Integrating analyses of clinical, political, historical, educational, social, economic, and legal aspects of ADHD and stimulant pharmacotherapy, Mayes and colleagues argue that a unique alignment of social and economic factors converged in the early 1990s with greater scientific knowledge to make ADHD the most prevalent pediatric mental disorder.
Parents in our culture today are bombarded by "experts" offering "tools," "programs," diagnoses," treatments" and medications. Why doesn't any of it seem to help our children act and feel better? With this book parents will learn: . Children's brains are wired from conception through adolescence to need certain parenting and educational conditions that are different from almost everything that we have grown up with or have learned from our culture. . What people in peaceful tribal cultures have known about parenting and education for millennia . How to heal their children's mental health, behavioral and learning problems at the root causes, resulting in genuine improvements in family happiness. "Instead of Medicating and Punishing" is for parents of children of all ages, from pregnancy through late adolescence. It is for parents of children who have mild, moderate or severe mental health, learning or behavioral problems and also addresses the special needs of adoptive children.
This book exposes the skyrocketing rate of antipsychotic drug prescriptions for children, identifies grave dangers when children's mental health care is driven by market forces, describes effective therapeutic care for children typically prescribed antipsychotics, and explains how to navigate a drug-fueled mental health system. Since 2001, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of antipsychotics to treat children for an ever-expanding list of symptoms. The prescription rate for toddlers, preschoolers, and middle-class children has doubled, while the prescribing rate for low-income children covered by Medicaid has quadrupled. In a majority of cases, these drugs are neither FDA-approved nor justified by research for the children's conditions. This book examines the reasons behind the explosion of antipsychotic drug prescriptions for children, spotlighting the historical and cultural factors as well as the role of the pharmaceutical industry in this trend; and discusses the ethical and legal responsibilities and ramifications for non-MDs—psychologists in particular—who work with children treated with antipsychotics. Contributors explain how the pharmaceutical industry has inserted itself into every step of medical education, rendering objectivity in the scientific understanding, use, and approvals of such drugs impossible. The text describes the relentless marketing behind the drug sales, even going as far as to provide coloring and picture books for children related to the drug at issue. Valuable information about legal recourse that families and therapists can take when their children or patients have been harmed by antipsychotic drugs and alternative approaches to working with children with emotional and behavioral challenges is also provided.
A surprising new look at the rise of ADHD in America, arguing for a better paradigm for diagnosing and treating our children In 1987, only 3 percent of American children were diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. By 2000, that number jumped to 7 percent, and in 2014 the number rose to an alarming 11 percent. To combat the disorder, two thirds of these children, some as young as three years old, are prescribed powerful stimulant drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to help them cope with symptoms. Meanwhile, ADHD rates have remained relatively low in other countries such as France, Finland, and the United Kingdom, and Japan, where the number of children diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD is a measly 1 percent or less. Alarmed by this trend, family therapist Marilyn Wedge set out to understand how ADHD became an American epidemic. If ADHD were a true biological disorder of the brain, why was the rate of diagnosis so much higher in America than it was abroad? Was a child's inattention or hyperactivity indicative of a genetic defect, or was it merely the expression of normal behavior or a reaction to stress? Most important, were there alternative treatments that could help children thrive without resorting to powerful prescription drugs? In an effort to answer these questions, Wedge published an article in Psychology Today entitled "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD" in which she argued that different approaches to therapy, parenting, diet, and education may explain why rates of ADHD are so much lower in other countries. In A Disease Called Childhood, Wedge examines how myriad factors have come together, resulting in a generation addictied to stimulant drugs, and a medical system that encourages diagnosis instead of seeking other solutions. Writing with empathy and dogged determination to help parents and children struggling with an ADHD diagnosis, Wedge draws on her decades of experience, as well as up-to-date research, to offer a new perspective on ADHD. Instead of focusing only on treating symptoms, she looks at the various potential causes of hyperactivity and inattention in children and examines behavioral and environmental, as opposed to strictly biological, treatments that have been proven to help. In the process, Wedge offers parents, teachers, doctors, and therapists a new paradigm for child mental health--and a better, happier, and less medicated future for American children
The Children's Mental Health Industry, like any other industry, is built on stakeholders, products, and consumers'and the institutional reach of drug makers is far deeper and wider than commonly understood. The past twenty years in particular have seen tremendous distortion of the health care system's ultimate and intended mission to reduce suffering, promote health and improve healthcares outcomes via carefully considered, scientifically based treatment. While having made wonderful advances, the pharmaceutical industry is guilty of rampant abuse in encouraging overmedication. Between 2009 and 2014, major pharmaceutical manufacturers were fined more than $11 billion for illegal trade practices, many involving the illegal promotion of ?off-label? drug use, which is what killed my son. I was surprised to learn that atypical antipsychotics as a drug class, at $16 billion in annual sales, are now second in sales only to cancer drugs. Also, many of the recipients are under eighteen years old, a population for which many of these drugs have never received explicit FDA approval, but they are prescribed at a doctor's discretion under a loosely structured methodology called off-label prescribing.During that same time, due to the increasing dependence on medication, there has been a dramatic reduction in other forms of therapy -- especially psychotherapy and counseling. In fact there is an inverse relationship -- the more medication, the less non-medication approaches. You would expect, then, that this trend would be supported by results indicating that our children are getting healthier. The unfortunate fact, however, is just the opposite -- and will continue to worsen as long as the unjustified drug-orientation continues to be eagerly supported by psychiatrists, insurance companies, drug companies as well as school systems.I hope in writing Overmedicated and Undertreated and sharing my son's story there will be the emotional hook to help galvanize minds around this increasingly issue of over-medication and under-treatment. This is a cautionary tale that serves as a powerful illustration of the damaging and deeply institutionalized conflicts of interest begging for reform in our toxic Children's Mental Health Industry. Please go to OvermedicatedandUndertreated.com for more information
ADHD in children and adolescents is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is recognized by the clinicians all over the world. ADHD is a clinical diagnosis based on reliable history, reports from home and school and a physical examination to rule out any other underlying medical conditions. ADHD can cause low self-esteem in the child and impair quality of life for the child and the family. It is known that ADHD is a chronic illness and that clinicians needed to use chronic illness principles in treating it. The last 10 years have seen an increase in the number of medications that have been approved for the treatment of ADHD. This book has tried to address some of the issues in ADHD.
