Can Children Have Bipolar Disorder?
After seeing the family for two sessions I came to the conclusion that what Adam was suffering from was inconsistent discipline, temper tantrums and misbehavior that were inadvertently encouraged by his parents. The correct prescription for Adam was not an antipsychotic medication that might cause him harm, but family therapy to help the parents implement a behavioral program that would fit Adam’s needs.
Study Suggests Mania More Common in Psychosis When Antidepressants Used
A prospective cohort study of those labeled high risk for psychosis finds a higher prevalence of antidepressant use among those who develop manic symptoms.
Pressuring Parents to Drug Children
Jim Gottstein on Pressuring Parents to Drug Children
“Why Are So Many Children on Antipsychotic Drugs?”
“Do they make people less aggressive? Yes, sometimes they do. Will they sedate people? Absolutely. Will they make kids easier to manage? They will,” Robert Whitaker tells Liz Spikol for Philadelphia Magazine. “But I know of no study that shows that medicating these kids long-term will help them grow up and thrive. The developing brain is a very delicate thing. The narrative is that these side effects are mild, and that’s just not true, and that the benefits are well-established, and so often they’re not.”
Australia Plans To Screen 3 Year Olds For Mental Illness
A controversial move by the Australian Federal Government plans to screen 3 year olds for early signs of mental illness as part of routine...
Anticonvulsant Implicated in Birth Defects in up to 4,100 Children, French Study Finds
Between 2,150 and 4,100 children suffered from severe malformations connected to valproate prescription.
$1 Billion J&J Settlement Rejected as Insufficient
Federal prosecutors have rejected as insufficient the $1 billion settlement reached two months ago between Johnson & Johnson and prosecutors in Philadelphia to resolve...
“Misuse Of ADHD Drugs By Young Adults Drives Rise In ER Visits”
"It's no secret that stimulant medications such as Adderall that are prescribed to treat symptoms of ADHD are sometimes used as 'study drugs' aimed...
Study Explores Māori Community’s Multifaceted Understanding of “Psychosis”
A new study explores how “psychosis” and “schizophrenia” are viewed within the Māori community in New Zealand.
Childhood Bipolar Disorder More Rare Than Previously Claimed, Study Finds
Re-examination of meta-analytic claims finds the prevalence of pediatric bipolar disorder is close to zero.
Childhood Bipolar Disorder, Deconstructed
Diagnosing children with juvenile or pediatric bipolar disorder is largely an American phenomenon. Do we actually have more “bipolar” children in the United States—or are we simply labeling more of them as such? If it is ever fair to call a child “manic,” isn’t the child’s environment the direction in which we should look?
Searching for Zen and Finding a Cow
If I had a clinical problem, why was something as ancient and simple as meditation helping me? And if normal positive human habits could be so profoundly useful, why the heck was the field marketing pills and “clinical” coping mechanisms to me instead? This frustration helped me jump ship from the medical mindset and hop into the world of humanity.
