Talking About Psych Diagnoses and Drugs: A Primer for Parents & Professionals

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Decades ago, a psychiatrist I respected greatly asked if I would meet with a young patient of his because he had no idea what was happening with the child or how to advise his parents. The parents brought the little boy, who was almost three years old, to my office and told me that he had never spoken but was happy and affectionate. They were beside themselves with worry because they believed that if their son were properly diagnosed, the solution to his silence would become clear. The many different professionals to whom they had taken him had suggested a variety of possible psychiatric labels, and the parents were especially afraid that he might be “autistic.” However, they had read the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and seen that he did not meet all of the requisite criteria for that label.

I spent some time taking a detailed history of the child from his mother and father, testing him as well as I could, and observing him carefully. Then I told the parents that they were right: He did not fit the DSM listing for autism. I also told them I had heard nothing in the history that might explain why he was not speaking, that I did not know of any certain way to get him to speak, that there was no way to predict whether or not he would eventually speak — and if he would, when that might be.

I had assumed that the parents would be upset by what I had told them, but their reaction was one of great relief. They replied that they had read everything they could find about his failure to speak and about “autism” but had not found anything that shed light on their child’s difficulty. They had therefore been dismayed when so many professionals tossed out various psychiatric labels and recommendations for treatment; they knew that the criteria for those labels failed to fit their child. So it was a good experience for them to hear from me that I did not know what was happening, either, because they were tired of people trying to pretend they did.

Shifting the Focus

I agreed and said that what was important was to look honestly at what could be known about a particular person and to think critically about relevant, high-quality research (where there is any) and about what else is known about the kinds of things that can be helpful. I added that it was important to monitor over time whether the suggested approaches are helpful and to be prepared to try other things if they are not.  Crucial to my thinking was my concern that much of what is called “treatment” is problem-focused rather than strength-focused and is pathologizing, which often adds new sources of trouble.

I discussed with these parents the importance of ensuring that their son would not come to feel frightened or ashamed about not speaking. Instead, I advised them to build on his strengths by continuing to interact lovingly and supportively with him and teaching him — in a way free from high pressure or panic — whatever he was capable of learning. I encouraged them to continue to provide him experiences of delight and to let him see the joy he inspired in them.

Unfortunately, I lost touch with this family, so I don’t know what became of the child. But my experience with them reinforced my belief in the importance of telling people the truth about what is and is not, or can and cannot, be known about their child. In this way, parents come to appreciate that labels and treatments offered by professionals in the fields of emotions and behavior are far from being grounded in hard science. The process of understanding what is troubling someone, and what can be done about it, needs to be imbued with as much thoughtfulness, critical thinking, and humanity as possible.

The Limits of Diagnosis

In the course of my consultation with that little boy’s family, I emphasized important points that I still tell every parent who asks me. These are documented at length in my book They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal.

  • Psychiatric categories are not based in solid science, as is widely promoted and believed. I learned this after serving for two years on committees that were creating the fourth edition of the DSM and had seen with my own eyes that the manual’s authors often ignored, distorted, and even lied about good scientific research if it failed to support what they chose to include or exclude. In addition, the authors often presented junk science as though it were good science if that could be used to support their decisions.
  • What qualifies as a “disorder” reflects DSM authors’ biases. Hundreds of categories of DSM disorders have been constructed by a small number of mostly white, male, American psychiatrists who shared many beliefs about what should and should not be called mental disorders. Their choices were akin to decisions about which celestial stars to “connect” to form constellations.
  • Psychiatric diagnosis is not reliable. It has been found that two therapists seeing the same patient have a high probability of giving that patient different DSM labels and that a single patient often got very different labels at points in treatment.
  • DSM labels have not been helpful in identifying the causes of distress or effective interventions. Human behavior has a multiplicity of determinants and is so complex that it is often impossible to know what caused a particular problem or difference, much less the appropriate response to it.

In other words, I explain that it is a myth that if someone just gets the right diagnosis, it will be clear which courses of action might be helpful in easing their suffering.

A troubling exception to this fact is that many school systems refuse to provide help to any child who needs it unless the child first receives a pathologizing diagnosis. For such situations, I advise parents that the reason for assigning a label is solely to get the child appropriate help and that they ought to do everything possible to assure their child that she or he is not “crazy” or “stupid.” This is a challenging task, given the damaging power of labels, but until we transform the system, it may be the best we can do.*

The Matter of Medication

Once a child receives a diagnosis, a prescription for drugs often follows. Two criteria always should be (but rarely are) met when any professional recommends any type of treatment:

  • If I recommend X, I should disclose both the full range of benefits and any adverse effects that X has been known to cause. When X is a drug, I should explain that many drug companies have been shown to conceal many adverse effects, so that they cannot be certain that they have unearthed all proof of possible harm.
  • If I recommend X, I should explain why and also present the entire range of approaches that have been shown to be helpful to at least some children with the kind of problem the parents are trying to address. These approaches should, of course, include the huge number that do not involve drugs. More than two dozen of these approaches, which are effective for both children and adults, can be viewed here.

