I've been saying this for years
American Kids Take Anti-Psychotic Medicines at Six Times the Rate of U.K. Children
"Does it mean U.S. kids are being over-treated? Or that U.K. children are being under-treated?"
My personal opinion? They're all being over-medicated, both in the U.S. and U.K. I think it's a combination of pushy drug companies, a glaringly incompetent psychiatric community, and peer pressure. Yes, I said peer pressure. It's like it's almost become vogue to "brag" about which psychotropic medication your child is on for which mental condition.
Your kid talks too much and prefers running and playing outside to sitting on the couch watching television? It's ADHD - we've got a drug for that.
Your kid has a completely different take on the world than everyone else and insists on being unique? It's Austism or Aspberger's Syndrome - we've got drugs for those.
Your child speaks his mind, has a fantastic vocabulary, and refuses to stop arguing every last little thing you say? It's Bipolar Disorder - we've got a drug for it, too.
And on and on and on.
And we've got parents doing the hand-wringing thing, beside themselves with worry (and a very strange sense of pride, it seems), lamenting that the doctors never seem to get their kids' dosages right, or that the drugs just aren't working the way they're supposed to, or that the drugs just aren't strong enough... and not one of them ever seems to stop and wonder if maybe, just maybe, the drugs aren't treating the problem because the drugs are causing the problem.
It's called childhood. Or it's called adolescence. And it's not a mental illness.
If your seven year old jumps on the couch and argues with you, it's not always because he's ADHD or Austistic - it's usually because he's seven.
If your fourteen year old cries at the drop of a hat and has bursts of anger once a month, it's not always because she's depressed or BiPolar - it's usually because she's fourteen.
But no one listens to me, because I'm just a stupid parent with mentally unstable children (you wouldn't believe the things mental health "professionals" have said about my kids) who refuses to medicate them. And in the end, no one will listen to this study or the doctors involved in it, other than to wring their hands some more and say, "Isn't it horrible how many children are mentally ill? How did we ever live without these wonder drugs?"
And with every day that passes, we will drug the humanity, the individuality, and the innocence out of our children, more and more and more as times passes.
And when there's not a single person left in the nation with the ability to think for themselves, when there's not a single child left who seems able to function without a drug of some kind... we will be living in the Brave New World we all thought sounded so terrible when we read it in high school.
And we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.
"Does it mean U.S. kids are being over-treated? Or that U.K. children are being under-treated?"
My personal opinion? They're all being over-medicated, both in the U.S. and U.K. I think it's a combination of pushy drug companies, a glaringly incompetent psychiatric community, and peer pressure. Yes, I said peer pressure. It's like it's almost become vogue to "brag" about which psychotropic medication your child is on for which mental condition.
Your kid talks too much and prefers running and playing outside to sitting on the couch watching television? It's ADHD - we've got a drug for that.
Your kid has a completely different take on the world than everyone else and insists on being unique? It's Austism or Aspberger's Syndrome - we've got drugs for those.
Your child speaks his mind, has a fantastic vocabulary, and refuses to stop arguing every last little thing you say? It's Bipolar Disorder - we've got a drug for it, too.
And on and on and on.
And we've got parents doing the hand-wringing thing, beside themselves with worry (and a very strange sense of pride, it seems), lamenting that the doctors never seem to get their kids' dosages right, or that the drugs just aren't working the way they're supposed to, or that the drugs just aren't strong enough... and not one of them ever seems to stop and wonder if maybe, just maybe, the drugs aren't treating the problem because the drugs are causing the problem.
It's called childhood. Or it's called adolescence. And it's not a mental illness.
If your seven year old jumps on the couch and argues with you, it's not always because he's ADHD or Austistic - it's usually because he's seven.
If your fourteen year old cries at the drop of a hat and has bursts of anger once a month, it's not always because she's depressed or BiPolar - it's usually because she's fourteen.
But no one listens to me, because I'm just a stupid parent with mentally unstable children (you wouldn't believe the things mental health "professionals" have said about my kids) who refuses to medicate them. And in the end, no one will listen to this study or the doctors involved in it, other than to wring their hands some more and say, "Isn't it horrible how many children are mentally ill? How did we ever live without these wonder drugs?"
And with every day that passes, we will drug the humanity, the individuality, and the innocence out of our children, more and more and more as times passes.
And when there's not a single person left in the nation with the ability to think for themselves, when there's not a single child left who seems able to function without a drug of some kind... we will be living in the Brave New World we all thought sounded so terrible when we read it in high school.
And we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.