Out of Control, or Just Being a Kid?
All too often, terms such as "out of control," "escalating behavior," "aggressive behavior," "angry outburst," "temper tantrum" or "meltdown" take the place of detailed descriptions of the child"s behavior. Try keeping a journal to record your descriptions, noting the following:
Read about other warning signs here.
Excerpt from FRONTLINE's "The Medicated Child" Parent's Guide written by Joshua Sparrow, M.D., child psychiatrist at Children's Hospital, Boston, and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
Full URL to The Medicated Child Parent's Guide: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/parents/
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Technorati Tags: Frontline, PBS, The Medicated Child, psychiatric medications, child development, parenting, pediatrics
- Warning signs -- Can you tell that your child is on the verge of an "episode" before it starts? What are the signs you watch for? Can he tell? Can he ask for help before it"s "too late"? Is there a pattern of increased vulnerability when he is tired, hungry, anxious or stressed? Can you predict the kinds of events, settings or interactions that are likely to set him off?
- Triggers -- What seems to set the behavior off? Sometimes there is no apparent trigger, but often there is one that goes unnoticed. A truly unprovoked episode is important to distinguish. It is also important to note whether the child's reaction was out of proportion to the severity of the trigger. Ask your child if he thought something happened that made him upset, and get a sense from him of his perception of its seriousness relative to his reaction.
Read about other warning signs here.
Excerpt from FRONTLINE's "The Medicated Child" Parent's Guide written by Joshua Sparrow, M.D., child psychiatrist at Children's Hospital, Boston, and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
Full URL to The Medicated Child Parent's Guide: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/parents/
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: Frontline, PBS, The Medicated Child, psychiatric medications, child development, parenting, pediatrics
41 Comments:
I am watching the program "The Medicated Child." It's no wonder the child is not well! Look at his diet! Gatorade, corn dogs, Goldfish crackers and commercial cookies! It's a diet FULL of corn syrup, sugar, processed flour and just plain GARBAGE!!! Give the child whole wheat bread, fresh fruits and vegetables and milk and watch his behavior improve! Get rid of the pills! Feed him right!!! Do a Google search on the effects of high fructose corn syrup, then look at the ingredients of EVERYTHING he had for that meal! The child is being poisoned by his food!
I agree completely. There is a diet called the Feingold diet that was developed by Dr. Feingold in the 1970's for kids with allergies. It is about eating as few preservatives and manufactured whatever. It is a really great diet (food plan). You can even send in to them the ingredients in a product and they will let you know if it falls within their guidelines.
Why is there no outrage!!!! I'd really like for the operator of "Brain Matters" to be called out. They were obviously running a scam and once they realized they were "outed" by frontline they go and declare bankruptcy!! These types of people, like the bias drug researchers are the scum of the earth!!!! Frontline should do a follow up on these dirtballs!!!!
I watched the program and I began to cry as I seen all those children who were taken the psychiatric medication. I believe that children should not be taken psychiatric medications. With proper rest, diet, and a little TLC from the parents one can control this problem.
Since we live in a pill poppin' society, I am not surprised to learn that the drug companies and psychiatrist would stoop so low to target children!!! The parents needs a psych eval and they should let the kids be kids!!! If your kids have a lot of energy, challenge them, exercise with them, don't just shove drugs down their throat!!!
I do not medicate my child, and I do not want to, however, I'd like to see you manage my child with "a little rest, diet and TLC".
Until you've experienced a child who gets into such a rage they can not control themselves, you just do not understand. My child goes weeks with good behavior and then you can tell when a bad period is coming. When its bad, its really really bad.
My husband and I are happy, married 17 years, we have a good life. No abuse of any kind. No substance abuse. We eat meals at the table. We do not eat lots of "junk" or processed foods. We pack her lunch for school. Always well balanced. We discipline our child and are consistent. We don't watch a lot of TV and we carefully monitor what she is exposed to. She knows we love her no matter what and that she is secure with us.
However, she is very hard to handle and has been since the get go. 30 minute to 2 hours tantums are normal for her. She is very active. We love that she is. We love that she is strong willed. But, there is a point when it becomes abnormal. Hearing your 5 year old wish she was dead and pleading to God to let her die and go to heaven because she didn't get her way is heart wrenching. Screaming bloody murder for 2 hours is not normal. Having a preoccupation with tying things up and imprisoning things is not normal. Enjoying punishment and asking for it is not normal.
As far as being active, she wears other kids slap out. One playmate has to take rests because she plays him so hard.
Don't judge what you haven't experienced. I hope you never to have to experience this. I would not wish this on anyone. Have some compassion people.
I don't doubt there are kids with real mental imbalances like bipolar. But all of a sudden there are millions? If real why now? Does anyone want to study what these kids are eating? Nope no money in that. Does anyone want to study all the chemical exposures in the home, in the food, in the outdoors these kids are exposed to and their toxic synergies? No, no money in that...only a loss of money to certain industries etc.
Lets see, where is the money? Lets see--if doctors are like fish swimming in a world of drugs what will they see as the only answer? What about creating a syndrome that you can sell a drug for?
Question to Frontline: good story but what about voices from alternative medical field, or natural therapies. I don't believe they are always right either but i would like to have them in the discussion.
To "Don't judge what you haven't experienced"
I wrote the comment following yours--i didn't see yours till i checked if mine was entered. Did not write in response to yours but
definately hear you. Some of us get real upset with things we see going on...but a rant is easy...real life is not easy or simple...so i agree--I don't want to judge people.
As I've just posted on my blog www.sleepdynamictherapy.com, it's disturbing to see kids with obvious sleep disorders being labeled with mental health disorders. I'm not suggesting that all their problems will disappear with adequate sleep treatments, but a good night's sleep will make some difference in these children, many of whom appeared on the Frontline show with gross indicators of sleep breathing disorders, including mouth breathing, thick necks, and recessed chins.
Something to sleep on in my opinion.
Rest Wishes!
Did anyone background check any of these kids, to see if sugar was a major player in their diets? Without the knowledge of the power of wholesome food, void of stimulants,( sugar is a stimulant) how can you experiment on these children? What part are the parents habits playing upon these human beings? Are we setting in motion, the false need for man made medication? This disease isn't just about kids, it's about the disease that is afflicting this society.
What did we do before Drug Companies began giving Doctors "Kickbacks" on the drugs they prescribe for their patients? Go to the Minnesota website after doing a Google search on "Pharmacy payments to doctors" and see how much Money, about $18 Billion a year, Drug Companies "kickback" to doctors for prescribing their drugs. One doctor in Minnesota received over $200,000 from Lilly in 2006. There are Billions being passed along to doctors. Watching these poor families trying to address behavior problems with kids with drugs is an outrage. We are turning our country into a cess pool of druggies. Now the kids. No one in my family take drugs, especially the kids. It is verboten. If we have a behavior problem, we use conservative punishment, such as loss of privaledge, no tv, restrictions. Drugs are not the answer, it only makes the doctors rich along with the Drug Cartels like Lilly and Pfizer and the other 106 Companies on the Minnesota drug disclosure site.
When I was a kid, we never had drugs, other than the willow in the corner of the kitchen to remind us to maintain self control and to behave.
I leave you with a killing, a fellow killed his wife in a church parking lot, he was on two antidepressents along with testosterone drugs. He shot his wife ten times and does not remember. Drug Companies are in the same league as the Cartels from Columbia.
After watching the program "The Medicated Child" I was appauled to say the least. Our son at the age of 4 was diagnosed with ADHD by a pediatric specialist here in Ontario. His symptoms were much the same as what was observed in the program and the prescription was ridilin.
NO WAY were we going to put our child on drug medications at the age of 4 so we decided to look at other options. My wife did as much thorough due diligence on the internet as possible and we decided to go the homeopathic route. We found a local doctor who listened to our dilema and he promptly ordered a simple hair sample to determine our childs chemical balance. Two weeks later his results were back and we were amazed at the findings. I could go into great detail about the lack of or over abundance of different natural chemicals in his body that was causing his erratic behaviour. My childs prescription was no more cows milk, no wheat based food, no sugar or any processed food. He could have soya milk, glutin free bread or natural sugars and sea salt.
The difference was almost immeadiately dramatic and his pre school teachers were so amazed at the difference that soon all the mom's were doing the same thing with similar results. Since then our family has gone the natural route and we hardly ever get sick.
My son is now 9 years old and a B student with a very active life. He has a lot of friends and is a great public speaker with average reading and math skills.
Why don't you do a show about natural medicine compared to WALL ST. funded medicine. What a train wreck BIG PHARMA has started.
I just viewed "The Medicated child" rerun...
I have an older sister, 58 diagnosed bipolar at the age of 24. She has been medicated, hospitalized, institutionalized, now... marginalized.
This once vibrant homecoming queen and college honors graduated became a different person.
Annie - Ohio
Today, her body is bloated, her joints are hurting, her mind is not clear, she can not work - she does not "live" - medication keeps her from acting different - on the other hand, it keeps her acting different.
At the age 5 my daughter came down with phnemonia. The use of antibiotics coninued. In 10 years 30 courses of antibiotics were perscribed. She had emotional outbursts - they would come and go. At 10 she was diagnosed bipolar. Nurses suggested many different diagnosis, and doctors suggested it was my diciplining problems.
In desperation, because our home was hell, we turned to phsychiatric drugs after 10 days I said stop. Never Again.
I made charts of her her previous illnesses, antibiotic use, etc. At almost every intersection of our problem. I search for yet another doctor.
I refuse to watch my daughter live the life my sister is living, and the one my brother lived until 2 years ago when he passed away.
We have chosen the natural route -yes, including raw milk and other natural "taboo" choices such as eating real food. When she is ill
we are EXREMELY careful with antibiotcis.
Wiered? of course. But when you love your child and you have expreienced the outher route, what other path is there?
Unfortunately, I do not trust the general population of the medical industry. I couldn't agree more with Daniel Karaf (spelling?) from Tufts Unviersity (sp?). "When drug companies sponsor research, how can the research look at all angles?" SUch as allergies, foods, antibiotics, etc...
I would donate to research in a minute, if there were that was truely on a mission to research in finding a cure as opposed to finding a medication that covers the symptyms!
PBS - Or Front Line - or Whoever broughtr this to air... You have the resources to find such a research location. PLEASE, finish what you started!
Annie from Ohio
I agree with the people who have posted comments about diet. I was surprised that Frontline did no research on what these children or their parents were eating, both before and after the children were born. From the appearance of many of the parents I would think that they probably did not provide for a very healthy dietary environment pre or post natal. Has anyone done any comparative studies of childen and their families' diets in other countries? I expect you would not find this degree of behavioral disturbance in other parts of the world where people do not overeat and do not eat processed foods to the degree Americans do.
