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. "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. 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, which cannot be regulated by another person. One-third to one-half of patients with eating disorders has a major depressive illness at the same time. 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. 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 high school seniors use alcohol daily, while 92% have tried it. Millions of teens have had adverse experiences caused by excessive drinking. Researchers have found that depressed teens are at particularly high risk for drug an...
