Psychotropic Drugs and Children: Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic, discusses the disturbing effects of psychotropic drugs prescribed for children. Such medications, used for ADHD, depression, and anxiety, for example, have become commonplace over the past 30 years. This practice profoundly alters the lives of the children, and so now we, as a... Continue Reading →
Some of the senators in Florida are really fighting for the rights of kids in foster care
The senate in Florida are talking about the rampant drugging of children in foster care. This is a nation wide problem that is being focused on in Florida because of the suicide of a young child in foster care who was grossly overmedicated. These senators will hopefully influence the rest of the country in questioning... Continue Reading →
Medicating kids is in the limelight…
There was a horrifying article the other day in the New York Times oozing praise on Judith Warner. It turned my stomach and I had no interest in sharing it here as I can't write commentary at this time. But today, with the below piece I'm happy to bring light to this atrocity. This article... Continue Reading →
Prozac for crowd control, no placebo needed to get the effect, NAC in schizophrenia, two updates on Rebecca Riley: news and blogs
More interesting links from over the weekend and Monday: Prozac for Crowd Control -- Storied Mind -- I’ve heard of a number of off-label uses for antidepressants, but turning them into non-lethal weapons for crowd control is a new one for me. The Soft-Kill Solution in the March Harper’s describes research on the use of... Continue Reading →
Bipolar diagnoses in foster children rise, informed consent becomes a bygone
Informed consent has never existed in any meaningful way in psychiatry. This headline pretends that it has. None the less, what is happening to our most vulnerable children is a travesty and it's unprecedented. From the Chicago Tribune: Powerful mood-altering drugs were prescribed to hundreds of Illinois foster children without the required consent of state... Continue Reading →
Kids Caught in the Psychiatric Maelstrom
A book: Kids Caught in the Psychiatric Maelstrom: How Pathological Labels and "Therapeutic" Drugs Hurt Children and Families "Maelstrom" is an apt metaphor for the inexorable deterioration many children experience inside the mental health system. Kids Caught in the Psychiatric Maelstrom: How Pathological Labels and "Therapeutic" Drugs Hurt Children and Families challenges current treatment practices... Continue Reading →
Blah, blah, blah — CNN’s coverage on the psychotropic drugging of children
Really bad. But maybe it opened somebody's eyes. Campbell Brown opens by saying we're drugging kids with everything from Ritalin to Adderal. Brilliant thing to say, bringing up two drugs from the same class! The truth is kids are on stimulants, antipsychotics, SSRIs and moodstabilizers among all sorts of other stuff. These are drugs with... Continue Reading →
CNN tonight: Are we overmedicating our children
From CNN's schedule for tonight: Campbell Brown: The Great Debate: Are we overmedicating our kids? Join Campbell Brown as she discusses this issue, tonight! 5 pm PST 8pm EST I have no idea who this woman is or how she will treat the subject but thought I'd give y'all a heads up.
FDA panel okays more antipsychotics for children
Not approval yet but getting there. I covered this story last week. For continued coverage click on through to Furious Seasons. Update: More commentary by Philip Dawdy added after this post went up.
FDA considers approval of hard-core tranquilizers for children
Neuroleptic and other very serious adult psychiatric drugs have been being used "off-label" for children for a very long time. They're now considering officially approving them. From boston.com: Three blockbuster psychiatric drugs currently approved for adults also appear to work in adolescents, though federal health officials have concerns about their side effects. The Food and... Continue Reading →
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