Are Children being over medicated and labeled for psychiatric disorders?

[dogboy]

I think this is one of those questions that will never have a clear answer as every person/child is different. I worked in public school with kids with disabilities and my wife was head of special education at the same school. My observation is that there were a lot of students/children with a wide range of mental and emotional problems. We had a lot of counselors who were assigned to these kids as well as a school psychiatrist. There was a lot of time and money spent and from my viewpoint, little was accomplished.

I don't think that was the fault of the system but in many cases, it reflected to the horrible homes these kids came from. Some of them were medicated. I remember one student who was a constant discipline problem. I remember when he was put on Ritalin and I remember the skinny, zombie he became and it broke my heart. But at the same time, he needed help and he couldn't continue to disrupt every class he was in. It's simply a terrible problem where finding solutions is very difficult because a brain is not an automobile engine where you can open the hood and replace parts.

 

[Woncrinklz]

Okay I am a child of the 80's and certainty most likely had some ADHD. My mom hardly let me even take Tylenol no way in hell she would of let me take any of those meds. Hell I broke my knee in like 4 places in middle school and was in a cast for 8 weeks and the doctor gave me a script for some hydrocodone when it happened. No joke leaving his parking lot she torn it in two and tossed it out the window. She told me you dot need any of that your tough and I got IBuprofen at home.. But today it is like yo tell the doctor they are hyper in class and he puts a label on them for life and drugs them. Now I admit I did sub par in my classes because I could not stay focused. Most likely why I am so horrible at grammar today. LOL Other than that I came out just fine as I grew up and am glad my mom did mot force meds on me. I had a very active imagination and even invisible friends I talked to in grade school. But my over active imagination turned into a very creative mind that hasa great mechanical understanding and general common since But it seams like every other parent I talk to say their kid has ADHD or depression or some other problem and it is okay that they are loud and do not show elders respect. I do know there is some kids that really do needs some of the meds and just cant help it. But kids are kids they are all wired and full of energy and if do not get on to them for acting out and instead make excuses for them they are going to keep acting out. My mom would make us play outside everyday and burn off our energy. They certainly did not let us watch a screen all day or just play video games. Giving them meds to slow them down is not always the answer and it certainly should not be the first thing choice of treatment.

So what brings this up is I was talking to a older women I know today, who has grand kids and up until just recent was their legal guardian. She has the 6 or 7 year old girl taking prozac ritalin and something else. Then her brother even younger is on more than that. I have been around the girl many times and her brother a couple she is real sweet but she certainly does not need all of that from what I see. But she does need a parent or grandparent that watches them because she and her just run other grandma and they do what ever they want and have zero manors. I do not even know if Prozac is safe in someone that young. I guess the interweb says age 8 and up is approved but still.

I just think they are doing more harm to a lot of these kids that do not need these things. Kids are suppose to have erratic emotions to some degree. Their brains are not formed all the way. They say it is age 26 before the human brain is fully developed. It just seams like suppressing their thoughts and energy would be bad for it developing healthy. I would think their body and brain would grow up on those chemicals and are unable to respond without them. So you are making them need drugs for life when they could eventually grow out of their behavior and live a normal life. How much does it dumb them down?

Anyway I am just curious you guys thoughts. As I stated I totally believe theses disorders are real and some kids need the help and so do the parents because they can be hard to live with. I knew a young man that was the real deal definition of ADHD. I met him when I was about 20 and he was 13 maybe. Today we are good friends and I really looked out for him when he was younger and making some bad decisions like not taking his meds. He is a fine young man and has a great job making great money. Now he has a 3 year old and she is so cute!! he is a Amazing Dad. I am very proud of the man he became. He had some speed bumps getting there but don't we all?



Sorry so long I just wanted to explain my views so people understand why I think like I do and not just think I am calling everyone bad parents. Am I wrong in my thinking?

Please know I mean zero disrespect to any member and am not judging anyone here. Thank you

I read most of your post, but just couldn't hold back but write to you in response!
NO! I don't think such a young child should be on such medication if it was proven that the parents are just not watching and teaching their kid(s) proper conduct and manners and all the other things a parent should guide their kids to know about.
But if the kid(s) are out of control due to some brain injury or congenital problem, then I think it's possibly a good idea. Sorry, I had to dive in here and write this. But Prozac is strong, and the human brain is still forming at that age. I think counseling and emotional therapy would greatly benefit far more BEFORE drug intervention unless the kid was smearing feces on walls and hurting things around them.

