Hmmm here’s a question for the kids survey - Do you fell free to speak your mind during class or do you feel that your teachers will vilify you if you don’t conform?
Hi I made a post with some information I thought would be valuable to anyone interested in civil rights or systematic programs Please Please please restack this information; It's all about conformation, these mental health programs are also supportive of intrafamial abuse, and overmedicating and polyfarmcy against children in traumatized situations- exploiting them.
I feel for your wife having to work in a system like this; but it does make me feel better that there are still teachers out there that see through it.
Biden said the quiet part out loud "They're all our children... they're not somebody else's children; they're like yours when they're in the classroom". State control of kids = control of fearful parents, straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
How ‘bout we have the teachers and administrators take some seriously intensive psychological screening before we allow them anywhere near our kids? They’re the ones who need it!!
You have no idea how many people in education and child welfare including psychiatry and therapy are actually mentally ill themselves or are into some sort of paedophilia. Projecting their own issues onto young people and then taking advantage of them over-examining them- being obsessive dehumanizing and cruel. While making it seem as if they are taking them "under their wings" as if they aren't trying to get innocent people who haven't committed any crimes humiliated or locked away while protecting their fellow child-abusers. Who are actually felons and criminals which is an actual illegal act of felony conspiracy.
Which is why they have to pretend to have "good intentions" in the first place and not all of the sadistic rage, disgust and anger they actually hold inside of themselves and are projecting onto innocent children. For what? To feel as if they are "educated" and "worthy" or "classy" it is pathetic, and they are proving how worthless they are.
Especially to hate on youth, and go out of your way to surveillance them like this as if they have personally attacked you.
I bet these same people would defend someone who has shown a child porn, or been caught with CSAM.
It used to be a standing joke that college kids taking Psych 101, or worse yet Abnormal Psych or the like, would tend to self-diagnose themselves with any number of the conditions they were learning about in class or read about in the textbook. But no one took those “diagnoses” seriously. The world has changed, and not for the better.
Yes! The phenomenon of iatrogenesis. My Abnormal Psych professor warned and joked about it and said it’s a phenomenon among medical students studying disease and conditions too.
Todays western bureaucrats, teachers, and school administrators:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C.S.Lewis.
Am I wrong? Don't they believe that they are doing this for our own good? Don't they know what is best for our children? Doesn't it "take a village," as Hillary told us?
I’m so glad so many people can see that this is tyrannic and built to take away kids abilities to problem solve and feel negative emotions
“mental health” will make them brain dead to reality and dependent on drugs for every issue in life- while letting adults who are taking advantage of them get away with it and force the child to accept their opinions, rights, mistreatment, or forcibly conformed into strange ideologies, or even sex abuse as “deserved or imagined”.
It is nothing more than a way to be predatory towards young kids and exploit them, for money, for a superiority complex, for a lack of individualistic thinking.
yes, they are. "Jennifer"/ John Pritzker, the Illinois Governor's trans brother, pushes the transagenda hard and has given millions... including a trans " chair" position at a particular University. They sell medical devices.
Abigail is a heroine of our times. (I would instead require of American schoolchildren that they memorize the Ten Commandments and The Pledge of Allegiance. Also: Parents must guarantee regular outdoor playtime for their children--as well as dedicate a certain number of hours per week that they spend directly involved in activities with their children.)
The annual wellness checks are now mental health screening and filling prescriptions or physical areas of concern can only happen at a sick visit (adults also). The questions don’t offer accurate choices. For instance, you can’t answer that you are rarely anxious. You have to choose between extremes and sometimes. So never, sometimes, or always. How is this helpful? You have to coach the kids to say never because sometimes is a red flag, but never is also untrue for all humans. Insurance is collecting information about issues you don’t care about and having you pay a copay for health issues that actually matter.
As a psychiatrist, I am temperamentally inclined to want to see people who might need professional help get properly diagnosed and successfully treated. However, I must admit that I agree with all of the points you have elucidated in this essay.
