More Kids Are Getting Anti-Psychotic Drugs

[jdnation]

Soaring numbers of American children are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs — in many cases, for attention deficit disorder or other behavioral problems for which these medications have not been proven to work, a study found.

The annual number of children prescribed anti-psychotic drugs jumped fivefold between 1995 and 2002, to an estimated 2.5 million, the study said. That is an increase from 8.6 out of every 1,000 children in the mid-1990s to nearly 40 out of 1,000. But more than half of the prescriptions were for attention deficit and other non-psychotic conditions, the researchers said.

The findings are worrisome “because it looks like these medications are being used for large numbers of children in a setting where we don’t know if they work,” said lead author Dr. William Cooper, a pediatrician at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

Whole Article:
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060317/ap_on_he_me/psychiatric_drugs_kids

 

[m134e5]

I am not surprised. Our society is a very lazy one. Parents don’t want kids that yell and run around- they don’t want to send them outside to blow off steam. They don’t want to take their kids to the park for an evening. They are too busy trying to get ahead in their jobs to spend time playing with their kids. They want a pill to keep them quiet. ADHD is a big joke. It is not diagnosed like other psychological disorders- the diagnosis is made based on the perception of the person giving the test. They don’t want a bouncy kid, so they give them mind-altering drugs to keep them quiet- to make them passive, so they’ll just sit there and watch TV or count the tiles on the ceiling while their parents are trying to make their latest business deal.

 

[jebojora]

I agree, but if you try to tell parents who currently have their kids on these drugs the same type of thing, they get very defensive.

I took my son for counseling when he was 11. He showed signs of depression, and I was concerned about him. At the initial visit the therapsit wanted put him on medication. I was shocked. I thought perhaps they’d try therapy first. They hand that stuff out like candy.

One of my daughter’s teachers suggested I get her checked for ADHD, because she didn’t sit still during a filmstrip. All kids go through that kind of thing. It doesn’t mean she needs medication, it means she needs to be told to sit still. And if she doesn’t, she’s in trouble! I never did get her checked and she’s turned out just fine. I think everyone wants a quick fix. Parents do not want to have to discipline and interact with their kids.

My DH and I were at dinner the other night and two young couples sat at the table next to us. They had a child of about 2 years old. They proceeded to get out a DVD player, put it on the table in front of her and play a movie. I assume to keep her quiet. All I could think was this kid is never going to “learn” how to behave. She’ll assume that she should be entertained at all times.

It’s along the same lines of just not dealing with your kids! I think there are a lot of young adults today that are a product of this. They’ve been drugged or endlessly distracted and have no idea what to do with themselves or how to behave!

:tsktsk:

 

[b_justb]

If More Kids Are Getting Anti-Psychotic Drugs do we have any studies showing a decline in psychosis in children?

Any why isn’t the same effort being made to get anti-psychotic meds into house cats?

 

[Eileen_T]

Discipline is the key, but tell that to today’s bleeding heart liberals and they will accuse you of child abuse.

We have a case in NZ where a teacher noticed a boy was much better behaved and asked him what had caused the change. His mother, he said, had hit him for going after his father with a baseball bat.

Child welfare were notified and they removed the boy from the home and pressured police to press charges. The Court found that the mother had not used unreasonable force in the circumstances and she was aquitted

The authorities, in their superior wisdom, refuse to let the boy go back to his mother and when he lapsed into bad behaviour again they put him on drugs to control him. The mother is having to go back to Court to regain custody of her son.

 

[AmyS]

I work for a company that is a drug free solution to learning difficulites. Parents call in constantly heartbroken and frustrated because of this specific thing. It is amazing the drugs these kids are on, and at such young ages. The side affects, what it does to these children physically… A parent knows when something is hurting their child. This is another example of fixing the blame instead of the acutal problem. It is heartbreaking.

 

[RPConover]

Drugs used to treat ADHD are not classified as “anti psychotics”…There are two main classifications of medications (from a layman’s perspective) the traditional antipsychotic medications (Haldol, etc.), and the newer, “atypical” antipsychotic medications that have come out in the past decade (Clozapine, Geodon, Seroquel, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Abilify, etc.)

