The “Digital Journal” published an
article two days before New Years, 2012, that puts how today’s society thinks
into perspective. The article starts
with “Years ago, rubbing a little brandy on the gums
of a teething child was thought to soothe and do no lasting harm. Parents of
today who disapprove should be aware of just how often children are prescribed
powerful, mind-altering medicines.” The
article is referring to the mental health medications on the market today.
Per Florida CHAPTER 65C-35:
“Psychotropic Medication” is, according to this rule, any
chemical substance prescribed with the intent to treat psychiatric disorders.
Those substances, though prescribed with the intent to treat other medical
conditions, have the effect of altering brain chemistry and may involve any of
the medication indications in the categories listed below. The medications
include, without limitation, the following categories:
(a) Antipsychotics;
(b) Antidepressants;
(c) Sedative Hypnotics;
(d) Lithium;
(e) Stimulants;
(f) Non-stimulant Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder medications;
(g) Anti-dementia medications and cognition enhancers;
(h) Anticonvulsants and alpha-2 agonists; and
(i) Any other
medication used to stabilize or improve mood, mental status, behavior, or
mental illness.”
The Digital Journal continues with
statistics, such as: the “use of psychotropic drugs
in age groups 0-19 significantly exceeds that of Western
Europe, with triple the use of stimulants and anti-depressants.
Youths in foster care consume these drugs at even higher rates. According to a
recent five-state study of children in Medicaid, foster children were 2.7 to
4.5 times more likely than nonfoster children to be prescribed psychotropic
medications.”
Could this be because foster
children have been lost in the depths of society, where it's easier to drug a
child than to provide him (or her) with the love and nurturing they deserve? Or
maybe more children in foster care are given these drugs because no one cares
to spend the time searching for alternative solutions to behaviors.
Here are a few of
the FDA listed side effects from psychotropic drugs prescribed to children:
·
Mania
·
Aggression
·
Violence
·
Hallucinations
·
Psychosis
·
Depression
·
Anxiety
·
Sudden death
·
Suicidal thoughts
Medical science does not
support the use of these medications with children, nor has it supported the
diagnosing of children with mental health and/or behavioral health disorders.
In fact, “Wired” magazine recently published an article in which
psychiatrists presented arguments about the lack of science in diagnosing a
mental illness and the ineffectiveness of the manual that is commonly referred
to as “Psychiatry’s Bible”, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the
DSM).
The DSM is a manual used by the
mental health industry to select a diagnosis. These diagnoses are voted upon by
psychiatrists, in a room where they use a show of hands to determine how to
lable the latest mental illnesses. More than 50% of the psychiatrists had
financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.
Quoting, “The Library of
Economics and Liberty” , in regards
to the argument amongst psychiatrists:
“For patients to accept a diagnosis,
they must believe that doctors know--in the same way that physicists know about
gravity or biologists about mitosis--that their disease exists and that they
have it. But this kind of certainty has eluded psychiatry, and every fight over
nomenclature threatens to undermine the legitimacy of the profession by
revealing its dirty secret: that for all their confident pronouncements,
psychiatrists can't rigorously differentiate illness from everyday suffering…
…a series of investigative reports
revealed that an influential advocate for diagnosing bipolar disorder in kids,
the Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Biederman, failed to disclose money he’d
received from Johns & Johnson, makers of the bipolar drug Risperdal, or
risperidone. Frances
believes this bipolar “fad” would not have occurred had the DSM-IV committee
not rejected a move to limit the diagnosis to adults.” (Al Frances was the lead editor of the last
edition of the DSM).”
Everyday stresses have been labeled
mental illnesses for too long. It’s time
for the public to take back the reins and get fully informed about this subject
so that in 2012 we can lead our society in a forward moving direction that
permits an individual to be an individual, stresses and all, without resorting
to drugs.
This article is brought to you by our friends at the Citizens Commission on Human Rights in Florida, a
non-profit that is not only dedicated to educating Americans about
their rights in the mental health sector, they are also actively
involved investigating and exposing psychiatric violations against human
rights.
Join us right here on Mommy Rantings on Thursdays in 2012 for our new
series that is dedicated to providing parents with in-depth
information, resources and personal stories on a variety of childhood
disabilities, mental health and behavioral issues.
