i am sure this topic is super controversial and i am not one for getting into debates. i have my opinion and other people have their opinions. i wanted to briefly talk about a documentary i just watched called the medicated child.
all should watch.
i worked with at risk/troubled teens for years before i went full time in photography. there were days when i would dream about becoming a therapist . . . (weird right)
any how, i was and still am taken back at how many medications are distributed to the young ones out there. i remember standing in line monitoring meds and some of the kids taking an ENTIRE handful (we are talking 11-12 pills) all at once. psychiatrists seemed to just want to figure out what label they could attach or that would stick to each particular child. what i saw was damaged goods. kids that came from abuse, neglect, and awful situations. of course if you come from that type of situation you are going to figure out coping mechanisms and ways of life that work with and for you.
i just hate that our county has to label kids ADD, ADHD, BIPOLAR, etc so quickly. its a quick easy answer and its ridiculous. when you watch the documentary you will realize how scary it is that they are giving medications to children without even knowing what type of outcome or consequences it has on these young people. i am pretty sure that my brother david would have been diagnosed EVERYTHING in the book back in the day, but you know what my mom dealt with it. david has never been medicated and he doesn't need to be. he has a lot of energy, a little wacky sometimes, and probably could use a tranquilizer . . . but really he just needed direction. i think that is what all kids need. direction. a channel.
yeah there are "some" situations that call for psychiatric attention. i really understand and believe that.
and people we just need to stop.
use therapy, meditation, sports, hobbies, anything instead of Zoloft, Seroquel, Ritlin, Concerta from the get go as an answer.
you know they can't even diagnose BIPOLAR appropriately in children. in the DSM the diagnosis is mania and depression . . . you can't detect this accurately in children so they just take is a step further and say oh if kids are showing signs of rapid mood swings, tantrums, or explosive irritability then they qualify . . .
well
A) what happened to the terrible twos?
teachers/preschools start complaining to parents as early as the age of 2 or 3 and start suggesting medication. i swear if a teacher approaches me . . . .
B) the three signs are present in about 20 other diagnoses
so i am pretty sure we are doing some things wrong here.
C) if you don't know the repercussions of what this medication is doing to a small developing brain then what type of risks are we taking here.
that is scary.
i guess i am just bugged. i know people who push ideas of labels on to every walk of life. it saddens me the number of deaths that have come as a result of medicated 4 years olds.
a good therapist, a soccer game, and some yoga, thats my idea and hope.
