10-Jun-13 - Upcoming Vatican Conference: Children and Psychotropics [EWTN]

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Experts to Examine Use of Drugs in Treating Emotional and Behavioral Problems By Ann Schneible ROME, June 10, 2013 (Zenit.org) - Is the use of prescripti…

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I hope this message gets through. The great expansion in use of these drugs seems unwarranted. Children who used to be considered “wiggly” or “active” are now drugged instead of being guided. Disruptive children in a class are nothing new, and before someone comes on and starts screaming “class size” tell me how a 5 foot Religious could maintain order in classes one and a half to two times the size of many public school classes? Could it have ANYTHING to do with children being born into more stable families, parental support of teacher concerns, and the value of faith in family life as well as school?

Now if a kid, particularly a boy, acts up the FIRST choice seems to be drugs instead of trying everything else first. I volunteered for a reading program and they expected 5 to 7 year old boys to sit in a boring dark room for 30 minutes being read to or practicing their reading skills. It was ridiculous. After about 10 minutes the boys wanted to stand up, walk around, look for a different book, or do something else. Given a short break they would go back to working on reading skills. Seems like there are options other than these drugs which may have serious side effects

Lisa
 
This interests me greatly. I have worked with children who have severe mental health and behavioral issues in residential and day treatment settings. I have great respect for one psychiatrist who refused to give medications just to subdue children. We consulted Occupational Therapists for treatment of sensory issues. We realized that we needed to give children more time to process verbal instructions. We used and taught stress relieving skills. We cared for the children. Some still exhibited psychosis and needed medication, but the pediatric psychiatrist used the lowest doses to relieve the symptoms. It made our work more difficult and therapists and therapy aids, but it helped the children move more quickly into less restrictive environments for care. We also learned that removing children from a family environment can be stressful enough to cause behavioral issues.

It is sad that getting funding for such treatment is difficult because it is “more cost/effective” to use the drugs.
 
bcuster said:
This interests me greatly. I have worked with children who have severe mental health and behavioral issues in residential and day treatment settings. I have great respect for one psychiatrist who refused to give medications just to subdue children. We consulted Occupational Therapists for treatment of sensory issues. We realized that we needed to give children more time to process verbal instructions. We used and taught stress relieving skills. We cared for the children. Some still exhibited psychosis and needed medication, but the pediatric psychiatrist used the lowest doses to relieve the symptoms. It made our work more difficult and therapists and therapy aids, but it helped the children move more quickly into less restrictive environments for care. We also learned that removing children from a family environment can be stressful enough to cause behavioral issues.

It is sad that getting funding for such treatment is difficult because it is “more cost/effective” to use the drugs.
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Good to hear. But you’re right the meds are the cheapest and easiest way to go. I see you’re in PDX. Me too.
Lisa
 
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