Anyone who has ever had kids or been around kids knows how suggestible they are. This is the type of ridiculousness that led me to send my kids to private/Catholic school. But the ones who will be the most harmed by this are those who cannot afford to do the same. Why are we more focused on creating problems than on solving real ones — like improving reading and math scores and giving these young people a true shot at a good future?
Considering everyone by now must know that all of those medications have side-effects which make anger, erraticism,
and increase depression yet they still want children who's brain's aren't even developed fully to "receive your help" for medications killing them says a lot about this system and those who support it they want to rage out and feel disgust for kids and feel superior to them by making them seem mentally ill for anger issues or sadness or normal angst.. Power-hungry insecure people.
They are actually mentally ill for targeting youth so much younger than they are to bully and degrade and disparage.
This is commonly used against toddlers who have experienced trauma and throw tantrums- or even simply do nothing at all. People are exploiting vulnerable children using this system- they are calling babies psychotic.
This is also used against sex offense victims to protect the offenders.
I’m so glad so many people can see that this is tyrannic and built to take away kids abilities to problem solve and feel negative emotions
“mental health” will make them brain dead to reality and dependent on drugs for every issue in life- while letting adults who are taking advantage of them get away with it and force the child to accept their opinions, rights, mistreatment, or forcibly conformed into strange ideologies, or even sex abuse as “deserved or imagined”.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO MENTION THAT THEY HAVE BEEN LOCKING 2 AND 3 YEAR OLDS IN MENTAL HOSPITALS FOR DECADES!!!!!!!!
Considering everyone by now must know that all of those medications have side-effects which make anger, erraticism,
and increase depression yet they still want children who's brain's aren't even developed fully to "receive your help" for medications killing them says a lot about this system and those who support it they want to rage out and feel disgust for kids and feel superior to them by making them seem mentally ill for anger issues or sadness or normal angst.. Power-hungry insecure people.
They are actually mentally ill for targeting youth so much younger than they are to bully and degrade and disparage.
It is nothing more than a way to be predatory towards young kids and exploit them, for money, for a superiority complex, for a lack of individualistic thinking.
It's all about conformation, these mental health programs are also supportive of intrafamial abuse, and overmedicating and polyfarmcy against children in traumatized situations- exploiting them.
Please download and share these articles; copy print & save
Consider this. Now that I've collected the stories and testimonies of 73 trans widows, women who divorced a suddenly demanding, suddenly full-time crossdressing husband, I've become aware of the mental health disaster of the children these narcissists fathered. With 37 children in the offspring cohort, some still too young to have a fully expressed reaction, the frequency of suicidal ideation is 7 of them, with 4 requiring hospitalization after a serious attempt. Yes, this is a small sample. But no one else is looking at this. In my own therapy for PTSD that included cardiac-mimicking symptoms (now much relieved by my program of movement, helping other trans widows and gardening) I was often asked if I had thoughts of suicide. I had to fill out a form before every appointment and repeat my replies before any therapy commenced. Oddly, the therapy involved the mind-training of cognitive behavior therapy, which is learning to think about something else! Here's a window into the healing movement series I developed:
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 November 2018
Robert E. Drake
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[Opens in a new window]
Abstract
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Keywords
Adolescents
behaviour problems
child psychiatry
psychotropic drugs
Information
Type
Editorials in This Issue
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 358 - 359
Recent news reports in the U.S. have decried the separation of immigrant children from their families seeking asylum and the subsequent use of powerful psychotropic medications without consent. But this egregious offense may be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of overmedicating vulnerable children in the U.S. A recent report by the Office of Inspector General (2018) describes widespread overuse of psychotropic medications with vulnerable children in foster care settings. Further, many of these children did not receive treatment planning or medication monitoring that was required by States, and States did not always require that practitioners follow guidelines from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The following two essays suggest that overuse of psychotropic medications for children in the U.S. is even more widespread. Overuse, or inappropriate use, includes polypharmacy and use of powerful antipsychotic medications for unapproved conditions. Many children are vulnerable. Not only children in foster care but also those with developmental disabilities, those living with families in distress (e.g. families affected by the widespread opioid epidemic), those in the juvenile justice system, those in residential treatment programmes, those who are homeless, those who have psychiatric problems such as depression and suicidality, those who have trauma histories, and many others are at risk for overuse of medications. How many children are vulnerable in these ways is uncertain, but the proportion may be 20% or more (McLaren et al., Reference McLaren, Barnett, Concepcion Zayas, Lichtenstein, Acquilano, Schwartz, Woloshin and Drake2018).
