After watching this documentary “The Medicated Child” it coincides with the Museum of psychiatry that I visited for my intercultural class. This documentary was very sad and mind blowing. While I was at the museum I saw a film that stated psychiatrist is a billion dollar industry. Like in the documentary it shows how psychiatrist is all about keeping children on medication to make more money. They believe that every individual has a mental problem. It bothers that in the documentary psychiatrist are prescribing the newer antipsychotics called atypicals to children they label bipolar, even though this diagnosis has never been scientifically proven. It really disturbed me and made me angry because in my opinion, it was Jacob teacher’s fault …show more content…
Side effects of antipsychotics have been linked to assaultive and violent behavior. Side effects can sometimes be more pronounced than a drug’s intended effect. Children are not experimental animals. They are human beings who have every right to expect protection, care, love and the chance to reach their full potential in life. Children are our future. In the macro level the family is affected. I think that the family should find a safe and effective alternative to medicating children. For example, family therapy. Family therapy that involves parent education. A family therapist can help the family look for sources of stress in the child’s social environment and family and school and friends. The therapist can help guide the parents in making targeted changes in his or her environment and etc. to reduce stress on the child. In the mezzo level parents need to protect their children from these medications. Millions of children are taking powerful drugs and isn’t even old enough to attend school yet. Parents are being told their child has a mental disorder and needs medication, but are not being given all the facts about these psychiatric labels or the drugs being prescribed to treat their
Most people are not concerned about the mental health care systems. These people don't understand the harm restricting medications can cause to the mentally ill and are too concerned with gun control to see the deeper problem. If these people knew more, however, they would realize that without the proper care the mentally ill could go out of control and that most of these people are not being correctly diagnosed.
As science has evolved, so have treatments for mental illnesses have over time. The medical model is described as the view that psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin (King, 2010, pg. 413). Abnormal behavior that categorizes some disorders can be impacted by biological factors such as genes, psychological factors such as childhood experiences, and even sociocultural factors such as gender and race (King, 2010). Treatments such as psychosurgery (lobotomy) , drug therapy (pharmaceuticals), electroconclusive therapy, and psychoanalysis are used to treat a wide range of psychological disorders. Back then, the public’s negative views on mental illnesses also went as far to associate with the people who treated it; psychiatrists. “Nunnally (1961) found that the public evaluated professionals who treated mental disorders significantly more negatively than those who treat physical disorders,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). People back then didn’t see the point in “paying to be told that they were crazy”. However, in today’s society, it is now acceptable to seek help from psychiatric professionals; we are seeing more and more people seek mental health treatment. “In terms of facility-based records of utilization (Manderscheid and Henderson 1998), the data suggest that the rate of utilization of professional mental health services has at least doubled and maybe tripled, between the 1950’s and today,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). In the 1950’s, neuroleptic drugs like Thorazine were introduced to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. These drugs block a neurotransmitter called dopamine from getting to the brain, which in turn reduce schizophrenic symptoms, however there are some side effects such as substantial twitching of the neck, arms, and legs, and even dysphoria or lack of pleasure. (King, 2010, pg.
Psychotropic medications, also referred to as psychiatric or psychotherapeutic medications, are used to treat psychiatric disorders, such as: depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They have been used for many years and oftentimes come with dangerous side effects. The side effects that often occur in children taking these medications can include: fainting, blurred vision, vomiting, extreme weight gain, and even death ("Seroquel information,” n.d.). The use of psychotropic medication to treat mental disorders in children and adolescents is highly controversial because of ethical viewpoints (i.e. parents “drugging” their children to calm them down) and potentially harmful side effects, but one has to take into consideration whether the risks outweigh the benefits when deciding whether or not to give this type of medication to children.
There has been an increase in the Misuse and Abuse of prescription drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). the number of children on medication for ADHD has grown from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2013 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But although there is an over-medication of ADHD drugs, there is actually and under-medication since not all the right people are getting medicated. Many individuals lack insurance or are insured with health plans that do not cover the outpatient prescription drugs they need and cannot afford.10 Therefore, Individuals covered by various health plans and programs, and those who have no prescription drug coverage, pay significantly different prices for the same medications. As the demand for ADHD drugs grows, higher prescribing rates and increasing drug prices result, which creates problems for these number of Americans who cannot afford the treatment they require.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is the most widely diagnosed “mental-illness” in children in the United States today, and approximately 99% of children diagnosed are prescribed daily doses of methylphenidate in order to control undesirable behaviors. (Stolzer)
There are children and teenagers that do well on an antidepressants but they are not for everyone. SSRIs can do the opposite of helping children and teens. There are heavy risks that could happen, especially when a child or teen is starting on it. Side effects can affect them not just physically, but mentally.
Sadly, 75 out of 100 children who visit a psychiatrist's office for the very first time, leave with at least one prescription for ADD or ADHD. Kirk Martin, Founder of educational foundation Celebrate! ADHD, states “We must change everything else-our attitudes and expectations, diet and nutrition, the way we reach and teach kids-before we change our children through medication.” Parents of children whose behavior is regarded as difficult or out of control are encouraged to believe their child has a "disease". For many parents, it is more socially acceptable to give your child's behavior a diagnosis rather than simply admitting their child behaves badly and along with the diagnosis, comes the offer for treatment. Many children with this diagnosis are being medicated unnecessarily. Medication should not be the first choice of treatment for an unscientific disorder. There are no biological tests for these disorders nor is there a blood test which can confirm the diagnosis. With only the best intentions and the trust of their physicians, many parents comply with the medications in an effort to enhance their child's ability to learn and socialize appropriately with their peers. If parents were given the important information regarding medications such as Ritalin for the treatment, the quick decision to medicate a child would likely decrease significantly.