As MIA’s Robert Whitaker scrupulously documented in Anatomy of an Epidemic, research from the National Institute of Mental Health and the World Health Organization, among others, has revealed that every psychiatric drug on the market helps some people for at least some period of time. Overall, however, it tends to harm more people than it helps. Parents should be made aware of these findings.

Moreover, it is vital for parents to understand that a great many doctors prescribe psychiatric drugs “off-label” — that is, without FDA approval for use in children and youth. This is particularly alarming, given that the FDA is often appallingly lax in the standards it sets for approving drugs even for adults.

Furthermore, very few long-term studies of drug effects have been performed, so the drugs’ effects on developing infants, children, and adolescents tend to be largely unknown. And the interactions between two drugs, much less among three or more, remain almost entirely unstudied.

In light of these serious problems, parents need to know that when children take psychotropic drugs, they effectively become “guinea pigs.” And this nearly always happens without parents’ knowledge or consent.

The Importance of Informed Consent

Many professionals who prescribe psychotropic medication often take the view that they should not alert parents or children about a drug’s possible negative effects. They often rationalize that if they tell patients or their families about the bad things that might happen, people may imagine that the drug is having those effects even when it is not. I believe this practice is deeply unethical, running counter to the principle of informed consent.

I often warn parents that when a child (or adult) is put on a psychiatric drug and does have an adverse reaction to it, many clinicians fail to consider that these experiences may be caused by the drug itself. Instead, the professional leaps to the conclusion that “This child is sicker than I thought!” Rather than withdrawing the drug or reducing the dosage, they often increase the dosage, add another drug (nearly always a more dangerous one), add a more serious psychiatric label to the child, or some combination of the above. I urge providers to rethink this practice and encourage parents to challenge any provider who acts this way and to insist that they fully explore the possibility of adverse reactions.

Empowering Parents

Parents can, of course, choose to have their child take one or more psychiatric drugs, but they should strive to be as fully informed as possible before making that (or any) choice about their child’s care. And again, professionals need to inform them that drug companies often conceal the negative effects of their products, so that fully-informed consent may not even be possible.

Parents have the right to ask providers for references to research about what they are recommending. I remind them that while they may not be a clinician or researcher themselves, they possess the ability and intelligence to read research reports and to think critically about their merits. If anything, the provider ought to offer to review the relevant research with them and guide them through this process. I also explain that if they are too intimidated by medical or scientific writing to go through that process, they can ask to be connected with someone who can assist them.

Granted, it isn’t easy to stand up to a doctor or other credentialed professional without some scientific evidence in hand. It would be wonderful if every high school student were taught the differences between research that is well-designed, well-executed, and responsibly interpreted and research that is poorly done. That would put parents in a better position to evaluate service providers’ recommendations.

Barring that, Mad in America’s Parent Resources section’s Drug Information pages offer summaries of the latest science on the major classes of psychoactive drugs prescribed to children and youth. The authors of that section also discuss non-drug approaches to the problems for which doctors typically prescribe them. (Editor’s note: See links at bottom of the page.)

Alternative Approaches

Giving a child a psychiatric label and psychotropic drugs often greases the skids into the juvenile justice system and later the adult prison system, and possibly into permanent enrollment in the disability system. I, along with many clinicians, teachers, and even probation officers have seen that using other kinds of approaches can be helpful, healing, and strengthening.

Our heavily psychiatrized culture often makes it seem that alternative approaches cannot possibly be effective because they seem less scientific than traditional approaches such as psychotherapy and drugs. (As explained above, psychiatric diagnoses are not scientific, and good science does not support the effectiveness and safety of psychiatric drugs.) But there is ample evidence for the effectiveness of non-drug approaches to easing human distress: involvement in the arts, community service, political action, physical exercise, exposure to nature, and spiritual practices. There is also much scientific support for the importance of friendships and freedom from poverty, oppression, and violence in sustaining emotional resilience. In testimony to the Rhode Island state legislature many years ago, I spoke against cutbacks in funding for the arts in schools, saying that if every student participated in the arts from kindergarten onward, there would be far fewer people in prisons and mental hospitals.