I would like Frontline to do a follow-up show reporting on what psychiatric intervention is REALLY like for the average citizen when potential emotional issues are further complicated by illicit drug use/abuse in teenagers. Our experience has been dismal. The psychiatrists featured in the program seem ATTENTIVE to what is going on over the long-term with their patients. This has NOT been our experience during our quest to get help for our teenaged son. The psychiatrists that we have dealt with have spent MINIMAL time with our son as they prescribe medication after medication. When we call for help during an adverse reaction episode, we usually can't get the doctor or "couselor" to call back and once again have to go to the emergency room. The hospitals are not even up-to-date on the latest drug abuse behaviors that suburban teenagers are into and the staff seem unable to test for abuse of over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs. We have taken our son in repeatedly, knowing that he was clearly under the influence of something, only to be told by the hospital that we should relax, because their tests for "real" drugs came back clean! The hospitals can't or won't do much other than ship the patient to a psychiatric facility where he is housed until the insurance runs out (usually less than a week). While there, a new drug is prescribed, and then he is sent home with no follow-up. The couseling services available to us have been terrible. What there is seems to be unregulated facilities designed to scam insurance companies to just make as much money as possible. After our son's first suicidal hospitalization, we had to plead with the psychiatrist (who saw our son for 5 minutes) to consider treating him for depression, rather than just writing him off as a drug abuser. Given the family history of depression, we thought that perhaps our son was attempting to self-medicate his symptoms. Since our nightmare began almost three years ago (although, looking back, perhaps there were symptoms of depression or bipolar as early as two-years-old), we have been to couseling facilities where one therapist suddenly left the state only weeks after establishing a relationship with our son, another couselor at a different facility was suddenly fired with no opportunity for closure with our son, and a third "counselor" repeatedly billed our insurance company for 45 minute sessions, but ended most sessions after 10 minutes because our sixteen-year-old "just didn't seem to want to talk!" The state of the mental health care system in our country is beyond a joke! Until someone you love has a problem, you have no idea how bad it is out there. People are suffering and most of us feel that there just is no credible help available. It's more than enough to make anyone feel depressed!
I was amazed by the recent show ("The Medicated Child", Jan. 8, 2008) about the dramatic rise in childhood prescriptions for mood altering drugs. Mood disorders have interested me since I began studying neuroscience in graduate school. One of my friends has a lively three-year-old daughter recently diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Like many parents, she was concerned about possible side effects from medication at such an early age. I hope parents struggling with this topic will benefit from the following information. An article by Duke researcher James Blumenthal describes a clinical trial that found regular exercise to be as effective as Zoloft for controlling symptoms of depression in elderly adults (The Archives of Internal Medicine, October 25, 1999). The use of exercise as therapy for mood disorders is exciting because of how it works. Virtually all mood-altering drugs produce their effects by binding to receptors in the brain. Many people ask the question, "Why does the brain have receptors for artificial chemicals like Zoloft?" The answer is that it doesn't. Those receptors are in the brain to respond to natural chemicals that are normally produced in the body. Drugs like Zoloft that effect "biogenic amine reuptake" are designed as substitutes for natural body compounds. The most famous compound from the biogenic amine class is called adrenaline (also called epinephrine). Parents may have learned that adrenaline is released in times of stress and is also important during physical exercise. Adrenaline is also closely related to serotonin (the compound Zoloft mimics). Although the link between exercise and mood improvement is still being studied, adrenaline may help explain how exercise could behave like a drug. Following the study guidelines of 30 minutes of aerobic activity three times a week could be a good thing to try before resorting to medication.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dr. Wendy Adams, Toxicologist
All the comments made are easy to say for parents who have never truely faced the dilema of mental illness in their children. I suffered from mental illness as a child and was only properly treated as an adult. I now have a child with symptoms of ADHD, OCD, and Bipolar. SHe is on a organic, unprocessed food diet. She does yoga, gymnastics, hiking, rock climbing, and loves excersize with a passion. Yet the mood swings, nightmares, and compulsive handwashing until her hands crack and bleed still persists. So now I feel I have no choice. She does play therapy and is on one medication. I only agreed to it because it has been trialed with kids and has almost no side affects. So for you as parents to say that I, as a parent who medicates my child, is a bad parent, or took the easy way out, heck, even poisons my kids! Well, get off your high horse and try volunteering in the trenches with the parents, teachers, and therapysts who deal with this issue daily. Volunteer with National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Or any other facility that works with troubled kids. Just don't judge and assume until you know the facts about why the parents make the heartwrenching decision to put their babies on meds.Shame on you. You are the reason parents feel such shame for caring for their kids and trying to help them the only ways offered to them in this medically controlled society.
I was all set to express my outrage and horror at this show, with its fake MRI's, doctors on the take from Pharma, parents having no idea what these drugs will do long term to their children, no one taking a wholistic, alternative medicine, good diet view. A sudden epidemic made-to-order for Pharma and the docs. It made me cry, but I see these sentiments all expressed here on the comment board.
Both my children had their first "episode" at age 20. One had been difficult to raise due to a severe hearing loss and cruel peers; the other had been a dream. Now one is dead, from the very class of drugs being shoved at young children (Zyprexa). WAKE UP, PARENTS.