Antiphychotics treat disturbances such as scizophrenia, not attention defecit disorder or depression or anxiety. They treat people who are delusional hallucinate.

ADHD is generally treated with stimulant medications(which sounds backward but seems to work) and problems like those that I have such as depression and anxiety are generally treated with an SSRI or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which by the way is the only thing along with my daily prayers that makes me feel “evened-out” as opposed to being in s state of perpetual panic and/or depression. I certainly hope no one would think to treat a depressed child with “discipline” when they need help. I only bother to mention any of this so that people may know the difference between a “psychotic” and a depressed or unruly child, and not make sweeping generalizations about discipline and the truth of mental medical conditions. They are overused, but some of us genuinely need them.

 

[MikeWM]

I’m pretty sure there are parents who are very unfairly drugging their children for just acting like children. Equally I think there is a problem with modern processed food and drink with high sugars and artificial flavours and preservatives, that is causing some excessive behaviour. We need to sort out that and the parents expectations rather than drugging the children.
EileenT:

Discipline is the key, but tell that to today’s bleeding heart liberals and they will accuse you of child abuse.

Discipline is important. Hitting children is not.

RPConover:

ADHD is generally treated with stimulant medications(which sounds backward but seems to work) and problems like those that I have such as depression and anxiety are generally treated with an SSRI or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which by the way is the only thing along with my daily prayers that makes me feel “evened-out” as opposed to being in s state of perpetual panic and/or depression. I certainly hope no one would think to treat a depressed child with “discipline” when they need help. I only bother to mention any of this so that people may know the difference between a “psychotic” and a depressed or unruly child, and not make sweeping generalizations about discipline and the truth of mental medical conditions. They are overused, but some of us genuinely need them.

Well said. I’m glad SSRIs work for you - they helped me a couple of years ago through some tough times, though I was fortunate to end up ‘well’ again and not need them anymore (to date at least).

Mike

 

[DaveBj]

And most of the kids who are being drugged are boys. It’s okay to drug boys to make them behave, but I wonder what would happen if it were discovered that most of the drugged kids were girls? Or, worse yet, African-American? :bigyikes:

DaveBj

 

[AmyS]

RPConover:

Drugs used to treat ADHD are not classified as “anti psychotics”…There are two main classifications of medications (from a layman’s perspective) the traditional antipsychotic medications (Haldol, etc.), and the newer, “atypical” antipsychotic medications that have come out in the past decade (Clozapine, Geodon, Seroquel, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Abilify, etc.)

Antiphychotics treat disturbances such as scizophrenia, not attention defecit disorder or depression or anxiety. They treat people who are delusional hallucinate.

ADHD is generally treated with stimulant medications(which sounds backward but seems to work) and problems like those that I have such as depression and anxiety are generally treated with an SSRI or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which by the way is the only thing along with my daily prayers that makes me feel “evened-out” as opposed to being in s state of perpetual panic and/or depression. I certainly hope no one would think to treat a depressed child with “discipline” when they need help. I only bother to mention any of this so that people may know the difference between a “psychotic” and a depressed or unruly child, and not make sweeping generalizations about discipline and the truth of mental medical conditions. They are overused, but some of us genuinely need them.

I don’t know if you where addressing me.

My degree is in Psychology… So I very much know everything you just posted. And, I wasn’t making a generalization. There are kids being prescribed anti-psychotic medications, on top of those they are taking for ADHD. The youngest child we heard of being prescribed medication for ADHD (I know this is not the same) was a 1 1/2 years old.

In no way am a judging those parents that have their children on medication. I feel for them. But, the ones I talk to are sick about it.

 

[AmyS]

RPConover,

I forgot to say, good post.

 

[RPConover]

AmyS:

RPConover,

I forgot to say, good post.

Thank you, I am amazed at the thought of a 1 1/2 year old being medicated for ADHD, I can’t imagine what kind of behavior it would take to convince a doctor and parents to medicate a 1 1/2 year old for that! Or to throw anti-psychotics on top of these other drugs, definitely seems like something to be quite suspicious of!

I hope I didn’t sound too defensive, I’ve just met some people who don’t seem to be able to grasp the idea that depression could be any more than how they feel when someone ate the last cookie and so on which obviously is not you…