Most medications used for the disorders mentioned earlier were supposed to be used for adults with schizophrenia (source #2). Antipsychotics tend to be the most powerful and toxic drugs (source #2) and people give them to their children. These medications hardly seem fit for an adult, let alone the young people in America. It looks as though parents want to drug their children until they are who the parents want to see. There is a 53% increase in people ages 4 – 17 being diagnosed with ADHD (source #4) in the past decade alone. This makes it look like there is not a rise in children with ADHD, but a rise in people looking for any excuse to put kids on drugs in order to calm their child. There is no way it is possible that there is 1 in 5 high school boys who have ADHD, that number is unfathomable (source #4). Medicines used to solve these problems are often very addictive and can cause withdrawals, showing that this is simply not a normal cure but an addictive drug.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder that causes children to have problems with paying attention, trouble with following instructions, have impulsive behaviors and become easily distracted. Medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are used to treat the symptoms of this disorder by helping the patient to focus and pay attention while also curbing their impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Side effects of these medications are, but not limited to, anxiety, addiction and in some cases psychosis. Proponents of giving ADHD medication to children argue that ADHD is a real disorder in children and the medication does improve the symptoms of the disorder by a large margin as well as being cost effective. Also, not only are the parents happy with the outcome of their children taking the prescribed medication but so are the children themselves. Proponents also argue that by not letting parents of the children, young adults and adults choose to take these prescriptions when diagnosed with ADHD that the medical and psychiatric communities would be in violation of the principle of autonomy. Justice as well would be violated since most of the burden of dealing with all the symptoms caused by this disorder would fall onto those with ADHD and partly on their families. Opponents of giving ADHD medication to children point out that it is not only going to children with ADHD but also being prescribed to those not diagnosed with the disorder as well as the pills being given or sold to other children and young adults. They also claim that the full side effects of ADHD medication are still not known and could have harmful long- lasting side effects on the children taking the medications. In this case, the princip...
Unknowingly, children have been the number one abusers of psychotropic medications. Children in the United States are on drugs for longer and more often than kids in any other country. Most children who are overmedicated come from foster homes and children of low-income parents. Most children who come from foster homes have experienced some type of trauma, for example, being taken away from their families. These children are at higher risk for having emotional disorders and mental health disorders. They often receive medications
Mental Health is a common topic in all agenda’s in the United States. It is currently looked at broadly across all segments of health; in fact, over the years there have been multiple approaches to addressing the needs of the population affected by lack of mental health or that have prominent mental health disorders. Over the past century the United States has been especially concerned about the mental health problems of our children and youth (Tuma, 1989). Worldwide 10-20% of children and adolescents experience mental disorders (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). This topic has been so important to the extent that as early as 1909, the white house conference on children recommended new programs to care for mentally disturbed children (Tuma, 1989), but the process seems to continue to be in planning phases with some advancement in mental health policies for children. One hundred years later, the surgeon general national agenda for children’s health, the president’s new freedom commission on mental health and the American Psychological Association are all pushing efforts to address children’s mental health issues (Odar et al, 2013). More so, the stakeholders mentioned above agree on the fact that there is a large gap between the mental health needs of children and the supports and services that are available to meet those needs (Tolan and Dodge, 2005). However, in spite of many different approaches Tolan and Dodge (2005) state that “Children’s mental health continues to be neglected even with growing scientific evidence of the importance of mental health in children’s development” this is occurring specially within the primary developmental systems such as pediatric care and school, and of efficacy of interventions for chil...
A steep rise in the past ten years is shown in the diagnoses and medicating childhood disorders and more specifically bipolar disorder. An initial dose is given to a child to stabilize a psychological disorder. I turn this one drug cause the need for more drugs due to side effects. New medications are then used in order to reduce new side effects. The problem is the use of numerous medications in childhood diagnosed bipolar disorder. Many issues arise due to a lack of research on childhood medication use by the FDA, difficulty in proper diagnoses of bipolar disorder, and over medicating children. The video, “The Medicated Child”, explains the many issues faced in proper diagnoses of childhood mental illness and proper treatment to include medications.
Doward, J. (2013), Medicine's big new battleground: does mental illness really exist? The Observer 12 May.
... affects the diagnosed child, but it affects his or her parents, and siblings in many different ways. Different families go through it differently, but they are all affected emotionally, physically, socially, educationally, and financially.
Children, like any other age group, have their numbers steadily increasing with time. They too face the same issues as adults and need an intervention to help them recover. Children have the right to be prevented from mental health complications and the families and health systems should work together to enhance that. Enhanced systems should be able to detect such conditions early enough and provide interventions that solve the problem in the long run. Efficient detection systems can also help establish causes of mental issues among children and provide an opportunity for preventive health approaches.