 

[Woncrinklz]

Oh, it was super-bad in the '90s: it was all about ADD, ADHD, bipolar and Ritalin; then, after years of spiting the earlier warnings & cries, they abandoned the whole thing not only due to incapable parents medicating 'incorrigible' children but schools participating in the federal agenda of money for schools which could herd 'problem kids' into Ritalin hazes. That was a big part of the bullcrap of the '90s.

That and spoiled, bratty kids turning their parents in to CPS when they didn't get their exact way.

It happened to me. All claims were dropped. But it happened to me. It's all the damn talk shows depicting kids totally abused (absolutely God forbid!!!) and then you (And I NEVER) go to trouble spanking a kid, which I never ever did! Crazy! My story was so laughable, CPS ASKED me to spank my child!!!! Damn! But I said, No. I'm on strike about this whole ordeal!" Deal with it! They said, "Oh, but open-handed spanking is okay.." I said, "Nope!". I just didn't have support. It was a long story. I wish I could iron it all out with my kid now, but it was a jealous someone in my life making up accusations to gain whatever favors they emotionally sought, which is how most of all the CPS shit happens!

Oh, and it's true that the schools pushed kids to go on drugs. They tried with my kid. Once again, "NO!" She's fine now, thank goodness. Very smart, very cool. But I still want a long mature talk some day!

 

[Diaperman95]

How are your cluster headaches doing? A used to get those for like 25 years, worst pain ever.

Bad chronic migraines are the worse. I feel bad for the both of you if you got them very often. I use to get the worse damn headache always behind my right eye. It felt like the devil in y head stabbing me in the back side of my eye. I would get so nauseated I use to go to the ER for relief when it got real bad. Usually they would give me Toradol and a huge dose of Dilaudid. and nausea meds Toradol is what knocked it out but the other meds would sometimes knock me out long enough for them to go away. I had them from about age 18 to age to almost age 40. I got them as often as anywhere from one every 3 months to every now and again one every 3 days. Then in about 2015 I developed all this damn nerve pain in my leg and and numbness in places that should not be numb. The doctors put me on gabapentin 3 times a day it really did not help my nerve pain enough I wanted to stay on it. But then I noticed after they got my dosage to about 600mg 3 times a day my headaches all but went away. They took me as high as 1200 mg 3 times a day for about 6 months I had a lot of neurological stuff going on, But my B12 was extremely low and after getting it lined out the hand tremors and stuff finally stopped and I went down to the 600mg. I tried 300 but I got a few mild to moderate ones so I went back up. I get them one maybe once or twice a year behind that eye now but not bad enough to throw up or run to the ER. I will not say it is the worse pain I ever experienced but it is certainly up there. The fact of how long they last is what makes it so bad.

I told my doctor and he told me it has been used off label by many doctors for migraines. I do not know if you guys still get them or if it is the same kind of headache but it helped me a lot. I still take it today and will most likely never stop. I had taken meds for migraines in the past that really did bot help too.

I shared this so maybe it will help someone.

 

[Diaperman95]

I read most of your post, but just couldn't hold back but write to you in response!
NO! I don't think such a young child should be on such medication if it was proven that the parents are just not watching and teaching their kid(s) proper conduct and manners and all the other things a parent should guide their kids to know about.
But if the kid(s) are out of control due to some brain injury or congenital problem, then I think it's possibly a good idea. Sorry, I had to dive in here and write this. But Prozac is strong, and the human brain is still forming at that age. I think counseling and emotional therapy would greatly benefit far more BEFORE drug intervention unless the kid was smearing feces on walls and hurting things around them.

I could not agree more with you. Thank you for posting your thoughts.

 

[Nowididit]

Simple answer is yes.

 

[AnalogRTO]

How are your cluster headaches doing? A used to get those for like 25 years, worst pain ever.

Doing a lot better. Was chronic for nearly 20 years, a living hell of six hits a day. I had been working a job I loved and then the company was acquired, getting out from the stress of the crap they pulled after that made life go a lot better.