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Warning signs that your child may need counseling include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness

• Constant anger and a tendency to overreact to situations

• Persistent worry, anxiety, or fearfulness

• Preoccupation with physical illness or their own appearance

• Fear that someone is controlling his mind, or that he is "out of control"

• A sudden, unexplained drop in grades at school

• A loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyed

• Changes in patterns of sleeping or eating

• Reclusiveness, preferring to be alone rather than in the company of friends or family

• Hearing voices that aren't there

• Expressing thoughts of suicide

• An inability to concentrate, think clearly, or make decisions

• An inability to sit still

• Performing routines obsessively throughout the day, such as washing hands or cleaning things

• Experiencing regular nightmares

• Alcohol or drug use

• Dieting obsessively, or binging followed by vomiting or taking laxatives

• Taking part in violent acts such as setting fires or killing animals