Medicating children for behaviors

There is an interesting story in the Miami Herald today; interesting because this is my first post and the story discusses the most pressing issue I have found with children's health in the past 15 years. The disturbing trend of medicating children for behavioral difficulties, whether identified by the parents or the teacher, began in the 1970's with medications such as Ritalin for ADD or ADHD. I experienced this first hand as a Public School Health Nurse in 1985. At lunchtime, a line of small children started at my office (located in the main school office) and ran out the door, down the hall and around the corner. What were the children lined up for? In the words of several students I remember clearly, "I need my bad boy medicine", "I need my medicine so I can be good today", "I need you to call my mom to see if I had my bad girl medicine this morning". The recollection of these statements make me shudder even today, almost 25 years later. These youth of my memory are now adults, most likely with children of their own today. Each day, they lined up in front of the rest of the student body to receive the medication which, to their young minds, would make them be "good."

Today's Miami Herald story brings behavioral treatment into present day. The story reports a finding that 31% of all children in the Florida foster care system are being prescribed behavioral drugs. Today, however, those drugs are not limited to Ritalin. Today, as reported in the Herald and witnessed in my own practice, powerful antipsychotic drugs are prescribed for identified behavioral difficulties. Such medications include Risperdal, Seroquel, and Abilify. Even more alarming, these medications are being prescribed for children under the age of 6!

Please read the article in the Miami Herald today: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1086735.html

In my next post, I will discuss these medications in more detail, the black box warnings, and the permanent side effects of these medications.