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Are their different kinds of health concerns?

Teenagers face many health-related problems today. If you, or a friend, are coping with a physical disability, sexually transmitted disease (STD), HIV/AIDS, self-harm,a psychiatric or eating disorder, this is the place to talk to someone who can help.

Share your feelings about health in the Nineline Forum.

physical disabilities include birth defects, developmental disabilities and disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injuries. These include Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, hearing loss, mental retardation, traumatic brain injury and vision impairment among others. If you, or a friend, have a physical disability you may have special physical and emotional needs.

sexually transmitted disease (STD) must be treated by a doctor as soon as possible. Some common STDs include AIDS/HIV, Candidiasis, Chlamydia, Genital Warts, Gonorrhea, Granuloma Inguinale, Hepatitis B, Herpes, Scabies, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis. Remember, there are no vaccines against STDs and your body cannot fight them the way it fights viruses like the flu. Some STDs are incurable but the symptoms can be treated to make you more comfortable and stop the spread of the disease to people around you. There are 15 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease each year in the United States and one-quarter of them are among teenagers. By avoiding certain behaviors, you can reduce your risk of getting an STD.

AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is caused by HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus). It kills your immune system making you more likely to get other infections and diseases like Tuberculosis (TB) and Kaposi’s Sarcoma (a deadly cancer). There is no cure for AIDS but you can learn how to protect yourself from getting it and how to stay healthy and stop the spread of the disease to other people if you already have it.

self-harm includes all kinds of deliberate and repeated harm to your own body such as cutting, burning, scratching and other injuries. People often begin practicing self-harm at puberty. Most people who harm themselves suffer from low self-esteem, do not know how to express their emotions and suffer from other emotional problems like eating disorders or depression. Self-harm can cause other health problems and can lead to true suicide attempts if untreated. Treatment can include talk therapy and/or medication.

psychiatric disorders include a wide range of illnesses such as personality disorders, bipolar disorder (manic depression), major depression and anxiety disorders (as well as psychoses like Schizophrenia). Their symptoms vary from mild to extreme but all can be treated with a combination of talk therapy and/or medication.

Eating disorders like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia affect teenage girls and boys as well as adult men and women. Often these disorders are a way of coping with feelings like poor self-esteem, anxiety or depression. People with Anorexia starve themselves because they are obsessed with losing weight – even though they often are already dangerously thin. People with bulimia gorge and then vomit before their food is digested because they are also obsessed with weight. Anorexia and bulimia may seem like innocent, addictive behaviors but they lead to deadly disease.