XPost: alt.society.mental-health, alt.psychology.personality   
   From: pjbrass@uswest.net   
      
   Rutherford Institute   
      
   No Child Left Undrugged   
   By John W. Whitehead   
      
   6/9/2008   
      
   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.   
      
   What were some of the symptoms that prompted such treatment plans? As   
   her mother described it, Rebecca was “constantly getting into things,   
   running around, not being able to settle down.”   
      
   Rebecca’s diagnosis was not a medical aberration. Her 10-year-old   
   brother and 4-year-old sister were already being treated for manic   
   depression. Indeed, nearly one million children are reportedly   
   diagnosed as bipolar, making it more common than autism and diabetes   
   combined. From 1994 to 2003, the number of children treated for   
   bipolar disorder increased 40 percent, a jump that many experts   
   attribute to more doctors aggressively applying the diagnosis.   
      
   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.   
      
   Not surprisingly, the pharmaceutical companies are reaping the   
   rewards, aided by the medical community and the media. Bipolar   
   disorder medication is typically three to five times more expensive   
   than medications prescribed for other disorders, such as depression or   
   anxiety. As the News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., points out, “Furthering   
   the trend is extensive marketing of atypical anti-psychotics by the   
   companies that make them, and media coverage of bipolar disorder as a   
   childhood disease.”   
      
   Yet many of the anti-psychotic drugs being prescribed for children   
   have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use on   
   them. Of the two that have been approved for children, Risperdahl and   
   Abilify, they’ve only been approved for short-term use. Nevertheless,   
   as the News Tribune points out, because these drugs have been approved   
   for adults, “doctors are free to prescribe drugs to anyone and in any   
   way they see fit once they have been approved for some purpose.”   
      
   What this means is that in addition to being misdiagnosed, there is an   
   increased likelihood that children are also being overdrugged. Concern   
   about this scenario has prompted Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, chief medical   
   officer for the Washington state Medicaid program, to provide more   
   stringent guidelines to ensure that anti-psychotic drugs are   
   prescribed to Medicaid children only when truly needed and at proper   
   dosages.   
      
   While Thompson’s actions signal a move in the right direction, at   
   least for minor-aged Medicaid recipients in his state, it will do   
   little to help children in private care and in other states.   
      
   When confronted with the numbers of children being diagnosed with   
   bipolar disorder—about 800,000 in 2003, and likely much higher now—it   
   is hard to know how to respond. Could that many young people truly be   
   suffering from this disorder? It is tempting to lay the blame on an   
   over-zealous medical community or a greedy pharmaceutical industry.   
   There is no doubt that they have benefited financially from the sharp   
   rise in bipolar cases among young people.   
      
   Is it more a case of kids just being kids—noisy, rambunctious,   
   hyperactive, disorderly? Or is there something else going on here?   
   Curiously, one study released in 2007 indicated that among children   
   diagnosed with bipolar disorder, two-thirds of them were boys.   
      
   While there are undeniably cases where children are actually suffering   
   and are helped by diagnosis and medication, I have to wonder about the   
   majority. Little is said in the studies I have read about the impact   
   that family life and the environment may have on the behavior of   
   children diagnosed as bipolar, or even ADHD, yet they can’t be ruled   
   out.   
      
   Society as a whole has become irresponsible in its duty to young   
   people. Obsessed with materialism, we have handed over our young   
   people to marketing mavens and corporations eager to make a quick   
   buck. Distracted by entertainment, we have relinquished our children   
   to television babysitters, allowing them to become turned on by and   
   tuned into mindless television programs, video games and advertising   
   that promote violence and premarital sex, among other unhealthy   
   behaviors. Children need human touch and love. All too often, parents   
   give them over to others for care. They also leave them floating in   
   the non-real world of virtual reality.   
      
   Thus, it is little wonder that so many children are out of control,   
   disorderly and unable to settle down. But they shouldn’t be victimized   
   and punished for our neglect. Nor should they be drugged into   
   compliance. Our children are screaming for help, but we’re not   
   listening to what they’re saying. Instead, many parents are just   
   hoping to shut them up—whether with drugs or entertainment—and get a   
   little peace and quiet. But that’s not the answer.   
      
   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.   
      
   Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and   
   president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book The Change   
   Manifesto (Sourcebooks) will be out in August 2008.   
      
   Link:   
   http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=537   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)