The answers are there. I know one Mom whose son was "tagged" by his preschool, aka the Pharma Farm Team. She absolutely, positively refused to give him psychotropic drugs. Though she had to read and work hard, she tried every natural approach re: food, supplements, exercise, behavior modification, removal of certain toys like video games, limited and carefully selected TV, lots of love, and the boy is absolutely fine. Parents, don't let Pharma and drug docs into your natural rights and abilities. You can do it. It can be done. This is not an epidemic. It is a marketing scheme. For those who have "difficult" children, things CAN be turned around. Hunt for the help you need and do not give in to dangerous little pills as a solution.
i read these posts, and you all seem to have either come upon this program and imediately set your opinion or came into it already set. This is a blog to post your opinions, yes, but also listen to other bloggers who have positive testimonies, even those who have negative ideas on meds, but after years of hundreds of other "options" had only the medication to fall back on. Improperly medicating anyone is wrong and sadistic,yes; but there are those who need the meds. Bipolar and mental illness isn't just a medical fad, it has genetic and environmental roots. My family has a history of it going as far back as my great grandmother on one side, and my great great grandfather on another, and that is only because that is where the documentation began. Mental illness is a stigma that no one wants. I got taken out of my grandfather's will pretty much the week my mother had me committed at age 14. But by the time of his death 3 months ago, he had grown to realize that it was not good to suffer alone, especially after his only daughter, at the age of 55, had to be taken to the hospital once a week for shock therapy treatments. Her 19 year old daughter had to drive her there. Punishing people, whether they be parents giving kids meds, kids taking meds, doctors prescribing meds, or anyone else, is wrong. The ones who should be punished are those who say it is wrong to have these problems, and treat them. Also, Pharma is to blame for not putting more studies into meds before making them available, and the FDA is especially at fault for not going into the full reports on medications before approving them, and not punishing those companies who put their own clientel in danger in a more severe fashion that would scare them into never doing it again.
My son at age 7 was diagnosed as having ADHD hyperactive. I did not sort having him tested but forced by the school system because of his behavior in class. After, the diagnosis the school and the doctors wanted to put him on Ritalin but I refused. I am not originally from this country, but I went to school with 60 children in a class where we interacted with one another and learned our fundamentals while having our childhood tantrums and not being medicated.
Therefore, I refused to have him medicated and looked for a doctor to help. I found a doctor that affirmed that medication was the last resort. My son was placed on a diet of no milk products, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and lots of exercise. That made him calmer and he progressed through grade school. He still had issues of hyperactivity but we dealt with them one day at a time.
Now he is in his junior year at Penn State. At 21 he has mastered controlling his impulse and if he feels hyperactive, he plays basketball or run for 2 hours.
The point is he has learnt how to control his demons natural.
I took Paxil briefly in my late 30's to help with depression and stress, and I was so fogged up and emotionally dead even on a half dose I couldn't stand it. Even though I judiciously tapered to wean myself off of the stuff I had a horrible time, brain "zaps" many times per day, sleeplesness and restlessness, and severely impaired ability to achieve sexual climax for TWO YEARS, not kidding. This was after using Paxil for only 4 months. I hate to think of what these kids are going through now and what they will go through later, side effects that take years to resolve ... or never resolve at all.
What really pisses me off is that the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY HOW THESE DRUGS WORK ! Notice in the Frontline show all of the docs say "I hope", "I think", etc. It's horrendous ! And yet the drugs are prescribed as if they are as harmless as candy. I hate to see these kids treated like lab animals. Where are the non-drug therapies ??? I agree with the other posters about diet, it's amazing what a good diet and exercise will do for the body. I'm not saying that no kids have serious mental issues and need drugs, but drugs should be a last resort.
I hope parents learn to just say 'no'.
Brain Matters might have filed for bankruptcy, but they still have an active web site and are clearly looking for new victims ! Egad I hope the Frontline page and these comments pop up on the first page of a 'net search !
This program seemed to be an advertisement for the drug companies. I was waiting for someone to ask "what is the child eating ?" Equally important is what was the diet of the mother before and during pregnancy. The mothers of these children shown in this program were obviously overweight and were probably eating a typical american diet that is full of processed sugar, dairy products and bad fats. This would lead one to believe that the children are also eating such a horrible diet. Add to that the increase of chemicals found in the blood of children and adults, all this can certainly affect the brain and behavior. Look at other countries where they eat well with foods close to nature and don't have to take drugs to function. I would hope that you folks at Frontline will look into the affects of diet and chemicals on the body and mind for your next report. I hope you do it soon. Thank you
POSSIBLE HELP: http://www.drrapp.com/adhd.htm for information on food allergies and bi-polar.
I have walked a mile in your shoes. My child has severe food and environmental allergies – but they are not life threatening – they are completely and solely behavioral reactions. “Expert” psychiatrists have said that allergies cannot affect behavior – that’s bunk. I can trigger “episodes” by giving him the wrong foods – CORN SYRUP causes freak outs with severe crying, sweating, tantrums, suicidal thoughts – FORMELDAHYDE (in clothing and cleaning supplies) causes absolute melt downs, bright red cheeks, screaming and carrying on – DAIRY causes him to have repetitive thoughts.
The difference is that my child, who would have been labeled ADHD has the most marvelous pediatric allergist (she used sublingual drops to build his immune system, not shots). Why poo-poo it until you have your child tested? What do you have to lose (maybe the meds)?
A wonderful resource is a book by Dr. Doris Rapp, Is this Your Child
Ditto about the food connection but I would add to all the comments-- "structural medicine". Having these children looked at by an osteopath or cranial-sacral practitioner is the first thing that should be done. It should be the obligation of our medical practioners to know the value of and to offer information to patients on the role structural medicine and diet play in a healthy child/person. I don't ask that they be experts in these areas, just that they appreciate their importance as a first step before medicating. But it is not going to happen anytime soon so, Parents, you need to be your child's advocate and start asking questions and looking for alternatives. As long as our healthcare system makes it more affordable to take medicine than to seek nutritional and structural solutions, tragic stories such as this will abound.
Our healthcare system is brokend and universal healthcare will not solve our problems unless, additionally, prevenative care is valued and compensated. Let's make this an issue in the upcoming elections.