De-pathologizing and relativistic approaches are also powerful and effective ways to help both children and their parents. Dr. Vincent Felitti, a leader of research into Adverse Childhood Experiences, has pioneered the de-pathologizing approach. Here, practitioners switch from asking the sufferer, “What is wrong with you?” (as if they have a disease) to “What happened to you?” This emphasis helps the sufferer to understand the origins of their troubles in ways that avoid victim-blaming or pathologizing. It also makes it easier to focus on the kinds of support and help will be likely to move the person beyond the effects of trauma and into a happier life.

A relativistic approach involves moving beyond the typical we/they thinking that classifies some people as “mentally ill” and the rest as “normal.” It can include making it clear to the child that her or his difficulties result from reacting to distressing experiences that would upset anyone. This reassurance helps to reduce their feeling that something must be wrong with them because of the ways they have coped with upset or trauma.

It is also helpful to make it clear that behavior that society and traditional mental health professionals often describe as pathology may be the best ways a child has found to cope in the face of adversity. Thus, these behaviors can be seen as strengths because of their survival value. Once adults have established respect for these coping mechanisms, giving the child greater self-respect, it becomes easier to help that child look at the ways their coping styles may get them into difficulties they’d prefer to avoid — and to help them find less risky ways to cope.

The relativistic approach can be especially useful in assisting children who have learning “disabilities” or differences. This involves teaching both children who are struggling with school tasks and their families, classmates, and neighborhood friends about the great array of individual differences that characterize human beings. We tell them that everyone of every age has relative strengths and weaknesses; that these traits vary enormously from one person to another; that many of them are innate and nothing to be ashamed of; and that those whose weaknesses fall into certain categories (school subjects especially) are the ones who get labeled disabled. And we reassure them that many other people have major problems with other kinds of tasks, as well as abilities that happen not to be emphasized in school.

Knowledge into Action

The material in this article is easy to understand but far too little known. For parents, however, it can make a world of difference to have this kind of information about the truth about psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic drugs, as well as lists of non-pathologizing, non-drug approaches that help reduce emotional suffering and other difficulties. Armed with these facts and suggestions, they can save enormous amounts of time and energy, using their emotional and other resources in ways that are less likely to harm and more likely to help their child.

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* Something similar is true for military veterans, who cannot obtain VA benefits and “services” unless they receive a psychiatric label. To those veterans, I say that, since we cannot change the system in time to help them, if they want those benefits or services, they should try to get the least serious-sounding diagnosis. However, they should be aware that disastrous results can come from even the mildest-sounding psychiatric label. I tell them that in their hearts, they should know that they are not “mentally ill” but rather are having deeply human reactions to war, to military rape, or to other traumas.

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Mad in America Psychotropic Drugs in Children and Adolescents pages, by drug class:

Stimulants

Antidepressants

Antipsychotics

Mad in America Non-Drug Therapies pages, by diagnostic label:

ADHD

Depression 

Psychosis, Bipolar Disorder, or Disruptive Behavior

 

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Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.

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Mad in America has made some changes to the commenting process. You no longer need to login or create an account on our site to comment. The only information needed is your name, email and comment text. Comments made with an account prior to this change will remain visible on the site.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you Dr. Paula.

    Trying to fit human beings into neat little pigeon holes is actually what we call stereotyping. “All women love to knit.” Part of the problem with racism/sexism/other prejudice is it claims everyone in Group X is alike–lumping diverse individuals into a blanket category and subtly dehumanizing them in the process.

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  2. I wish all parents were so well-informed! They have no idea what they are costing their child by allowing the child to be labeled in order to get “services” or accommodations for their child’s learning needs. Dr. Caplan- do you know whether a parent can give consent for assessment with the stipulation that the child NOT be labeled with a DSM diagnosis? (I bet the answer could vary from state to state.) When I was doing educational advocacy, I had a couple of families that held their ground on not drugging their child, but I don’t ever recall a parent drawing the line at diagnoses. Even if I were woke then like I am now, by the time they were assigned to me, they were already labeled.

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    • LavenderSage, I wish I could answer your question, but I believe this varies from one school district to another, not just from state to state. I assume that whatever the school district’s rules, there is no harm in a parent asking that a child not be labeled with a diagnosis, and that could be a good teaching moment for school personnel, but I suspect the reply will be that if they don’t get diagnosed, they cannot get the help they need. Another way to approach it would be to ask if there is ANY way for the child to get the needed help without getting a diagnosis. I wish that parents might band together and start advocating for changes, but parents who are trying to get help for their children are often too exhausted to get politically involved. That is why others need at least to help with this kind of action.

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  3. Thank you for speaking the truth, Paula. It breaks my heart the doctors don’t want to stop psychiatrically defaming and drugging the children, because “it’s just too profitable.” Thanks for speaking out for the children and the veterans.