Why are so many children overmedicated? The crux of the matter is this: American culture, including institutions of all kinds, does not protect vulnerable children. The U.S. does not have universal health care, does not support family leave during pregnancy and early childhood, does not have sufficient day care, does not provide equal access to educational opportunities, and does not have accessible, evidence-based, mental health services for children with behavioural difficulties. Thus, children who develop intellectual, emotional, social, learning or behavioural difficulties, unless they have the good fortune of birth to parents with resources, may be considered problems to be controlled rather than fragile human beings worthy of care and protection. While health care and education advocates are relatively weak, the advertising, pharmaceutical, illicit drug, tobacco and unhealthy food industries are powerful and prey on vulnerable children. Moreover, many of these children have no closely involved parents to participate in medical decisions, and many States do not fulfil their oversight responsibilities. In the absence of such protections, the net result is overmedication to control the behaviour of children who have many reasons to manifest difficult behaviours. These vulnerable children need comprehensive care to address the social determinants of poor health as well as comprehensive treatments. Instead, they receive too many medications to control disruptive behaviour and do not receive evidence-based, psychosocial treatments and social services for specific conditions. Tragically, we keep re-discovering that medical solutions for social problems are very expensive and very ineffective.
Used in adults, individual psychotropic medications are often helpful but have significant and sometimes enduring, deleterious side effects, including metabolic, neurologic, physiologic and cognitive problems. For example, adults on antipsychotic medications commonly develop obesity, diabetes and heart disease – serious side effects that are difficult to reverse and decrease longevity. Multiple medications often fail to create synergy but nearly always create additive side effects.
For children, the research and lack of research are more worrisome. Efficacy has usually not been demonstrated: most of the common uses of psychotropic medications in children are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Even more concerning, the potential harms of psychotropic medications in children are legion. The short-term side effects include all of the syndromes seen in adults, often in more severe forms. Children's cerebral, anatomical, physiological, endocrine and other physical features are developing. Similarly, their behaviours, emotions, and social skills and relationships are still evolving with experience. Therefore, the developmental ramifications of overmedication are sometimes dramatic and expansive. For example, an adolescent gaining 40 pounds due to medications suffers psychological, social and emotional distress as well as physiological and endocrine consequences. The long-term effects of most medications on children's metabolism, neurologic function and other systems are largely unknown, because the few existing trials have been short-term studies of one medicine for one specific disorder, not long-term studies of the polypharmacy for mixed conditions that occurs regularly in routine care. Further, the medications are often maintained for months or years without appropriate monitoring of side effects and without government oversight.
The following essays offer constructive directions for children, families, educators, clinicians, policy makers and researchers in the U.S. Each of these stakeholder groups could help. Children and families need better education and greater opportunities to participate in shared decision making. Researchers need to study real-world conditions: complex disorders, multiple interventions and stressful settings. Medical educators need to communicate science in understandable ways. Many well-trained clinicians must provide and advocate for evidence-based practices. State and federal policy makers must avoid industry advertising and fund safe, high-quality care for children. All of us must help to de-stigmatise children who are born or raised in disadvantage. Doing so will require profound changes in managing industry, reducing inequality, protecting family life, improving education, providing high-quality health care to all children and addressing many other aspects of American culture.
Is this situation just an American tragedy? Some European countries do protect families, fund education and social services for all, and prevent the intrusions of industry on health policy more effectively than the U.S. But the abdication of ethical responsibility for disadvantaged children by government in the U.S. should portend danger for other countries. We all share responsibility for vulnerable children who cannot protect themselves.
