The rise of psychiatric drugs for kids
Posted by Lance Gravlee on January 14th, 2008 |
Last week, the PBS series Frontline aired its latest documentary, The Medicated Child. The program starts from the fact that some six million children in the United States are taking psychiatric drugs, yet we know very little about how these drugs work in children or how they affect developing brains.
It’s a remarkable—and often frightening—story that some aspiring medical anthropologist ought to write a dissertation about. Among the issues that deserve attention are the medicalization of normal childhood behavior, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry in child psychiatry, and the biological consequences of prescribing drugs that were not designed for kids.
You can watch the full program online. What other questions does it raise for you?
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I didn’t watch the video because I’m pressed for time right now. However, I have my own opinions on medication and children, or anybody else for that matter. Being a anthropology major who plans on going into psychology for graduate school-child psychology was one of the fields I was considering-I am heavily against medication. I believe that most problems are not biologically based; they are secondary problems. However, everyone has become so hell bent on making money (including some of the psychiatrist) that they start getting tunnel vision and can now oly see one thing, potential for money. I’m not saying all psychiatrist are money hungry scientist, however, I think they have lost sight of their purpose due to society’s ‘want results now’ attitude and pharmaceutical company’s ‘we got the results’ slogan. This just ends up leaving the patients frustrated because they are pumped up on drugs that have horrible side effects and their problems (in some cases) still persist. Meanwhile the doctor is getting paid for each visit and the pharmaceutical company is profiting for increasing use of their medication.
Children, especially, are very delicate and complex. When did it become all right to pump children with lithium just because they are having problems adjusting at a new school. There are children out there who have some serious psychological issues and who may indeed need medication. However, there need to be a better definition of what serious psychological issues imply. It seems as if you go in with one problem and come out with lithium, zoloft, xanax, upset stomeach, liver disease, cariac irregularity, and severe migraine. As you can tell I am not an avid fan of medication to be used as primary treatment for psychological problems. That may be the anthropologist speaking. However, to me using medication is like what Farmer discussed in his book; it’s like sticking a bandage over a sore. It might stop it from bleeding temporarily but the sore is still sitting there festering.
I know that this isn’t exactly pertaining to this blog, but I thought that any students who stop by would be interested to learn that Stephen Lewis is coming to speak at UF!
FORMER UN SPECIAL ENVOY TO SPEAK AT UF
Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World and a former UN Special
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, will speak at the University of Florida on
Thursday, April 3. Mr. Lewis will discuss the role of universities in
the global access to essential medicines. This event is sponsored by the
organization Universities Allied for Essential Medicines as part of an
ongoing campaign for the adoption of humanitarian technology licensing
practices at the University of Florida. Mr. Lewis will speak from 6:00
to 8:00 pm in the Ocora Room, Bob Graham Center for Public Service, Pugh
Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611. This event is free and
open to the public.
Mr. Lewis is the co-director of AIDS-Free World
(www.aids-freeworld.org), an advocacy organization that grew out of his
conviction that the AIDS pandemic can be defeated with better leadership
and more urgent and effective responses from the UN, wealthy nations and
the governments of the most affected countries. He is the author of Race
Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa. Mr. Lewis was
the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa from 2001 to 2006; and his extensive career in the fields of diplomacy,
politics, activism and humanitarian work include roles as Deputy
Executive Director of UNICEF and Canadian Ambassador to the UN.
Internationally recognized for his forthright and often provocative
analyses of the AIDS crisis, Mr. Lewis has earned the respect and
admiration of fans and critics for his painfully honest accounts of the
African pandemic and the industrialized nations’ woefully
inadequate responses.
If you would like more information please call Michael Huber at (305) 989-0791 or Gloria
Tavera at (407) 625-2085 or email grtavera@ufl.edu
I hope you don’t mind, Dr. Gravlee! When I joined UAEM, this class is the first thing that was on my mind!
-Ashley