The Medicated Child Posted: 4 weeks ago by bingo
Six million American children are taking psychiatric drugs, but most have never been tested on children. Is this good medicine-or an uncontrolled experiment?
(Also a special on PBS tomorrow)
Comments: 9 Score: [-] 280 [+].
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Posted: 4 weeks ago by Subobisis:
Reminds me of when they thought my brother had ADHD. He just needed a medium to use his energy. They tried to give him pills. We gave him a drum set. He's the best drummer in our district.
Score: [-] 168 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by cecilberman:
Whether it's children or adults, I find it difficult to believe that so many are really benefitting from these drugs. Humans have been around for a hundred thousand years or so, and for the first 99.9% of them did just find without complex pharmaceuticals.
Score: [-] 126 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by KerOBeroS32:
« cecilberman : Whether it's children or adults, I find it difficult to believe that so many are really benefitting from these drugs. Humans have been around for a hundred thousand years or so, and for the first 99.9% of them did just find without complex pharmaceuticals. But you know the pharma industry... they just LOVE playing on people's insecurities...
Score: [-] 24 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by PulsisX:
There actually are some people that benefit from the medications. Of course they are the ones with legitimate health issues. Example: Abilify - ridiculously named anti-psychotic. Guess what. It works great for a lot of psychotic people and it also seems to help with depression. Oops, Bad news is that you may get a permanent twitch. Well I suppose thats better then hearing voices and being dimensionally paranoid, but doesn't seem like a good trade for being depressed, or the type of thing you would want to see your kid develop.
The problem with putting these ads on TV is the hypochondriacs and the self diagnosing. Some people will keep going to different doctors until they find one to give them the pill they want.
Score: [-] 124 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by DaftGretel:
Even as the parent of a medicated child, I agree that children are extremely over-medicated.
One of my three kids has legitimate problems, and we tried the therapy/diet change suggestions from therapists and doctors for a long time before we gave in and started her on medications. Even then we've worked closely with her therapist and doctors to give her the minimum she needs to feel right. I feel no need to medicate my other two kids just because they're a bit eccentric, or act like kids do sometimes, no matter how frustrating they get.
My daughter and I would both love for her to be off of the medications, but given the choice between a drug-free child with severe depression, and suicidal thoughts, or a medicated child, with a great outlook on life, and just an amazing person to be around, I'll choose the latter.
Score: [-] 140 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by maven:
As with all things, the key SHOULD be moderation. Careful consideration of the problem, a review of all available options, weighing each for pros and cons, always with a view of the long term.
But in real life, this is seldom how the game plays out. Everyone wants quick results, and the tendency to take the finger-in-the-dike approach is all too easy to take for short term results.
I'm reluctant and unhappy to take the medications that I currently am, but I've tried diet, exercise, and a whole slew of non-pill options with no luck. I imagine my teachers would have happily doped me up, but I suspect my parents would have told them where to shove it. I wasn't prone to misbehaving in school, but I was incredibly bored for most of my classes, with the result of being disruptive (though I doubt reading a random book during class would be counted as such these days). I wonder how many kids diagnosed with ADHD are in similar situations? They know the material, and are bored listening to a teacher repeat information they already have?
Score: [-] 87 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by lynxears:
« maven : I was incredibly bored for most of my classes, with the result of being disruptive (though I doubt reading a random book during class would be counted as such these days). I wonder how many kids diagnosed with ADHD are in similar situations? They know the material, and are bored listening to a teacher repeat information they already have? My brother was given a parent-teacher conference for repeatedly being "disruptive" in this way when he was in elementary school.
But in my area, at least, those kids that are far enough advanced above the other kids (resulting in boredom) get put into a different, more challenging and selective, class.
At least in my district, because of that, I don't think the advanced kids are the ones being mistaken for having ADHD. In most cases.
Score: [-] 46 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by maven:
I don't know how it's handled now, but when I was in grade school, they did have advanced options, but it wasn't a full day class. A couple times a week, the group of us were pulled out and did different things, but for most of the classes, we were in the main group. So...boredom.
Score: [-] 0 [+].
Posted: 4 weeks ago by thejehosephat:
ADD is the most misdiagnosed in the US. I was diagnosed with it but as it turns out, it's the exact opposite. I have anxiety problems.
So when they gave me meds for ADD it made me a thousand times worse.
Score: [-] 33 [+].
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