This has a personal interest for me as I have a son that was on medication from an early age. In 1992 we adopted two brothers. One of the things told to us when they matched us with them was that both suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. More after the jump.
Here and here are a couple of links if you don't know what it is. It affected the older of the two much more than the youngest. He had ADD and caused him to be on Ritalin. Without it he had a hard time functioning in school and in other environments. I was in the Air Force at the time and it gave me the support to deal with this. I was also blessed with a wife that is mother to many kids but unfortunately couldn't have any herself.
This article appeared on HuffPo and the first paragraph just makes me sad.
According to autopsy reports, 4-year-old Rebecca Riley died from an overdose of psychiatric drugs. At age 2, Rebecca was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). At 3, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. By the time she died on Dec. 13, 2006, little Rebecca was taking Clonidine, as well as the anti-convulsant Depakote and the anti-psychotic Seroquel.
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I have talked to quite a few people about these kinds of things going on in the medical community. This unfortunately is not the first time I have heard this happening. There seem to be several factors at work that feed into a tragedy like this. In the medical community there seems to be a rush to diagnose and medicate. The following paragraphs reveals that trend.
An increasing number of medical officials are voicing the concern that children are being misdiagnosed. Dr. John McClellan, who runs a children's psychiatric hospital in the state of Washington, suggested that the bipolar diagnosis has become a catch-all for aggressive and troubled children.
Likewise, child psychiatrist John Holttum believes that the definition of bipolar disorder is expanding. Whereas children who were seen as troubled or irritable 10 or 15 years ago might have been treated with counseling, parental training for their caregivers or other social interventions, children with similar symptoms today are being diagnosed as bipolar and treated with medication. Unfortunately, for many families, therapy is not even an option. According to Dr. Michael Brody, a child psychiatrist at the University of Maryland, since insurance companies often do not support therapy, most parents opt for medication.
As we see, the insurance companies come into play also.
Another player in this is the pharmaceutical companies pushing medications. I watch the commercials and have come to the point where I would rather suffer from some disease than deal with all the negative side affects. We have all watched the mega profits these companies have made. How much influence they have on Capital Hill. It has been discussed how they helped write plan D of Medicare. This is another reason why special interest groups need to have their influence cut way back.
Next is the government. The FDA is not doing its part either. Many of these drugs are not cleared for use on children. So how is this happening? Doctors can prescribe them once they have been approved for some use. Seems like a very big loophole that needs closing.
I am not gonna say there are not children that do have problems that require medication. I don't know what we would have done without it for our son. But when it becomes commonplace there is something that needs to be looked at. The last four paragraphs of the article really brought it home. They talk about where we as parents need to step up to the plate. We have to get more involved in our children's lives and interact and communicate with them. Stop looking for ways to make them "not bother" us. When many of us were younger we went out and played. If you didn't have anything you made up things to do that burned off the nervous energy that these kids don't have a place to channel. You can't channel it with video games or computers or ipods. I posted a diary recently about losing a 15 year old cousin to diabetes and being overweight. These kids need good old fashioned physical activity. The last two paragraphs in particular say it the loudest what needs to be done.
A solution will not be found by passing another law. Rather, it must start at home and in the community. When the family breaks down, everything breaks down. We need to start by re-building families. Parents need to be parents and stop over-scheduling their children. They need to start spending time with them.
Finally, parents need to say no to drugs for their children. They need to control what their children watch and listen to. And they need to take off the headphones, turn off the cell phones and try communicating with their children.
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