Acknowledgement
None.
Financial support
None.
Conflict of interest
None.
References
McLaren, JL, Barnett, ER, Concepcion Zayas, MT, Lichtenstein, J, Acquilano, SC, Schwartz, LM, Woloshin, S and Drake, RE (2018). Psychotropic medications for highly vulnerable children. Expert Opinion in Pharmacotherapy 19, 547–560.Google Scholar
Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). Treatment Planning and Medication Monitoring Were Lacking for Children in Foster Care Receiving Psychotropic Medication. oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-15-00380.asp.Google Scholar
Hmmm here’s a question for the kids survey - Do you fell free to speak your mind during class or do you feel that your teachers will vilify you if you don’t conform?
Hi I made a post with some information I thought would be valuable to anyone interested in civil rights or systematic programs Please Please please restack this information; It's all about conformation, these mental health programs are also supportive of intrafamial abuse, and overmedicating and polyfarmcy against children in traumatized situations- exploiting them.
https://cepp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Key-Considerations-for-Reunifying-Adult-Sex-Offenders-and-their-Families-2005.pdf
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/overmedicating-vulnerable-children-in-the-us/427175066064714EDDD9F37D44DA0F45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqGysBhYxvQ
Love this. My wife is a high school teacher and when I told her what was in “Bad Therapy” she said, “I see it everyday.”
Also, as a counselor, it’s not supposed to be this way. It’s just not. But the industry (especially the APA) is ideologically captured.
I feel for your wife having to work in a system like this; but it does make me feel better that there are still teachers out there that see through it.
Biden said the quiet part out loud "They're all our children... they're not somebody else's children; they're like yours when they're in the classroom". State control of kids = control of fearful parents, straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
Yeah, and Biden did such a great job with his own children.
How ‘bout we have the teachers and administrators take some seriously intensive psychological screening before we allow them anywhere near our kids? They’re the ones who need it!!
Keep your damn hands off our kids!!
You have no idea how many people in education and child welfare including psychiatry and therapy are actually mentally ill themselves or are into some sort of paedophilia. Projecting their own issues onto young people and then taking advantage of them over-examining them- being obsessive dehumanizing and cruel. While making it seem as if they are taking them "under their wings" as if they aren't trying to get innocent people who haven't committed any crimes humiliated or locked away while protecting their fellow child-abusers. Who are actually felons and criminals which is an actual illegal act of felony conspiracy.
Which is why they have to pretend to have "good intentions" in the first place and not all of the sadistic rage, disgust and anger they actually hold inside of themselves and are projecting onto innocent children. For what? To feel as if they are "educated" and "worthy" or "classy" it is pathetic, and they are proving how worthless they are.
Especially to hate on youth, and go out of your way to surveillance them like this as if they have personally attacked you.
I bet these same people would defend someone who has shown a child porn, or been caught with CSAM.
I show my kids THE LAND BEFORE TIME only not any sequels 😞
It used to be a standing joke that college kids taking Psych 101, or worse yet Abnormal Psych or the like, would tend to self-diagnose themselves with any number of the conditions they were learning about in class or read about in the textbook. But no one took those “diagnoses” seriously. The world has changed, and not for the better.
Yes! The phenomenon of iatrogenesis. My Abnormal Psych professor warned and joked about it and said it’s a phenomenon among medical students studying disease and conditions too.
When your problems are someone else’s bread and butter, bad things tend to happen more often than you’d expect
When your problems are someone else’s bread and butter…don’t expect the solution to be in your favor
I agree. My mom thought I was suicidal when I was a teenager just because my poems were deep. Thanks goodness she didn’t throw me into counseling.
Todays western bureaucrats, teachers, and school administrators:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C.S.Lewis.
Am I wrong? Don't they believe that they are doing this for our own good? Don't they know what is best for our children? Doesn't it "take a village," as Hillary told us?
