44 Psychiatrists now misdiagnose and overmedicate children for ordinary defiance and misbehavior.
There has been a staggering increase in recent years in the percentage of children being treated with psychiatric medica tions for bipolar disorder, atten tion-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other psychosocial problems.
But in many cases, the children have been misdiagnosed, according to a lead ing expert.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in one year, almost 20 percent of visits to a pediatri cian were for psychosocial problems, and the Food and Drug Administration disclosed that some 10.8 million pre scriptions were dispensed for children.
Around 2.5 million children ages 4 to 17 are taking medication for the ADHD syndrome alone. The FDA reports that between 1999 and 2003, 19 children died after taking the prescription amphetamines that are used to treat ADHD, and the number of prescriptions writ ten to provide those drugs rose 500 per cent from 1991 to 2000.
Psychiatrists now misdiagnose and overmedicate chil dren for ordinary defiance and misbe havior.Temper tantrums are increas ingly being characterized as psychiatric illnesses, according to a child and adolescent psychia trist in California, Doctors are justifying the sedation of difficult kids with powerful psychiatric drugs that may have serious, per manent, or even lethal side effects.
Some psychia trists believe the sharp increase in childhood psy chiatric disease could be due to improved diagnostic techniques.
The increase in prescribing medications to children results from the widespread use of youthful distance or psychosocial disorder. Misdiagnosis of ordinary childhood tantrums benefits doctors, teachers, school, and parents but leaves stigmatized children with potentially dangerous medical side effects.
Unfortunately, when a child is diag nosed with a mental illness, almost everyone benefits. Schools get more funding, teachers enjoy quieter classrooms, and parents aren't held accountable for their poor parenting practices "because they have the perfect excuse. The only loser in this equation is the child, who must endure the side effects of these powerful drugs and be unnecessarily labeled with a mental ill ness.
The solution, Consci entious medicine that is careful, thor ough, and patient-centered.
