Preschoolers on Psychiatric Medications - Is Your Child One?

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Preschoolers on Psychiatric Medications - Is Your Child One?

By Cody

The New York Times made a video recently, documenting the tens of thousands of

children placed on anti-psychotic medications every year by their pediatricians.

Frustrated parents, faced with out of control babies, are placing them on the

heaviest of medications as early as 18 months.

One child profiled was Warren.

was placed on many of these medications at a year-and-a-half. He was having

temper tantrums by the time he was 6 months old and had self-harmed enough to

require hospitalization. His doctor recommended medication and his desperate

mother agreed. The amount of medication was overwhelming – Prozac, multiple

pills to help with sleep, more pills for ADHD and Rispirdal – usually given to

adult schizophrenics. By the time he was three, he weighed nearly 50 pounds and

had been turned into drooling, blank stared preschooler with a documented

medical diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Autism, ADHD, hyperactivity, insomnia and

Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

His mother ultimately moved him to new doctors, fearful of the drugs her three

year old was on. They agreed with her and took steps to wean him safely down

from the plethora of drugs that most adults would see strong side effects of.

While they agreed that suffered from ADHD, they believed that a bipolar

disorder diagnosis was wrong (seriously, this kind of diagnosis for a 3 year

old?) as were all the others. His " autism " was a speech delay that prevented him

from communicating and lead to temper tantrums due to his own frustration at not

being understood.

Many of these children like were not properly diagnosed or studied and four

in ten children diagnosed are done so, against the standards set by the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, according to a Columbia University

Study.

So why are doctors so quick to dole out the pills? Most say it's a misguided

intent to help the child and to calm their equally anxious parents. And the more

doctors that do it, the more these diagnoses and medications are normalized in

the minds of parents.

Critics say it's outrageous to have a 3 year old taking psych meds because he

doesn't pay attention and has constant temper tantrums. As much as 's mother

originally welcomed the medications, she realized her son was a mere shell of

the rambunctious (and admittedly difficult) child she once had. So instead, she

entered him into a special program that used therapies and early intervention

techniques used in his home state of Louisiana and headed by researchers from

Tulane University. Here, had his own team of doctors, caseworkers and

social workers who outlined his risk factors (based on testing, his health, home

life) and then worked to lessen or eliminate these factors and provide with

an outlet to express himself in a positive way with a team able to listen to him

and teach him the tools he needed to be able to enjoy a regular school life and

have a stable environment to come home to. These teams spend months on each

child and Dr. Margaret Gleason, who worked with for two years, says

there was no reason whatsoever why should have been put on these drugs. The

time spent with has transformed him into a different child. He can

communicate effectively, has friends and has lost the weight gain causes by his

cocktail of drugs.

's mother deeply regrets allowing her son to live in such a sedated state.

Never again, she says. is now a regular kid, doing well in school and on

one medication for his ADHD. He graduated from Kindergarten with an all round A.

You can see more on this story here :

http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/health/1194811622283/index.html