The 'atypical' dilemma - Skyrocketing numbers of kids are prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs

St. Petersburg Times (FL) ^ | July 29, 2007 | ROBERT FARLEY

[Crazieman]

Great, I hope crap like this doesn’t screw over kids with legitimate issues. I have one that is the full gamut of paranoid delusional schizophrenic (turning 11), needs Seroquel and Strattera.

[Clara Lou]

This was my post. Key words are bolded: I’m going to say that the root of some significant part of this is poor parenting skills.
Bi-polar is a very serious condition. It doesn't occur because of poor parenting--so my comment couldn't possibly apply to your situation. Please notice that I did not extend my comment to include ALL cases of children on medication. [I tried to word my statement in a way to make that clear.]

I've taught years of pre-k, elementary, and middle school. I have seen students placed on medication because the parent(s) just shrugged and said, "I don't know what else to do"--when the child simply needed a parent who understood how to set expectations and how to administer consequences.

[varyouga]

I was out of control as a kid. My parents set me straight with a prescription for one of these and I'm thankful for it.

[Politicalmom]

Sorry. I realize you added a qualifier. My post should have been to all.

I get tired of some of the arrogant people around here who think you can just beat all bad behavior out of a child.

I knew there was something wrong with my son from the time he was 2 years old. I got NO support, except from my husband.

My Dad said “He just needs to be spanked more.” at least a hundred times before he realized there was a PROBLEM. I could beat my son half to death and it would not change his behavior. I had to try to instill the really important things and let a lot of other things slide. I defy anyone to successfully discipline a child who doesn’t care about ANYTHING.

[kjhm]

When given to adults, some of these drugs have a side effect of a 50lb weight gain. It happened to my sister, when off the drugs she lost the weight. Could this be the reason for the obesity problem in children we are hounded about every night by the news media?

[radioman]

Sounds like this doctor needs a visit from the “authorities”.

The "authorities" support the drugging of children. Leads one to believe that they want to get kids hooked early so they'll have a fresh supply of meth addicts to arrest when the kids grow up.
.

[wbill]

"Some parents are so stressed out, they come in seeking a pill," Gonzalez said. It is easy to medicate kids; "it is very hard to change environment." ...and therein lies the crux of the issue. Problem is not the kids, its the parents.

I was distresed by many of these stories. "Oppositional Defiant Disorder"? Where I come from, that's just kids not doing what they're told. And unfortunately, once a kid has been labelled like this, it sticks - problem or not, it's a hard mindset to change and the kid needs to live it down for years. And, I was particularly distressed by the parent that said their kid was 16 separate meds. Amazing that a doc would let that happen!

I am sure that there are cases where medication is called for, certainly there are cases where it helps. However, I think that it's an unfortunate mindset that pervades the baby boomer generation that "You just take a pill and things get better". The advertising that innundates people constantly doesn't help...an average person has plenty of the symptoms given in the commercials, or could easily talk themselves into them. Ergo, you wind up taking a pill to combat the side effects of a pill that you take to combat the side effects of pill that you originally took to fix a problem.

I think that the fact that they drag their kids into a similiar way of thinking is even worse. /rant off

[wbill]

Shoot, in the old days, we had to steal to get/buy drugs...now free ...even better (worse?) the stuff that kids are regularly prescibed today make the illegal stuff of yesteryear look like sugar pills.

[Xenalyte]

His mom, Cathy Peck, said Matthew's doctors are "leaning toward" a diagnosis of oppositional defiance disorder. And he has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Me, I'm leaning toward a diagnosis of spoiled brat.

The cure is to be spanked once an hour every hour until the symptoms subside.

[TalonDJ]

I get tired of some of the arrogant people around here who think you can just beat all bad behavior out of a child.

Spanking and 'beating' is not the same thing. I think the miss understanding over HOW to apply loving corporal punishment is a part of the reason we so many drugged out kids.
I knew a guy at work that has lots of issues with his kid. Once I mentioned more spanking and his response was that beating the kid does not work. He totally missed the point. He was massively inconsistent with disciplining his kid and tried to be all buddy-buddy when he was not being stern. That and he spoiled the kid rotten. So no, random beatings in that environment would not work. That kind of massive inconsistency is why his kid is pycho.

Now maybe none of this applies to your situation but the people I have met that claim 'beating does not work' with their kid were all like that, applying punishment inconsistently and in fits of rage. Which if course teaches kids that it is ok to beat on people when you get extra mad. This is not a commentary on you unless you want to take it as that. I am sure there are some legitimate cases. Just all of the ones I have had enough information to judge for myself were not legitimate cases. They were bad parenting.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Sometimes I wish doctors could prescribe a week with the “Supernanny” instead of medications. While I do not doubt that there are a small number of children with severe psychiatric illnesses who may benefit from drugs, I also think that a great many children are suffering needlessly from bad parenting.

[Dems_R_Losers]

It also annoys me how little attention and research is being done into the potential causes of childhood psychiatric disorders, especially the relationship between pre- and post-natal nutrition, sleep, and environment. I believe my son has ADHD and is also undersized and underweight because I was very sick and undernourished early in my pregnancy, and also possibly because he was deprived of adequate oxygen during the last week of the pregnancy because he was on top of the umbilical cord. I would sure like to see a study of children taking psychotropic drugs and how many of their mothers had complications during pregnancy or childbirth.

[Nate505]

At least they’re not smoking pot. They could be out there listening to negro jazz music and raping white women!