The medicated child is an eye opener to me, unfortunately, in a negative way. I feel sad for those psychiatrists since they are lack of the tools to accurately diagnose bipolar disorder in kids. I feel sad for those parents because they believe their kids having mental problems and they are willing to put their kids on medicine. I feel sad for those kids since they are treated as experimental mice, trying medicines with little information that the medicine would work for them.
Psychology is to me a tricky subject. I believe everyone in his/her life would more or less have some mental problems. That’s why we have all kinds of counseling professionals, supporting groups. Kids are developing physically and mentally. For a 3-4-year-old, I don’t think their brain is wired well, not to mention functions. They are very resilient and open to change all the time. It’s not difficult to find that a shy boy becomes very talkative and social, or vice versa. In the video, I see 3-year-old Jacob behaved like a 3-year-old, nothing abnormal at all. Really have no idea how come he had ADHD (how can you expect a 3-year-old to focus on something for more than 30 minutes? It’s unreasonable). By treating his ADHD, he started to take medicine, which led to his anxiety. So he was on more medications and resulted in more problems. It’s unbelievable a 10-year-old had to take about 8-9 drugs to stabilize his mood. Similar things happened to DJ, the 4-year-old kid. It is ridiculous that the doctor increased the amount of his medicine when the purpose of his visit was to decrease the medicine he took. Jessica was a tragedy. She was not happy. Even when she was singing, I see no joy at all. It’s like she was acting in front of the camera. Jacob and Jessica are good examples that psychiatric medications damage kids, transforming normal kids into mentally disabled ones. I don’t believe medication is the only effective way to manage mental disorders of young kids. Maybe medicines can change the neurotransmitter in the brain and make the person who takes it feel better. But its long term benefits are questionable. Apparently based on the video, the long term effects, if any, would be masked by side effects and toxicity of the medicine.
Apart from the fact that more research about the effects of those psychiatric drugs on kids is needed, more research about the psychological development of young kids is also critical. I agree that genetic component is one of the factors for the development of certain mental disorders. But environmental influence should not be ignored, especially when it could play a crucial role. I think being labeled as mentally ill would also have negative impact on the normal development of a young person. For example, either Jacob or DJ in the video had been trained to rely on doctors and medicines unless they didn’t want to feel controllable.
In a nutshell, it is a thought provoking video. I feel sorry for those kids whose happiness have been deprived by those medicines. What’s worse is that they are addicted to the medicine which made their mental status even worse. Long term effects of psychiatric drugs are problematic (I believe it could make normal people crazy). It is the challenge for psychology field to develop diagnosis criteria specifically for kids and diverse management strategies instead of relying heavily on drugs, which I think psychiatrists should change their minds in the first place. Apparently, a team work including parents, teachers, physicians, psychotherapists and psychiatrists is needed.
First I would thank you for being supportive all the time, no matter I was happy or sad;
Second, I would thank you for visiting my blog and sharing your thoughts with me honestly and openly.My blog may not be fun but I hope it is educational.
Psychology is interesting though I would not take it as my major. We need to talk, to share, to be encouraged in our life in order to be mentally fit. You are not a licensed psychotherapist, but you sometimes play the role to me. So keep going!
Thanks for whatever you have given me! :-)
祝一個愉快的感恩節.