I’m so glad so many people can see that this is tyrannic and built to take away kids abilities to problem solve and feel negative emotions
“mental health” will make them brain dead to reality and dependent on drugs for every issue in life- while letting adults who are taking advantage of them get away with it and force the child to accept their opinions, rights, mistreatment, or forcibly conformed into strange ideologies, or even sex abuse as “deserved or imagined”.
It is nothing more than a way to be predatory towards young kids and exploit them, for money, for a superiority complex, for a lack of individualistic thinking.
Please download and share these articles; copy print & save
https://cepp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Key-Considerations-for-Reunifying-Adult-Sex-Offenders-and-their-Families-2005.pdf
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/overmedicating-vulnerable-children-in-the-us/427175066064714EDDD9F37D44DA0F45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqGysBhYxvQ
The Pritzker Family is behind much of the trans funding.
yes, they are. "Jennifer"/ John Pritzker, the Illinois Governor's trans brother, pushes the transagenda hard and has given millions... including a trans " chair" position at a particular University. They sell medical devices.
The Pritzkers are awful.
Of course they are...one of the cousins has transitioned
And Jennifer Pritzker is trans.
All makes sense now. 🙄
Wikipedia says he was called James Nicholas Pritzker.
Couldn’t agree with you more! This is so incredibly harmful!
That questionnaire will undoubtedly put thoughts of suicide in more kids heads than the number of kids it will ever save. How absolutely appalling.
Asking someone if they are thinking about suicide does not make them suicidal.
https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2021/atp-normalize-talking-about-suicide#:~:text=I%20do%20not%20want%20to,when%20a%20warning%20sign%20appears.
Brilliant. I saw this all the time as a middle school teacher.
Abigail is a heroine of our times. (I would instead require of American schoolchildren that they memorize the Ten Commandments and The Pledge of Allegiance. Also: Parents must guarantee regular outdoor playtime for their children--as well as dedicate a certain number of hours per week that they spend directly involved in activities with their children.)
Bravo, exactly what is needed less screen time and more time in the sun!
The annual wellness checks are now mental health screening and filling prescriptions or physical areas of concern can only happen at a sick visit (adults also). The questions don’t offer accurate choices. For instance, you can’t answer that you are rarely anxious. You have to choose between extremes and sometimes. So never, sometimes, or always. How is this helpful? You have to coach the kids to say never because sometimes is a red flag, but never is also untrue for all humans. Insurance is collecting information about issues you don’t care about and having you pay a copay for health issues that actually matter.
As a psychiatrist, I am temperamentally inclined to want to see people who might need professional help get properly diagnosed and successfully treated. However, I must admit that I agree with all of the points you have elucidated in this essay.
Anyone who has ever had kids or been around kids knows how suggestible they are. This is the type of ridiculousness that led me to send my kids to private/Catholic school. But the ones who will be the most harmed by this are those who cannot afford to do the same. Why are we more focused on creating problems than on solving real ones — like improving reading and math scores and giving these young people a true shot at a good future?
Considering everyone by now must know that all of those medications have side-effects which make anger, erraticism,
and increase depression yet they still want children who's brain's aren't even developed fully to "receive your help" for medications killing them says a lot about this system and those who support it they want to rage out and feel disgust for kids and feel superior to them by making them seem mentally ill for anger issues or sadness or normal angst.. Power-hungry insecure people.
They are actually mentally ill for targeting youth so much younger than they are to bully and degrade and disparage.
This is commonly used against toddlers who have experienced trauma and throw tantrums- or even simply do nothing at all. People are exploiting vulnerable children using this system- they are calling babies psychotic.
This is also used against sex offense victims to protect the offenders.
I’m so glad so many people can see that this is tyrannic and built to take away kids abilities to problem solve and feel negative emotions
“mental health” will make them brain dead to reality and dependent on drugs for every issue in life- while letting adults who are taking advantage of them get away with it and force the child to accept their opinions, rights, mistreatment, or forcibly conformed into strange ideologies, or even sex abuse as “deserved or imagined”.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO MENTION THAT THEY HAVE BEEN LOCKING 2 AND 3 YEAR OLDS IN MENTAL HOSPITALS FOR DECADES!!!!!!!!
