There are nearly 11 percent of children that goes to school that have been diagnosed for ADHD according to the 2013 information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This percentage reflects a tremendous increase over the past 10 years and is causing fueled concerns among doctors that ADHD medications are showing a trend of “misuse” in American children.…
Now, the issue with judging if something is overprescribed is how to decide if it actually provides a benefit. Everyone who has even a moderate form of any of the symptoms of ADHD would benefit from pharmaceuticals, but would those advantages outweighs…
References: Cooper, W., Arbogast, P., & Ding, H. (2006, March). Trends in prescribing antipsychotic medications in US children. Ambulatory Pediatrics: the official journal of the Ambulatory Pediatrics Association, 6(2).…
Children in this age range are easily molded and might just need some guidance and structure added to their life before going straight to medications. This is not to say that mental illness does not exist in some young children, but in some cases other outlets of help and treatment should to be sought out before giving strong and heavy doses of medications to your child. The health care providers in the video seemed to neglect further testing or options of treatment for the young patients and just opted to add more prescriptions and raise dosages of already existing medications. The parents appeared to have a feeling that something wasn’t right but went along with doctor’s orders anyway due to their lack of knowledge on the subject and…
Some people say that children and teenagers should not be screened because a questionnaire isn’t going to tell you whether or not a teen has a mental illness. “‘If you do the screening, you must be aware of implications of screening and the effectiveness of treatment. The evidence for treatment of teenage depression is weak for both behavioral therapy and drug treatment.’… ‘Screening should also not be implanted until there is an adequate nondrug intervention available.’… ‘The screening may be pulling out kids who are vulnerable, but it puts the focus entirely on them.’” (Dr. Lawrence Diller, sirs.com, 2) “The growing use of screening has coincided with a rapid increase in the number of youngsters being prescribed powerful anti- psychotic medications such as Risperdal and Zyprexa that have not been specifically approved for use by children.” (sirs.com, 3) As you can see screening has caused a drastic increase in anti-depressants. Most people, who are against the screening, think it’s just for a boost in sales.…
Changes need to be made to regulations for mental health drugs for minors. Parents need to get a second and third opinion before putting their children on mental illness drugs. There are safe, alternative methods of treatment for children and teens suffering with behavioral problems and mental disorders. This is an ongoing topic of serious debate due to antipsychotic drugs becoming part of a trend in child psychiatry. In the U.S. alone, 8.4 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), and more than half of them take prescription drugs.…
There are five general types of factors which can affect the health and physical development of children, one of these factors is lifestyle. Lifestyle factors are the way in which we choose to live and the things that we can change, this includes drugs. Drugs affect lots of people's lives. Even legal drugs can be dangerous when people become addicted to them. In day to day life we are all faced with situations such as stress and negative feelings, some parents tend to use drugs as a coping mechanism. This can affect the children’s health and physical development because if the parent has negative feelings the child is more likely to have them too causing them to feel bad about themselves as well. The child could lead down the same road as the parent and take on drugs or lead to depression which affects the child’s emotional development. Also, the child may feel neglected from the parent because the parents don’t look after them enough; the parent could stop looking after the child and choose not to accompany them, this would put the child at risk. The parent could cause harm to the child by: driving whilst under the influence of drugs; not putting the drugs in a secure place; risking them to witness drug use and some symptoms could cause the levels of childcare to change in the parent causing them to not care for the child and ensure the child is safe. The children will begin to feel like they don't have a safe and secure home they could go to. They could become physically and mentally scared by what they have seen and cause them to hate their surroundings, their life and eventually themselves. This can affect a child’s emotional security. Drugs can affect children's health and physical development because it can affect the ability of parents to do basic needs for their child. For example: give them food. If a child doesn't have a good diet, this means they are not getting nutrition that they need for their bodies to develop properly. If the child only has a diet…
When you or a relative has a habit, it's truly a heart wrenchingly dismal process for everyone included. The perfect choice you have before you is to find the best medication treatment focus that will enable the reliance to vanish for all time. In any case picking the ideal medication treatment focus is a particularly intense process. When you choose the best focus, your chances of progress extend considerably.…