Over Medicating Our Youth provides knowledge for parents, educators, and physicians to consider the etiology or causation of behavioral conditions before medicating children with psychiatric and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms. The prescribing of stimulant and psychiatric medications prior to ruling out nutritional, physiological, and environmental causation for behavioral conditions requires reform. This book provides guidance for parents, educators, and physicians to utilize effective alternative treatments plans as well as assessments prior to prematurely medicating children. The recent United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) Child Foster Care report uncovered the injustice of overmedicating children with ADD stimulant and psychiatric drugs. The GAO report proves that a positive change in the treatment of childhood behavioral conditions should involve a more comprehensive assessment as to the causation of behavioral symptoms.
When Running on Ritalin was published in 1998 it touched off a firestorm about treating children with psychiatric drugs. Dr. Lawrence Diller established himself as the leading expert on the controversial use of stimulants for attention deficit disorder. Since then, parents, physicians, teachers and psychologists, have clamored for his expertise on psychological problems beyond ADD and on drugs beyond Ritalin. More and more parents are asking the simple question: Should I medicate my child? The answer is not as simple as some "experts" say. Children who are angry, intense, distractible, over-energetic, obsessive, shy, listless, or remote rarely benefit from an either/or strategy. Unlike those with a strong pro- or anti-drug agenda, Dr. Diller advocates a balanced approach; he shows how a wise pediatrician -- one who prescribes drugs but also urges non-pharmaceutical interventions when possible -- makes decisions. Should I Medicate My Child? empowers parents to ask the same questions Dr. Diller poses in diagnosis and treatment: Have all non-drug approaches been tried? Is the diagnosis accurate? What's known (or unknown) about the recommended drug? Calmly comforting, authoritative, and illustrated with real-life examples, Should I Medicate My Child? is essential reading for parents who have been told their preschooler should be "tested" for a disorder, whose fifth-grader has been prescribed Prozac or Depakote, or whose teenager has been diagnosed with a "chemical imbalance." Should I Medicate My Child? features a detailed, easy-to-access Appendix of Frequently Prescribed Drugs -- what they do, side effects, dosages, and more. Should I Medicate My Child? answers parents' vital questions: * Is it fair to discipline my hyperactive child if he can't help himself when he misbehaves? Choosing the right kind of discipline is essential. Often the time-honored "time-out" is not the best choice. * The psychiatrist says the medication he's prescribing is "safe." How can I know if that's true? Dr. Diller's detailed Appendix includes little-known information on how (or if) a drug has actually been tested on children. * Does it make good sense to use medication right away? Dr. Diller explains why this can sometimes be the best course of action. * My pediatrician says there are drugs that will help my shy six year old be more outgoing. Is this true? Prescribing drugs for withdrawn children is a risky business. Dr. Diller explains why and offers alternatives to help ease their distress.
Treating ADHD/ADD in Children and Adolescents: Solutions for Parents and Clinicians was written for parents, clinicians, and teachers to learn a deeper understanding of ADHD and implement specific, clear, and effective ways to successfully evaluate and treat ADHD problems at home and school. Readers will learn not only research-based and traditional approaches for treating ADHD, but also proven newer and alternative methods. This book provides the tools for readers to feel more informed and competent in addressing the many challenges that children and adolescents with ADHD experience. Whether new or previously exposed to ADHD, readers should find the information to be very useful and effective in transforming ADHD. This book is comprehensive in addressing the complete range of challenges that ADHD presents to children, teens, and families, including accurately diagnosing ADHD and identifying the frequent co-existing conditions, better understandings of the condition, powerful parental behavioral management skills for home and school difficulties, ways to improve family and peer challenges, enhancing homework and learning problems, obtaining appropriate school services and addressing classroom issues, better partnerships with physicians for effective ADHD medication treatments, and utilizing a number of additional and alternative approaches to decrease and treat ADHD. The book has three main aims. The first is to provide a deeper understanding of ADHD. Without accurate perspectives, families may not address the difficulties and challenges appropriately, and treatment approaches may not be as successful or can fail. The second goal is to learn the fundamentals about managing and treating the many ADHD challenges at home and school. The third is for readers to learn a number of additional and alternative approaches to help treat ADHD symptoms and challenges. Some of these proven approaches are newer, while others have a history of effectiveness.
