From: hounddog23x@gmail.com   
      
   February 19, 2015 6:00 AM   
      
   Why Are So Many Toddlers Taking Psychiatric Drugs?   
      
   iStock   
   MURALI DORAISWAMY: Prozac for babies?   
   Psychiatric drugs are now being given to infants and toddlers in unprecedented   
   numbers.   
   An analysis of 2013 IMS Data, found that over 274,000 infants (0-1 year olds)   
   and some 370,000 toddlers (1-3 years age) in the U.S. were on antianxiety   
   (e.g. Xanax) and antidepressant (e.g. Prozac) drugs. This report also found   
   over 1,400 infants were on    
   ADHD drugs.   
      
      
   A 2014 Georgia Medicaid analyses led by Susanna Visser at the CDC (see a video   
   of her fascinating talk) when extrapolated nationwide by the New York Times   
   found that over 10,000 toddlers were put on ADHD treatments. (Dr. Visser is   
   currently working on    
   national estimates but believes that the estimate from the Georgia data is   
   conservative.)   
   Prescriptions of powerful antipsychotics such as Risperdal for infants and   
   very young children have also sharply risen. Office visits for childhood   
   bipolar disorder have risen 40-fold over the past decade in the U.S.   
   Toddlers in the welfare system and those in foster homes are particularly   
   vulnerable to receive drugs for behavior control. Had he lived today in a   
   foster home, Dennis the Menace would probably have met criteria for   
   Oppositional disorder, Temper    
   Dysregulation Disorder, ADHD and/or Bipolar, and forced to take multiple drugs!   
   Most use in such young children is "off-label," posing safety concerns. For   
   example, a 2013 study of 44,000 children found that antipsychotic drugs   
   tripled the risk for developing diabetes-confirming our warning in 2001.   
   Are psychiatric diagnoses reliable in such young children? Why are tens of   
   thousands of children getting drugs outside guidelines? What is the most   
   humane way to manage behavior changes in children?   
   The causes are debatable but our culture of "a pill for every temper tantrum"   
   is one culprit. While there are effective nondrug behavioral therapies for   
   preschoolers, access and incentives are not aligned to prioritize them. We   
   also need to invest more    
   in building resilience.   
   This is a complex problem but as the social reformer Frederick Douglass noted   
   over a hundred years ago, "It's easier to build strong children than to repair   
   broken men."   
   Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy is professor of psychiatry and medicine at Duke   
   University Medical Center, where he also serves as a member of the Duke   
   Institute of Brain Sciences and as a senior fellow at the Duke Center for the   
   Study of Aging and Human    
   Development.   
   Read the latest Health Report.   
      
      
      
      
   http://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-258B-5148   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)