This is an old video and post. Things have only gotten worse.
If we don’t want to create millions more people crippled by drugs we need to stop diagnosing and drugging children’s behavioral problems as serious mental illness. There has been a massive surge of drugging children in the last couple of decades. It’s extremely troubling. Recently there is a most tragic case which underscores the absurdity of this crisis. It is the story of Rebecca Riley who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 2. She died recently, poisoned by the deadly cocktail of psych meds the psychiatrist and parents gave her. This link brings you to the story of Rebecca and is also an analysis of the crisis in general.
But the more insidious nature of the problem is hundreds of thousands of kids who are put on meds chronically and slowly go down hill, leading to a life-time of meds and dysfunction. I direct you to CL Psych, and Philip Dawdy of Furious Seasons for more in depth coverage. You need to check their archives as they cover other topics as well. They’ve done an excellent job of covering this crisis in the last few months. They concentrate most specifically on the over-diagnosing and then the over-medicating of children with the label bipolar disorder, but there are millions more being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD which often leads to additional diagnosis down the line.
I just watched the movie that a reader sent me. I cried off and on throughout the whole thing. We are creating a nation of people who will go on to live lives like mine and much worse. Really I’ve had it very easy. I’ve been very lucky. So many people whose lives are ravaged by these drugs never escape what becomes permanent damage, disability and empty lives without relationships other than with the professionals who treat them. (the current tragic lives of so many of our “mentally ill”)
The movie concentrates on the phenomena of diagnosing 10% of our children with ADD and ADHD and then looks at anti-depressant use in adolescents. Absolute horror stories. Watch the movie if you have the time. It’s an hour and forty-three minutes. It does a good job of looking at these issues, but so much more can be said and the movie never absolutely refutes the existence of ADD and ADHD. At this point I am skeptical that there is any validity in diagnosing anyone with anything that can be considered a chemical imbalance of any kind. This is an exploration on my part, but biopsychiatry is quickly losing any credibility in my mind. There simply is no evidence of chemical imbalance. It is simply a theory and belief system held by the powerful psychiatric industry. This blog will further explore these issues at a later time.
What is touched on in the movie, but not enough, is that these children are often then given multiple drugs and/or new diagnosis based on the side-effects of the primary drug they are given. The most common add-on diagnosis these days is bipolar disorder and depression. This leads to anti-depressants, mood stabilizers and neuroleptics being prescribed to children. What is ultimately created are lifetime patients. One of the most disturbing things it mentions is that there is a money trail. Parents get money for “disabled children,” schools get money for “special needs” children and of course the biggest profiteers are the pharmaceutical companies whose only wish is to “serve” more and more consumers. The victims are innocents who in large part will never be able to function well in society. The parents are victims too–they are coerced to drug their kids and never given an option for alternatives. I’m not suggesting there is a conspiracy going on, but the pressures of the profit driven system is a sick one nonetheless.
I was pleased to see that the movie discussed the importance of nutrition and how it can completely relieve the behavioral problems and suffering of these children. We need to start feeding are children well, from the time they are born.
Addendum: I posted this yesterday–today there is an excellent post by Philip Dawdy on Furious Seasons who I mentioned above.
****first published 3/07