Stories, research, and opinions about the over-medication of children with ADHD are plentiful. Many parents (and some who are not parents) accuse the medical community of misdiagnosing kids who are really just being kids. Judith Warner used to be one of those people, until she started doing some research of her own.

Warner, the author of We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication, wrote about her findings in a March 23 article on the CNN website:

Surveys and statistics showed that the story of over-diagnosis and overmedication was wrong; 5 percent of children in America take psychotropic medication, while 5 to 20 percent are estimated to have mental health issues. The vast majority of those in need of help never get any care at all. ...

Interviews with about 100 parents and doctors showed that rather than rushing to pathologize and medicate their kids, parents did all they could to avoid "labeling" their children and put off using medication -- if they used it at all -- until they really were desperate.

What these interviews showed above all is that for parents and children (and grown children) dealing with mental health issues, life is complicated, unsure and filled with unanswered questions that can't be addressed by gross generalizations about the "medicated child" in our time.

Labels: medications

Posted By: Aspen/CRC