There are definitely situations when medication is needed.
There is a BIG difference between a child that has ADD / ADHD and one with Bipolar. There is a difference between a child that is hyperactive and one that is suicidal and extremely violent. Also there are degrees of a persons illness.
My daughter has ADD but, I choose not to medicate her, she has been able to learn coping skills that help her stay organized and other things that I have been able to teach her to stay focused...
However, my son is Bipolar and High Functioning Autistic.. he NEEDS medication!! Have I tried other things prior to medication? YOU BET I HAVE.. but, it doesn't work.. the medication is not a cure.. it is a band-aid to help w/ the symptoms so that he can function..
What the program didn't show is what it looks like when a child is MANIC and SUICIDAL.. we have been there many times.. he has had 4 inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations in the past 3 years.. He is 9..
He started medication at age 6 when he became so out of control that he was a danger to himself and everyone else around him. Do I want him on the meds? NO! Do they help him function? YES! Have we exhausted other options? YES, however, we are still pursuing other areas to see if eventually we can get him off of the meds.. but, to date nothing else has worked..
We have been through 4 psychiatrists because, to be honest, I know more than a few that we had! I know the types of meds my son can't take, and I know the ones that work.. Out of approx. 20 types of medications only 2 have helped him.. some of them especially the SSRI's and SNRI's make him CRAZY.. Usually w/ bipolar they can make children Manic or suicidal or both. When the psychiatrist wanted to put him on Ritalin, I told him NO. Usually if an anti-depressant has the effect that it had the stimulant could have sent him right over the edge.. The psychiatrist that we have now didn't even want to try the Ritalin while he was in the hospital because he knew that it could really send him off balance. The Dr. we have now listens to me and is very open to anything that I want to try or disagree with.
I think that when making the decision to medicate you need to find the right Dr. this can take awhile.. You need to research the medication, learn the side effects and watch your child closely.. My son was on risperdal and within days he started having involuntary tongue movements (TD).. what did we do? We stopped the medication.. Over time you learn what types of medications they react to .. If they became more activated on an SSRI then more than likely they can't have SSRI's or SNRI's.. it is very hard to know because every child is different that's why it's so important to watch the reactions.
Would I have had my son on 4 or more medications at a time? NO, because then how would you know what was doing what.. The psychiatrists should know this and I am sad to say some of them don't.. As a parent you have to be the one to do the research, take notes, and watch the medications and reactions carefully.
Whenever we tried a new medication I always only gave him one at a time for a week or so to make sure he didn't have a reaction and then I would slowly add another med and watch his reaction.. If after the second med was added and he started getting crazy again then I knew which med it was.. sometimes when you are adding so many medications at the same time you have no idea which one is causing the problem.
Do I agree that 2 year olds should be medicated ? NO, even if they are out of control they are still manageable.. My son was out of control for as long as I remember but, there's a difference between managing a 2 year old and a 6 year old w/ superhuman strength that is Manic and Suicidal ( Mixed state ) at the same time..
Until we are able to find something else that will help him we really don't have a choice not to medicate.
The medication has saved his life.. I know it's hard for people to believe that a child can be suicidal at 6 or even so violent that he can't be managed, but, it is true.. none of this was really shown on the program.. when you watch the program and see the children they are not showing the behaviors that are usually seen with severely mentally ill people..not to say that they didn't have them but, it wasn't shown..
If they would have shown an actual rage, a child who was manic, or a suicidal child banging his head on the wall or slamming it on the ground and begging to die, on the program people watching would understand our choice to medicate..
I am sure that I speak for the majority of us parents out there that medicate our children, this is not something that we want to be doing.. most of us have tried everything possible before choosing the medication.. The medication was our last hope, and hopefully not the final solution.
We have tried many diets, eliminating Gluten-sugar-dyes-yeast,hypolglycemic diets, rotating diets, the list goes on and on for diets. We've tried various supplements over the years also. He's had allergy testing, IgG, IgE, ALCAT and many more. He has every specialist you can imagine from a Neurologist, Geneticist, Endocrinologist, Gastroenterologist, Allergist, Therapists, and many more. We have brought him to a Chiropractor, tried NAET, clean room envioronment, that list goes on and on also.. This is not a matter of not eating right, or not getting enough exercise, or even parenting.. there is something wrong in his body whether it is envionmental, genetic, vaccine induced, viruses, who knows but, none of the drs or any of the numerous test that have been done are able to pinpoint the cause..
does he have mental illness or is it something else that is mimicking the symptoms? I have spent years of my life researching and trying to come up with some sort of an answer.. I can't even begin to tell you the hours that I have spent searching trying to put the pieces together.. still nothing that we have done to date has been able to do what the medications have..
It is important for people to understand that there are various degrees of all of these disorders, while some are mild you also have the extreme cases.. so when we are talking about medicating children those with serious mental illness really need medication, just like the diabetic that needs insulin..
To the mom/dad with bipolar 9 year old. How fast did the onset of this start? I am the poster above with the 5 year old girl who responded to the poster who said "rest,diet and tlc".
I am very concerned. I've been taking her to a child psych who is a "play" dr. He is leaning toward an ADHD diagnosis, but she also exhibits bipolor behaviors and my family has a past history with bipolar. He wants to wait till after she is 6 to make a diagnosis and admits it is hard to diagnose kids. He wants to go slow and make sure we do the right thing. I'm in agreement.
I know it is painful to answer, but did your child attempt a suicide? My daughter has on 3 occasions talked about wanting to be dead and praying to God to let her die. She has never expressed that she wanted to kill herself, just that she doesn't want to be alive here and wants to be in heaven.
