binding thing that keeps the teenager tied to parents, if the illness is the only time the teen receives attention and love from their parents. (Dowling 127) The body may signal what the mind is saying through physical symptoms. The body expresses feelings and conflicts that the teenager is unable to verbalize. Physical ills are often viewed with more importance than emotional pain by parents, teachers, or even the teens themselves. (Papolos 36) "It's much easier for adolescents to ask for medical care than for psychological help. They often have a great fear of being crazy or of being thought to be crazy." (McCoy 209) Another serious medical problem that is affecting more and more teens is an eating disorder. An eating disorder often represents a teenager's attempt to gain some control by engaging in a behavior that cannot be regulated by another person. One-third to one-half of patients with eating disorders have a major depressive illness at the same time. (Papolos 72)More than one million teens, most under the age of sixteen, run away from home every year. They are neither adventurous nor rebellious adolescents, but teens tested and troubled by life's circumstances. A young girl at a shelter for teenage runaways tries to explain why she has run away from home four times in the past two months. Drawing her blanket around her like a cocoon, the fourteen-year -old quietly stares at the floor. "I'm no good to anyone, I get upset and fuss at home and it causes trouble for everyone. I had to run away to save my parent's marriage." Unfortunately, this story is not at all unusual. (McCoy 22) Of the 1.2 million teen runaways in the United States, an estimated 300,000 have little hope or chance of returning home. They often feel things are hopeless and that their parents would never understand. Drug use is on the rise among teens as young as thirteen. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, about 4% of...
