversation.

" I must admit, it's been a struggle, " Boudreaux said. " What can

I say to him when he says something like that, something that makes

no sense? Or when he runs through the house yelling while I'm trying

to balance the checkbook? You can't just say, 'Please, Cameron, don't

have a disorder for just a few minutes so I can concentrate.' "

Cameron's psychological problems run even deeper. He can name every

one of his beloved, imaginary Pokemon characters, but the plain

realities of the actual world he inhabits are an enigma: Ask Cameron

the name of the real-life city councilman sponsoring the referendum

to renovate the park just across the street from his house–a park he

plays in daily–and he draws a blank.

According to Dr. Dinesh Agarwal, director of child psychiatry at NYU

Medical Center, such disconnectedness from reality is a coping

mechanism for YTD sufferers. " The Youthful child is born into a world

he or she does not fully understand, " Agarwal said. " Their brain

pathways are still forming, and they need to repetitively relearn how

to assimilate into society. These disassociative play-fantasies

apparently help them accomplish that. "

Debra Cottle of Malden, MA, discusses her daughter's recently

diagnosed YTD with pediatric neurologist Dr. Amy Yuan.

But such fantasies come at a price, producing in Youthful children a

disinterest in the everyday responsibilities of life bordering on

contempt.

" knows when it's his turn to take out the trash. We've gone

over the house rules a dozen times, " said , a

Davenport, IA, father of three whose nine-year-old son was

recently diagnosed with YTD. " And still he neglects the job time and

again. "

Slowly, methodically, through an elaborate system of rewards and

punishments, has shown improvement. But the road ahead is long.

" We get a lot of platitudes from the so-called experts, "

said. " We hear a lot of, 'Oh, he'll grow out of it, just give it

time.' That's easy for them to say–their kid's not running around the

neighborhood claiming to be Superman. "

Help for families struggling with YTD may soon be on the way. At last

month's annual AMA Convention, kline-Beecham unveiled Juvenol, a

promising YTD drug which, pending FDA approval, could reach the U.S.

market as early as next spring. Already available in France and

Sweden, Juvenol, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported, resulted

in a 60 percent decrease in running and jumping among users.

But until such help arrives, the parents of YTD sufferers can do

little more than try to get through each day.

" I love my child with all my heart, " said andra , 's

mother. " But when he's in the throes of one of his skipping fits,

it's hard not to feel a little envious of parents with normal,

healthy children. "

December 19, 2006