Considering everyone by now must know that all of those medications have side-effects which make anger, erraticism,
and increase depression yet they still want children who's brain's aren't even developed fully to "receive your help" for medications killing them says a lot about this system and those who support it they want to rage out and feel disgust for kids and feel superior to them by making them seem mentally ill for anger issues or sadness or normal angst.. Power-hungry insecure people.
They are actually mentally ill for targeting youth so much younger than they are to bully and degrade and disparage.
It is nothing more than a way to be predatory towards young kids and exploit them, for money, for a superiority complex, for a lack of individualistic thinking.
It's all about conformation, these mental health programs are also supportive of intrafamial abuse, and overmedicating and polyfarmcy against children in traumatized situations- exploiting them.
Please download and share these articles; copy print & save
https://cepp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Key-Considerations-for-Reunifying-Adult-Sex-Offenders-and-their-Families-2005.pdf
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/epidemiology-and-psychiatric-sciences/article/overmedicating-vulnerable-children-in-the-us/427175066064714EDDD9F37D44DA0F45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqGysBhYxvQ
Consider this. Now that I've collected the stories and testimonies of 73 trans widows, women who divorced a suddenly demanding, suddenly full-time crossdressing husband, I've become aware of the mental health disaster of the children these narcissists fathered. With 37 children in the offspring cohort, some still too young to have a fully expressed reaction, the frequency of suicidal ideation is 7 of them, with 4 requiring hospitalization after a serious attempt. Yes, this is a small sample. But no one else is looking at this. In my own therapy for PTSD that included cardiac-mimicking symptoms (now much relieved by my program of movement, helping other trans widows and gardening) I was often asked if I had thoughts of suicide. I had to fill out a form before every appointment and repeat my replies before any therapy commenced. Oddly, the therapy involved the mind-training of cognitive behavior therapy, which is learning to think about something else! Here's a window into the healing movement series I developed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnlaASFJkh0&list=PLOFlPPQm71Ii-l-xoAlBZc5Iy9xZyfbUY&index=10
Overmedicating vulnerable children in the U.S
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 November 2018
Robert E. Drake
Show author details
Article
Metrics
Save PDF
Share
Cite
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[Opens in a new window]
Abstract
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Keywords
Adolescents
behaviour problems
child psychiatry
psychotropic drugs
Information
Type
Editorials in This Issue
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 358 - 359
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796018000689[Opens in a new window]
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018
Recent news reports in the U.S. have decried the separation of immigrant children from their families seeking asylum and the subsequent use of powerful psychotropic medications without consent. But this egregious offense may be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of overmedicating vulnerable children in the U.S. A recent report by the Office of Inspector General (2018) describes widespread overuse of psychotropic medications with vulnerable children in foster care settings. Further, many of these children did not receive treatment planning or medication monitoring that was required by States, and States did not always require that practitioners follow guidelines from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
The following two essays suggest that overuse of psychotropic medications for children in the U.S. is even more widespread. Overuse, or inappropriate use, includes polypharmacy and use of powerful antipsychotic medications for unapproved conditions. Many children are vulnerable. Not only children in foster care but also those with developmental disabilities, those living with families in distress (e.g. families affected by the widespread opioid epidemic), those in the juvenile justice system, those in residential treatment programmes, those who are homeless, those who have psychiatric problems such as depression and suicidality, those who have trauma histories, and many others are at risk for overuse of medications. How many children are vulnerable in these ways is uncertain, but the proportion may be 20% or more (McLaren et al., Reference McLaren, Barnett, Concepcion Zayas, Lichtenstein, Acquilano, Schwartz, Woloshin and Drake2018).