All of these reasons are great reasons to believe kids are being overdiagnosed with prescription drugs for ADHD. This disorder takes a lot more than just a pill so if you think the prescription drugs will help with no other treatment you're wrong. That is why i think kids with ADHD are being…
Many think that children do not suffer from stress or anxiety. How can children suffer from stress or anxiety? They don’t have a job or have to pay bills. Regardless of no job or bills to pay, it is important to realize they do experience stress/anxiety. What is the cause of it, the best way to cope with it, and when is treatment necessary?…
Prescriptions for psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents have skyrocketed in the past 10 years. This article presents evidence that the superior effectiveness of stimulants and antidepressants is largely a presumption based on an empirical house of cards, driven by an industry that has no conscience about the implications of its ever growing, and disturbingly younger, list of consumers. Recognizing that most mental health professionals do not have the time, and sometimes feel ill-equipped to explore the controversy regarding pharmacological treatment of children, this article discusses the four fatal flaws of drug studies to enable a critical examination of research addressing the drugging of children. The four flaws are illustrated by the Emslie studies of Prozac and children, which offer not only a strident example of marketing masquerading as science, but also, given the recent FDA approval of Prozac for children, a brutal reminder of the danger inherent in not knowing how to distinguish science from science fiction. The authors argue that an ethical path requires the challenge of the automatic medical response to medicate children, with an accompanying demand for untainted science and balanced information to inform critical decisions by child caretakers.…
A main focus of pediatric occupational therapists is the improvement of motor skills. Developing these skills with pediatric patients helps them with staying on task and feeling comfortable with their place in space. This helps with attention, balance, and interaction with the world and other people. There are a variety of ways to help children who have motor skill problems improve. First, therapists have to establish a baseline for where a child’s motor skills currently are.…
Health problems and side effects are associated with taking atypical anti-psychotic drugs. Children taking these drugs will most likely have an increase in their weight gain. As a result, increased weight can cause children to develop type 1 diabetes as well as heart disease. They may also experience involuntary body movements. According to Victoria Tutag-Lehr, a pharmacologist and toxicologist who has studied the use of psychotropic medications in children, notes that the serious side effects associated with atypical anti-psychotic drugs might be more dangerous to children than adults. This type of drug can take the life of a child if it is not properly used under a doctor's supervision.…
In my opinion, diagnosing young children with mental illnesses that are usually found in adults and prescribing multiple medications is ridiculous. I understand that a child with an adult mental illness is possible, but I don’t think a pediatrician or general health doctor should be able to diagnose these illnesses, let alone prescribe medications. They should be trained to recognize signs and symptoms and make a referral to a children’s mental health doctor that is more knowledgeable on the subject. Only after a series of multifactor tests and observations should there be a diagnosis and prescription. These prescriptions should be designed for children, not adults, and should be tested so that the side effects are known beforehand. The case about DJ, the four year old boy with bipolar disorder, bothered me the most. DJ was taking up to four different antipsychotic drugs at a time, which caused several different things, such as ticks, drooling and excessive eating. This excessive eating has led to obesity and type 2 diabetes in some children. These prescriptions can cause lifelong problems and sometimes death, when the quantity and mixture of prescriptions is enough. Overall, this video shocked and angered me. Doctors should not be so excited about a new trend and be more careful with their prescribing. They should also do more to inform parents of the consequences, not just the benefits. If on medication causes some undesirable effect, they should try to figure out what they can do to fix it besides prescribing more…
Five year old Jacob Solomon was first suffering from deficit disorder for which he was put on medication, later he was put on more medication for over five years to control different side effects by each medicine; due to the prescriptions Jacob developed tics in his neck which was a side effect of all the medications. He still took more and more tablets to cover up side effects from the first one without solving his initial disorder. Jacob and millions of kids like him in America today are put on medications by psychiatrist; medications which are so powerful that even adults think twice about taking them due to their side effects. Are we medicating kids with confidence about their illness or should we try alternative methods first? Do we know the possible side effects on children and how they affect them in their adulthood? Who is most responsible for a child 's loss due to medication?…