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  4. Thank You Paula and commenters,
    definition from http://www.vocabulary.com ” To shanghai someone is to kidnap or trick them into working for you. The traditional way to shanghai someone is to drug him and put him on a ship … The shanghaied person would wake up and find himself at sea, often on a long trip to Shanghai,China. The term is also used for similar,non-naval abductions .” Sounds SO MUCH like psychiatry to me . The “DSM” The Dudley Do-Right- Shanghai Them For Life- How To Manual. Connect the dots on anyone in such a way as to capture a human being of any age from anywhere in the world as a lifelong cashstream for yourself . Just go to “school” and become a “psychiatrist” or some “assistant” and Pig “Pharma” and “Bigger Brother” will take care of you. I thought I was a survivor they shanghaied me again, I got away again. I think I’m free again.

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  5. Paula, your contributions on this site are always a breath of fresh air. You thankfully avoid the existential ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda’, and talk in real world, common sense, human-based terms….first addressing the client, with the corruption as vehicle to the damage.

    Your consistent, relentless emphasis on gentleness, caution, and fully-informed decisions void of the APA/DSM/PHARMA goggles was the thing I was dying for (literally) inside the danger-zone.

    It breaks my heart a little to think someone was out there during those years & I had no access.
    Readers with ANY skin in ‘the game’ will do well to insist on someone like you if the time comes…as adults are indoctrinated just like children; drugged infantilization is SOP and it works.
    Like water on a stone, too slowly the corruption is being exposed thru indirect ways & adjacent horror stories like opioids…your credibility & voice is mighty in it’s calm, firm clarity.

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  6. Thank you Paula

    I share your concerns, particularly how MIA can inadvertently reinforce DSM diagnoses and the need to query current drug approaches. The same goes for some so-called non-drug approaches to the problems doctors prescribe drugs for.

    The market for expanding psychiatric drugs has been skillfully and deceptively crafted by psychiatry and drug companies, let alone supported by schools and governments. We are often unaware that so called non drug resources are actually promoting labels and drug treatments for children. You suggested that parents and others check out MIA parenting resources although in an earlier blog post you expressed some reservations that MIA was reinforcing labels by using DSM terminology and inadvertently was supporting diagnoses.

    You may be guilty of the same by recommending the following.

    “Barring that, Mad in America’s Parent Resources section’s Drug Information pages offer summaries of the latest science on the major classes of psychoactive drugs prescribed to children and youth. The authors of that section also discuss non-drug approaches to the problems for which doctors typically prescribe them. (Editor’s note: See links at bottom of the page.)”

    Please note, for example, that MIA states that one of the ten best non-drug approaches is the Collaborative Problem Solving approach by Ross Greene. I suggest you read the book. In chapter 9, page 176,
    the reader is told by Greene that some challenging kids need a “little extra help” to participate in Plan B, like behavior and mind-altering psychiatric medications. Greene says that some kids are so emotionally reactive, irritable, impulsive or short fused that Plan B needs to be supplemented with ADHD medications, antidepressants and even a class of the most disabling medications, antipsychotic drugs, namely, Risperdal and Abilify. Greene fails to mention that these medications can cause a number of disruptive behaviors in children, such as aggression, tantrums, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, sedation and suicidal ideations, which can lead to the very behaviors his program says it can fix.

    i have complained about this misleading approach and others before to no avail. Greene in particular has made millions selling his phony theory to parents and teachers all across America. Children are the victims. Please MIA delete this reference. It is a marketing tool to expand the use of drugs, not a non-drug approach.

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  7. “so-called non-drug approaches to the problems doctors prescribe drugs for.”

    Yes, we don’t want to be supporting any of that, and that includes the new Diagnostic Manual, and this plaintive appeal for “neurodiversity”.

    Shouldn’t be going along with the drugs, or with the supposed ailments which they are supposed to alleviate.

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  8. Excellent article Dr. Caplan! There is so much wisdom and hope for parents in this blog! The relativistic approach makes such good sense, especially “that everyone of every age has relative strengths and weaknesses”. How pathetic psychiatry has NO insight into it’s own glaring weaknesses!

    Thank you so much for your unwavering dedication to stop the pathologizing of normal human reactions to adversity or challenges. I recently purchased “They Say You’re Crazy” and am starting Chapter 8. A very interesting, detailed book from an insiders view showing what actually goes on behind the scenes in producing the big DSM of manufactured labels. The whole fiasco would be laughable if it wasn’t so deceitful and harmful.
    I’m guessing “DDPD” is one label they didn’t end up putting in the DSM?

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