I want to pass along a distilled version of an article I recently read in Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry.  The issue is Volume 6 Number 1 spring 2004.

Now if anything the findings of this report are worse today than ever. We have become a society that is very quick to find a pill to “fix” a problem. This has escalated dramatically in the treatment of children and adolescents behavioral issues. There has to be a diagnosis for every child who exhibits behavior that society feels is outside the norm. Primarily teachers bring these issues to the parents. I’ve even heard teachers diagnose a student saying they were ADHD.

I respect teachers but they are not qualified to make this kind of evaluation then pinning a “label” on a child that will follow him all through school. Any psychiatrist that is being honest knows that the brain of a child and teen is in a constant state of growth and change. The brain doesn’t finish growing until about the age of 30.

Yet, a child exhibits aberrant behavior and off to the doctor we go. What we get is a prescription for a drug that will hopefully “fix” the issue. Many of these drugs are powerful psychotropic medications and frankly no one knows how they work. There are two kinds of drugs palliative and curative. Palliative drugs are like the cold meds we take to relieve the symptoms but it does nothing to “cure” the problem. Curative drugs do help “cure” like antibiotics taken for an infection. The only curative psychotropic medication is the class of meds called SSRIs. This class of meds causes the serotonin level in the brain to increase thus relieving depression. It’s thought over time the brain will just start producing serotonin at higher levels and the medication will no longer be needed. The issue is no one really knows why.

In this journal is an article titled “The Ethics and Science of Medicating Children” by Sparks and Duncan. They examine the studies done to argue the case for the use of drugs and then report the trend in their use. First off I want to say they report most of the drug studies done to gain approval for the use of medications for children were tied to drug companies. That fact alone makes the findings suspicious but the FDA has bought into it and we have seen a tremendous increase of the use of these drugs for children and adolescents.

The two problems usually treated are depression and ADHD. Now remember this is a 2004 article so I can only guess at the number in 2012. One disturbing trend found is that children in foster care are 16 times more likely to be on meds than there non-foster parent counterparts. Between 1991 and 1995 we saw a record number of meds prescribed for preschoolers. In the group of kids 2 to 4 Ritalin (for ADHA) prescriptions increased by 169%.

The current climate is such that a request by parents for alternatives is meet with formidable resistance. I’ve been there. You are looked at as neglectful if you don’t use the drugs so many parents feel backed into a corner. If I don’t use the meds then child protective service’s will be knocking at your door.

So there has been huge increases in the use of SSRIs and Stimulants to treat the child’s “condition.” Research has shown that in double blind studies the researchers found there was no difference between placebo vs. medication trials. The researchers could tell who was on the real med soon enough because of reported side effects. In self reports from patients and parents the feeling was no change was taking place. Self reporting was mostly ignored by the researchers.

What has happened is we as parents sit and watch our kids for any tell tail signs of depression or ADHD? We are way to quick to stigmatize a child with a “diagnosis.” The sad fact is poor children or those on Medicaid and in the foster care system or in residential treatment are more often medicated than there counterparts.

I’ve seen this first hand. Staff at residential facilities like foster parents use the medications as a control tool not a treatment tool. I know of situations where parents have had to become very confrontational with doctors to get their kids off useless medications that are only masking systems and retarding the child’s ability to really conquer the behavior through therapy. I know of cases where parents remove their child from a hospital AMA (against medical advice) and had social service’s called to report this event. Who’s in charge here?

It seems doctors, social workers and staff know so much more about your child than you do so what they say goes or you are reported and called a bad parent. Take it from me these people aren’t in control.

Know your child. Be involved in her treatment. Stand up for what you think is right. I won’t take a child being put on meds so she’s more controllable. I want to get to the bottom of her issues so she can learn self control. Drugs remove this opportunity. Now believe me there are times when medications are needed but with a plan not just because. Ask what the doctor expects the outcome to be by using a medication. Remember a diagnosis is truly impossible to make on children due to the brains unfinished state. Stand up for your child and yourself.