Her tantrums have escalated and gotten more violent. Slamming doors, hitting and kicking, banging head on walls, kicking hard objects, etc. I am scared, worried and bewildered. It scares me to think that at six it will be worse.
Also, to those who say that we do not punish our children but use things like time outs, take away priviledges. We've tried those. We've tried corporal punishment. I have spanked her bottom hard enough for my hand to hurt, and she just giggled alot and asked me to spank her some more. I've tried soap in the mouth for sassy talking. She requested to try each color soap in the house and pretended to like it.
I've taken every single toy out of her room, and she did not even cry. She really could care less.
I truly don't want to medicate. I'm scared for her. I'm scared for us. I want her to grow up to be a successful adult. I am worried, scared, and above all, freaked out by this.
I agree, the TV show did not show a child in a rage. The mom with the boy who was oppositional was not in a rage at that time. And yes, she does have normal tantrums. Those don't bother me. It's the other ones that are scary.
Thanks for listening. I think I needed to vent.
I had a reaction of horror after watching this Frontline episode. I agree with the comments about possible diet issues causing mood swings. This was not brought up or appeared to be examined for this show. Two of the boys in the show appeared to be eating or drinking items with sugar in them, and/or processed foods. Also, no mention was made whether any of these children have been tested for food allergies. I am not predjudiced against overweight people, but couldn't help but notice weight issues with all the mothers of these children, which is a sign of possible diet issues.
Very quickly there are other issues that need to be raised. Lack of boundaries and limits in a far too permissive society. I have witnessed children in life who are severely lacking boundaries; are allowed to choose their bedtimes and are lacking consistency when it comes to parenting; these children also exhibit out of control behaviors that were described in this program.
Children today are exposed to so much violence on TV, in video games and in society overall which has become accepted in the past decades. I was wondering how the 5 year old girl knew to go into so much detail about violence; she had to be exposed to it somewhere. Has anyone else wondered if the long hours in front of Televisions or computers with the flashes on the monitors could be causing trouble within the brain?
Our children are also being forced to grow up so quickly these days; not allowed to be the children they are. They don't go out and play like they did in the past, which would allow them to burn off the energy some of them have. The moving away from organized games and recess at school most likely will produce more troubled children in the future.
Studies need to be done on the Sesame Street generations to find out if these children's brains have developed differently due to the quick fire and lack of training the brain to focus on tasks for longer periods of time. Is it possible that the brain is altering itself in younger children after exposed to environmental factors?
Prescriptions are handed out far to quickly and readily at the doctor's offices these days. All other options should be exhausted before drugs are handed out. One other common theme seemed to be that it appeared the drugs were prescribed more for the parent's benefit than the children. Some children are more active and temperamental than others; this doesn't mean they are bipolar. Parenting is an exhausting job, even under the best of circumstances.
Life is tough, even tougher for children these days. A study should be done on environmental factors that are causing more and more children to act out in a trouble manner. Instead of placebos, I suggest a test study be done with medication and with behavior modification in all aspects of a child and their family's life.
It probable that there are more than one factor in these childrens lives that is causing their troubles. I have a feeling this is the new diagnosis for this generation of children. Some of you might not like what I have posted here; but I ask that pride be put aside and the environment in the home be seriously looked at. I speak from experience with my child; and he didn't need to take drugs, even though the child psychologist prescribed them. It too many long hard hours of vigilance, care and self education to help him be the person he is today. My best goes out to all of these families featured.
Read the mother's letters on Frontlne PBS before you judge!
TPK,
Hello.. I would love to talk to you more about this you can email me at mombpchild@yahoo.com.
My son started to show the violence at approx. 5 same age as your daughter. We had been to almost every specialist and had many tests done to try to get to the cause of his behavior changes.. He has always been difficult even as a young child however at 5 is when the rages started.. he would get this glazed over look and then it was like he was someone else.. I thought he was having seizures.. but, EEG ruled those out.. the EEG is not able to tap into the deeper brain areas so that still could be what is going on they just aren't able to find it..
The rages were intense.. At one point I was black and blue up and down my whole body just trying to keep him safe.. When the crisis team finally got involved they had said to me that usually at this stage the parents are handing them over because they just can't take anymore.. which I completely understood and really didn't know how I survived during those periods of time.
He is stabilized now. We had gone through many types of meds to find the ones that work. He's not where I would want him to be but, the medication allows him to understand what we are trying to teach him.
He has been suicidal. Geodon which is an SNRI was given to him and it really sent him over the edge. He would say things like "Please god kill me" "why is god doing this to me" " I want to die" "Please help me stop" while on the floor slamming his head into the ground, cycling from laughing ( really crazy laugh ) to crying, and raging all within a 10 minute period. He also tried to electrocute himself and fly off of 3rd story balcony. He's tried to jump out of the car while we were driving and I can't tell you how many times he had to be restrained in the car because he would attack whoever was driving..and when I say attack I mean full on knock you out kind of attack..
Be very careful if they want to put her on an anti-depressant or a stimulant. The meds for ADHD can trigger mania and suicide in bipolar children. My son stabilized on Lithium and Abilify. I am working w/ a chiropractor now, he does kinesiology, and am hoping that he can help w/ finding some other natural remedies to help him so that eventually he can get off of the meds.. but, we have to be very careful w/ what we give him medications and natural supplements because his body is so sensitive.
