Kevin Leehey M.D.Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry

Board Certified

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Salpointe Catholic High School Community of Concern

What’s Brain Got To Do With It ?

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Nature vs. Nurture

Nature means biology, inheritance, genetics.

Nurture means environment, experiences.

Color perception is almost purely genetic.

Ability to learn language is genetic. But what language we learn is purely environmental.

Neither controls how we turn out in life. It’s both, the interaction of nature and nurture.

Brain Development

If a child is not played with, interacted with, nurtured, exposed to stimuli, or is rarely touched he/she will develop a 25% smaller brain.

Experiences shape and reshape the structure of the brain.

By the time a child is 6, his or her brain is 90 to 95 % of adult size.

Between age 6 and 12 neurons grow bushier by each neuron adding dozens of connections based on what is reinforced by learning and experience.

This is why such things as learning a second language, riding a bike, swimming, learning to play a piano, or to throw a ball are easier when young and can last a lifetime.

Neuron connections peak at 11 in girls and 12 to 13 in boys. Unused connections are further pruned out in the teen years at the same time the white matter protective coating around neurons called Myelin Sheath cells increase.

The brain is becoming more efficient but also losing its raw potential for learning and ability to recover from trauma, drugs, alcohol, or injury.

Synapses that are used often are kept and reinforced.

Those that are not used are lost.

How you spend your time and the experiences you have or don’t have are critical.

The part of the brain that makes teens responsible is still under construction. Brain development proceeds from back to front and bottom to top. The Frontal Lobe, which controls impulses, motivation, and judgement is the last to develop.Teen’s inconsistent Melatonin production contributes to irregular sleep patterns.

A Neural Signature for DyslexiaUnderactivation of Neural Systems in the Back of the Brain

Source: Shaywitz – Overcoming Dyslexia

The teen brain is more vulnerable to the stimulating, damaging, and addicting effects of nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs.

One in three teens who start smoking as a teen will die of a tobacco related disease. 90% of adult smokers began as teens. Almost 45% of kids who start drinking alcohol by 13 will become alcoholic, while only 10% of those who wait till 21 will.Substance use in youth thus becomes hard wired in as a tendency for life. This is in addition to any genetic predisposition.

Healthy Subject watching video of using

Substance abuser in remission watching video

of using

Bad things can happen to Good kids

Typically people don’t say, “I think I’ll get a DUI and ruin lots of lives today.”

No one says or thinks, “Gee, today I’m gonna drink, smoke, or use a drug so I can become an alcoholic or addict.”

Causes of death ages 15-24 : Accidents -primarily motor vehicle, many are substance impaired. Suicide Homicide

These 3 account for 75% of all deaths in our kids. Suicide and homicide are mostly by guns and many are substance impaired.

2010 UpdateTeen use of methamphetamine, alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine, cigarettes are slightly down

Teen cigarette use is dropping below 25% toward adult rate of 20%; 365 colleges banned cigs totally

Abuse of prescription meds NOT decreasing

Teens #1 alcohol, #2 marijuana, #3 cigarettes, “pills”= opiates, benzos, DXM, Soma, stimulants

College – alcohol, “weed”, cigs, Adderall, “pills”

Disapproval of marijuana is decreasing – sign of use going up. “Medical marijuana” and decriminalization

Teen suicide rates have climbed since 2004 after 15 years of decreases

Drugs now kill more people than cars do in 16 states.

Safer cars; more opiates abuse

Drug related death rate doubled in 10 years.

8 states 2004; 12 in ‘05; 16 in ’06; ? ’09

Opiates (Vicodin, Oxycontin, oxy and hydrocodone, methadone, heroin), Cocaine

MA, NH, RI, CT, NY, NJ, MD, PA, OH, MI, IL, CO, NV,OR, UT, WA

Actual Causes of Preventable Deaths

Opiates and more…Vicodin, Percodan, Percocet, methadone, oxycontinOxycontin 50 cents to $1/ mg HEROIN - smoked, foil, $40/gram, IV Benzos – Xanax “bars”, Klonopin, Ativan, ValiumSleeping pills - Ambien“Triple C’s”, “DXM”, Robitussin, dextromethorphan“Salvia”, K-2, “Head” and Smoke shops; fake urine ADHD medicine abuse, stimulants like AdderallMeth, Crystal, methamphetamineSoma, muscle relaxersEcstasy, “club drugs”, hallucinogens, PCP, Inhalants Hookah, Shisha do contain nicotineenergy drinks – caffeine, guarana, taurine, and more

Tobacco kills more than all drugs and alcohol together.Youth drink to get drunk - binge on as much as possible as fast as possible. Drinking games.60% HS seniors have had intercourse.>50% HS seniors drink regularly.25% HS seniors smoke cigarettes.33% HS seniors use other drugs60% teens will try other drugs by end of HS

Tips for ParentsDon’t leave town and leave your teen home alone. Don’t rent hotel rooms, etc for kids.Cell phones make “flash” parties possible.Don’t trust sleepovers and campouts.Call other parents.If you’re the host check what’s up.Have your teen wake you up when they come home. Talk to them, get close.Seat belts, air bags, slower speeds, less passengers, home before midnight, and safer cars save lives.

Tips for Parents II :Teen’s main source for alcohol and prescription medicines to abuse is your and their friends’ homes.2% of us over age 40 smoke marijuana daily.Teens know homes where parents allow or give alcohol, “weed”, other drugs, or sex to your kids.If you want your kids to come out of their rooms keep the electronics out.Internet and gaming are best monitored out of their bedrooms.

Tips for Parents IIISocial networking (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, etc) is here to stay. Check, know passwords, teach what’s OK, not OK, why.

High school now require internet, word processing. College requires even more. Ensure they learn now – with supervision.

Offer a phone, computer, gaming with features that fit the age and developmental level of your child or teen. Increase with age and trust. Agree on a plan of you checking for appropriate use.

You can control calling, texting, internet use, hours, phone numbers allowed and banned – all of it. All cell companies have these controls – use them.

Tips for Parents IVYOU are your children’s + teens #1 influence!

If they see you drunk/impaired/partying they are 33% more likely to drink or use.

If you say, imply, or even think it’s OK or inevitable that they’ll drink or use, then they are 10X more likely to do so.

If you repeatedly (not nag) tell them not to, then they are 10X less likely to drink or use.Say “No”, Don’t try to be the “Cool” parents, and don’t try to be your kids’ “Best Friends” !Read the C of C booklet - it’s very useful !

Thank you and good luck…

Kevin Leehey M.D.

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