Why are so many children overmedicated? The crux of the matter is this: American culture, including institutions of all kinds, does not protect vulnerable children. The U.S. does not have universal health care, does not support family leave during pregnancy and early childhood, does not have sufficient day care, does not provide equal access to educational opportunities, and does not have accessible, evidence-based, mental health services for children with behavioural difficulties. Thus, children who develop intellectual, emotional, social, learning or behavioural difficulties, unless they have the good fortune of birth to parents with resources, may be considered problems to be controlled rather than fragile human beings worthy of care and protection. While health care and education advocates are relatively weak, the advertising, pharmaceutical, illicit drug, tobacco and unhealthy food industries are powerful and prey on vulnerable children. Moreover, many of these children have no closely involved parents to participate in medical decisions, and many States do not fulfil their oversight responsibilities. In the absence of such protections, the net result is overmedication to control the behaviour of children who have many reasons to manifest difficult behaviours. These vulnerable children need comprehensive care to address the social determinants of poor health as well as comprehensive treatments. Instead, they receive too many medications to control disruptive behaviour and do not receive evidence-based, psychosocial treatments and social services for specific conditions. Tragically, we keep re-discovering that medical solutions for social problems are very expensive and very ineffective.
Used in adults, individual psychotropic medications are often helpful but have significant and sometimes enduring, deleterious side effects, including metabolic, neurologic, physiologic and cognitive problems. For example, adults on antipsychotic medications commonly develop obesity, diabetes and heart disease – serious side effects that are difficult to reverse and decrease longevity. Multiple medications often fail to create synergy but nearly always create additive side effects.
For children, the research and lack of research are more worrisome. Efficacy has usually not been demonstrated: most of the common uses of psychotropic medications in children are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Even more concerning, the potential harms of psychotropic medications in children are legion. The short-term side effects include all of the syndromes seen in adults, often in more severe forms. Children's cerebral, anatomical, physiological, endocrine and other physical features are developing. Similarly, their behaviours, emotions, and social skills and relationships are still evolving with experience. Therefore, the developmental ramifications of overmedication are sometimes dramatic and expansive. For example, an adolescent gaining 40 pounds due to medications suffers psychological, social and emotional distress as well as physiological and endocrine consequences. The long-term effects of most medications on children's metabolism, neurologic function and other systems are largely unknown, because the few existing trials have been short-term studies of one medicine for one specific disorder, not long-term studies of the polypharmacy for mixed conditions that occurs regularly in routine care. Further, the medications are often maintained for months or years without appropriate monitoring of side effects and without government oversight.
The following essays offer constructive directions for children, families, educators, clinicians, policy makers and researchers in the U.S. Each of these stakeholder groups could help. Children and families need better education and greater opportunities to participate in shared decision making. Researchers need to study real-world conditions: complex disorders, multiple interventions and stressful settings. Medical educators need to communicate science in understandable ways. Many well-trained clinicians must provide and advocate for evidence-based practices. State and federal policy makers must avoid industry advertising and fund safe, high-quality care for children. All of us must help to de-stigmatise children who are born or raised in disadvantage. Doing so will require profound changes in managing industry, reducing inequality, protecting family life, improving education, providing high-quality health care to all children and addressing many other aspects of American culture.
Is this situation just an American tragedy? Some European countries do protect families, fund education and social services for all, and prevent the intrusions of industry on health policy more effectively than the U.S. But the abdication of ethical responsibility for disadvantaged children by government in the U.S. should portend danger for other countries. We all share responsibility for vulnerable children who cannot protect themselves.
Acknowledgement
None.
Financial support
None.
Conflict of interest
None.
References
McLaren, JL, Barnett, ER, Concepcion Zayas, MT, Lichtenstein, J, Acquilano, SC, Schwartz, LM, Woloshin, S and Drake, RE (2018). Psychotropic medications for highly vulnerable children. Expert Opinion in Pharmacotherapy 19, 547–560.Google Scholar
Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). Treatment Planning and Medication Monitoring Were Lacking for Children in Foster Care Receiving Psychotropic Medication. oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-15-00380.asp.Google Scholar