From The British Psychological Society: “C.O.P.E. [Campaign against the Over-prescription of Psychiatric drugs in Education] is a group of child mental health professionals…[whose] primary aim is to change public policy in key areas of child and adolescent mental health…an attempt to initiate this change was made as part of the consultation process for the new NICE [National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] Guidelines.
The BPS requested that NICE should consider recommending a ban on medicating children with psycho-stimulants who are under the age of five years old…Our C.O.P.E. mission statement clearly articulates our collective beliefs well and includes this area of policy:
We share the view that a caring and morally mindful society must better safeguard children by allowing them to develop their unique personalities and behaviours without a first response to prescribe psychiatric drugs for their behavioural difficulties.
We especially believe that children under the age of five should not be prescribed psychiatric drugs if their behaviour is the only concern.
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Please help us to better safeguard children, which is our shared primary duty, and challenge the inappropriate use of psychiatric drugs in the young by signing the petition and supporting our objectives through professional discussions in mental health teams and childrensâ services.”