Lithium is neuroprotective, I read somewhere that they have done studies in rats where "lithium is turning on some of these growth signaling pathways and reversing the damage" I do see a significant change in him and he is starting to understand more. The other night he asked me " Did I do something wrong?" which really is amazing that he is able to understand that I might be upset.. you have to be careful w/ the lithium though it requires blood test to check levels to make sure that the dose is correct. There is a fine line between the safe amount and toxic amounts. My son has been toxic before because he was dehydrated ( he has a stomach condition ) and sweats quite a bit so we had to take him off of it. However, it was the only med that worked so now he is back on the Lithium and watched very carefully.. If he is not feeling well or showing any symptoms of dehydration then he skips a dose.. we make him drink lots of fluids and increase his salt intake. Salt lowers lithium levels. It's been about 9 months again on lithium and we haven't had any problems.. but, we still have to be careful and watch all the time..
Please email me if you can. I would love to talk more privately to see if I can be of any help or even just someone to talk to that knows what you are going through.
I am curious about the statistics concerning medicating children in Western Europe, and how they compare to the US. I had lived there for quite sometime while my daughter was growing up, and was very surprised to find the emergence of ADHD here once we returned. We were in Europe from 1986 to 1999. I had never heard of it there. I think it is the drug companies making up these ailments, and I think it is the parents trying to over compensate for not having the time and/or skills in busy American life, to address basic behavior issues and it feels like they are doing something good by bringing the child to a doctor. My gosh, take a parenting class please. Also two things I have noticed that have changed since I left are the liquor commercials on tv again and the drug ads.My Gosh, at the rate Americans watch tv it is no wonder we aren't all medicated! Lol. Half of those ads make me want to run to a doctor, which I am sure is not a coincidence. Be Strong for Our Kids America.
To address the issue of parenting Yet Again and our busy lives. Let me tell you this.. I worked in an office and had transition to work out of my home to be there for my son to give him what he needs. I am lucky that I am able to work Part time and make a full time income. I left the office because of all the time that was required to take care of him.. He is a FULL TIME plus job and gets numerous therapies along w/ all of the diets, supplements, and alternative solution we have tried.. AND GUESS WHAT.. He is still Bipolar.. there is again a difference between a child that isn't getting attention and not being cared for.. and one that has mental illness.. Mental illness has nothing to do w/ parenting, food, or fresh AIR..
Here's what bothered me about this show:
A father who blatantly rebuffs his daughter who was bouncing around but not out of control; the mother who seems to be making the decision to medicate her child more because it's "too much" for her to handle but whose child was acting within normal limits; the doctor who totally ignored (in the cuts shown) the child and talked drugs with the parents; the parents who said, "Where are we going?" with big smiles on their faces and the children answer, "to get medication!"
And the corn dogs and the parents who, after being given a diagnosis for their son, asked what other treatments could be tried before medication and the doctor said no; and the parents accepted it.
The comments on this blog are wonderful to read - good questions that a progam like yours needs to expand on.
I watched the program in horror.
As the parent of an adult child with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, I have witnessed the mania, and the depression. It is hard to convey the depths of a parent’s despair when s/he sees her beloved child lie down on the floor, curl up into fetal position, and cry for hours at a time.
Certainly, our diets in the US are terrible, and we all - diagnosed or not - could benefit from minimizing the junk we put into our bodies.
One person who posted pointed out that sleep is often a problem. There is no question that my child has terrible sleep deprivation. Even now, as an adult, she talks in her sleep, wakes from terrible nightmares screaming, and may punch you (inadvertently) if you go near her to comfort her. It is better now that she is on meds to help her sleep, but by no means is it good.
Another problem is that bipolar disorder shows up with other disorders - my daughter has also been diagnosed with PTSD, Eating Disorder (not otherwise specified), and borderline personality disorder. Which disorder causes which behavior? No one can tell.
She is on a cocktail of drugs, and another was added last month because of severe depression before and during her menstrual cycle.
She works very hard to be well. She takes her medication. She keeps her therapy appointments. She goes to her support group. She uses the skills she has learned to self-regulate. But she doesn’t always make it.
I would love to see PBS do a follow up program about the development of human brains, and how the failure to develop in a child’s brain has long-term consequences. What about the work of Dr. Ira Chasnoff and others in Chicago? Their work focuses on fetal alcohol syndrome, but some of what Dr Chasnoff describes sounds like my daughter. If the brain structure in the limbic system is impaired - due to any number of causes - the individual cannot use her ‘executive functioning’ because the brain can’t put together the input from all sources and use it to generate a skillful response to a situation. So a child who rages at a very young age may be someone who is unable to use his brain properly because it isn’t all there- not necessarily a child with bipolar or ADHD.
Dr Chasnoff says that using the DSM-IV to diagnose these kids based on their behavior is fruitless. His team suggests a ‘functional’ diagnosis instead. If the problem is emotion regulation, then treating a kid with Ritalin will only make the problem worse. It’s like ignoring the rage, but giving the kid speed. His approach is called something like ‘neurocognitive rehabilitation’.
It sounds to me as if diagnosing these children without using all the diagnostic tools we have - including an MRI of the brain to see if the structure is impaired - is malpractice, at best.
Of course, the physicians put together the DSM-IV - and as other posters have said, the drug companies give the physicians a lot of money.
I could understand a doctor being frustrated at his inability to be more helpful to a child. I can’t understand a doctor who continues to prescribe more and more drugs to a child, knowing there must be some harm to the child, when there are other avenues to explore.
I work in a psychiatric hospital currently doing my graduate studies and I must say that I am completely DISGUSTED by the use of anti-psychotic drugs in children. These are extremely powerful drugs and should not be taken by people who are in the brain developement phase!!! Children are up and down, moody, sad even depressed!!...This is human nature! Let`s reconnect wiht more basic needs such as love and compassion...I believe that this will solve many of our mental illnesses...(and I say this after taking anti-depressnants which helped me alot!). Of course, medication will help...but is this the easy way out??
Laura, Montreal, Qc, Canada
I truly can't believe what the FDA/MDA is doing to our children. They are totally overlooking the solution, maybe because there's more money in pushing drugs? Or maybe it's because they are so blinded to the truth. The answer does NOT lie in dumping untested drugs down the throats of our kids, but in changing their eating habits. Have you ever noticed that in the past 50 years, our children have grown into Amazons? It was about 50 years ago that the chemical companies got the bright idea that if they fed growth hormones to the meat we eventually eat, there'd be a lot more $$ in it for them. Well, guess what...our children were recepients of this "wonder drug" and voila.....HUGE kids. And, it hasn't ended there...fast food restaurants, diet pop, diet candy and gum....all have chemicals added to "improve" ones life by making us slimmer....but all it's done is mess with our normal body functions...and I'm convinced that it's also produced a generation of mentally messed up children. So, what's the answer? Go back to the basics...yes, organically grown foods. Quit feeding our children foods of convenience, it's messing them up. I noticed on this program that all the mothers of these "bi-polar" children were grossly overweight...could it be that what they're eating to make them so obese is also being fed to their kids? Get real folks....wake up and smell the coffee...it's the future of our country that's at stake.
After I saw bipolar kids on pbs I was on "shock".
Doctors have no answers?
FDA don't know what to said?
How a 4 years old boy can take the same meds that I take?
I am 38, female,bipolar disorder all my life.So, I think I can talk for my own experience.But they start givin me meds when I was 17.
For my parent I was just a rebel girl.
Dear parents: Is very hard to diagnose bipolar disorder, that's is true.Please open your eyes.
The most important is "family support and love ", this is the key.
The meds have side effects like diabetes, for that point, is simple, less sugar and please let your kids play sports outside whatever they like and you can also can have games inside when they have moods swings.
I know is very hard, but with the right meds they can have a normal life, they can be brillant and success.Follow in a paper every single day of you kid, paid attention what they have to said to every single word. Ask for help to friends and another members on your family.Look information online. This is for life there's not cure .Please don't "panic", everything is possible with God love.
I don't have family support everybody run away, but guest what? I am still living.
I was misdiagnose for more than 20 years, but in this country they save my life in 4 hours !
This country have all the reserch and enought money to help and answers all your millons questions, I don't know what they are doing ? There kids life and they have not answers? This mayme mad, Im really sorry.Please PBS FRONTLINE, we want to follow up this with real answers!!!!!
That teenager with ticks is for the bad medication.
Come on wake up.
God bless you all.
Karina.
After watching "The Medicated Child" I am reminded of my nephew who could eat a handfull of M&M's and go into a biting violent frenzy. It might as well have been a handfull of amphetamines. The drug and medical business has always, and will always be, a conglomeration of everthing from snake oil quakery to genuine caring professionals.LEARN TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE!
As a public elementary school teacher with more than 25 years experience, the rampant diagnoses made of ADHD, bipolar, ODD, autism spectrum disorders, to name the most recent, disturbs me greatly. The narrowing down of what is considered normal is going to leave most of society medicated.
At the turn of the 20th century, less than 1% of the population had graduated high school. Now, everyone is expected to go to school, sit still, and learn basically in the same way as 50 years ago. How is it that we can blithely state that certain people are gifted musicians, or athletes, or how some people seem to be able to acquire language much easier than others, and that's all okay. We seem to accept that the physical differences among us - not all can swim or shoot baskets or run competitively and are tall or short or skinny or heavy - but we can't accept the differences in mental process? Why do we expect that all children will listen to us and follow our directions? Why do we expect them to sit still for such lengths of time? Why should we not accommodate them, instead of trying to force them to accommodate us? What did those children grow up to be 100 years ago? Are children are so different now? or have we become so narrow a society that we can't accept and find a place for them?
I have had children with difficulty focusing, who were distracted, who had a hard time starting or completing their work, who couldn't sit in a chair correctly to save their lives, but I never once told a parent that this child should be medicated. Far from it. I have a child in my classroom right now that I wish the mother would take off medication. He's a zombie, can hardly understand what's going on, is doing very poorly academically, but mom is pleased as punch that he's quiet at home.
I have a wonderful boy in my class who is quite bright, but who seems to be unable to get started working, doesn't like to sit still and tries any way he can to get out of doing classwork, so we look for other ways he can show us he's learning.
I'm sure that there are some children who may need to be medicated, but this rush of parents, sometimes at the urging of teachers and counselors and abetted by pediatricians with checklists for ADHD and other "diagnoses of the month", to have their child labeled and medicated is a social problem. I am sure most everyone has heard the commercials stating that one out of every 166 (or 150, or whatever) children will be diagnosed with autism. The key word is diagnosed. There's no blood test for ADHD or autism or bipolar disease - it's a checklist. A subjective list of behaviors you check off. Thank god I'm not a kid today.
People, you need to read "Brave New World" and see if that's really what you want for the future.
I just don't understand how all of a sudden children are being diagnosed with these new "diseases" when in the generations before them tough love and correct parenting was good enough. What mother in their right mind medicates their child because he throws tantrums? It sounds like a cop out, and I think before doctors rush to put these childrens on medication perhaps they should look at the normal interaction between parents and these children. I mean hell, if Supernanny can go in and correct the behaviors that these children are being medicated for in a week, shouldn't that ring a bell?
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