Anyone watch "Medicated Child" on Frontline PBS

[Eurobabe]

All I can say is, wow. Unbelievable. Some kids as young as 3 on 4-5 different kinds of medication. And no one knows what the side effects of these meds on young children are long-term.

Many of the parents of these children, have mothers that are very overweight -- I suggest perhaps the medical community start really checking the thyroid functions of these kids, maybe there is a metabolic disorder behind? The thyroid controls everything in the body, yet it is often the last thing considered.

:shrug:

[Arkansas Granny]

1. I watched and found it to be very disturbing on many levels.

First of all, can it be possible that so many children need to be medicated in order to deal with everyday life? If so, what has happened to make this necessary? Perhaps more study needs to be done to find out the causes instead of just treating the symptoms. I am really afraid that we have been sucessfully conditioned by big pharma that the answer to all our problems is to just take a pill. There seems to be no effort to understand what causes this behavior.

[Sticky]

2. As a foster parent I see this a lot.

Kids come into care with a bag full of RX bottles and looking like zombies. It's so sad when kids have to take meds for behaviour issues and many of my kids are off drugs after a few weeks or months of living in a balanced environment. But kids who have learning disabilities really need medications to help them concentrate. I used to be so anti-drug for kids with problems thinking (judging) it was an escape for parents but I have completely changed my thinking since adopting a child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He is the sweetest, most sincere and happy child on the planet but he cannot sit and concentrate. He needs a visual calendar to get himself ready for school and needs a stimulant to help him pay attention in the classroom. He'll never be okay, FASD is permanent brain damage.

[Eurobabe]

4. Yes, my daughter is a budding art therapist

she is finishing her MA this semester, and does clinicals with foster children. The current level of medicating kids is unacceptable. I mean, we are talking about the most vulnerable section of our population. Bipolar at 3? :wtf:

Methinks the only ones gaining from this are the big pharma companies.

[flashl]

3. K&R n/t

[DemExpat]

5. I'd call it a crime if I didn't know that it was parents and medical

doctors doing this to children, so done by those with the most "credibility" and "best interests" of the child in mind!
As choice of treatment for behavioral problems without exhausting others, I find it very disturbing.

:puke:

DemEx

[DemExpat]

6. Here is Frontline page:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/etc/synopsis.html

[Eurobabe]

7. thanks for the link, the program might be online by now

:hi: