Children are increasingly being given psychotropic drugs even though drugs are never tested for long-term safety or effectiveness on children. These drugs are given to children as young as two years old with absolutely no scientific knowledge of the long-term effects of the drugs on the brain’s ultimate development.
In institutional settings and the foster care systems the use of these drugs is even more alarming. It might be tempting to pass laws forbidding the use of drugs in populations like children for which the drugs have never been tested, however, managing child behavior in these public systems is a hard problem. The staffs are typically overworked and have many more children than can be reasonably be loved, nurtured or even entertained.
All children are naturally driven to expand their understanding of the world and require a stimulating environment to do so. When they are in an institutional setting, the lack of stimulation combined with the trauma of being removed from their family create a crisis for the child that the staffs are not equipped to handle. The result is often a combination of medications to reduce the demands on the staff.
Doctors say that children with mental illness need medication. One might ask how they determine that a two year old has a mental illness. Most toddlers, if viewed using adult criteria, would appear to have a mental illness. However educated people know that the dramatic phases that preschoolers go through are part of the socialization of the child. A paper published in the journal Administration and Policy in Mental Health says that the issue is creating a “crisis of credibility” of the psychiatric profession.
Children need care, guidance and love at every age. Patience is also required and may be in short supply when economic stress is occupying the time of both parents and preventing them from giving the child an optimal and nurturing family environment.
The situation is even worse in mental institutions and foster care systems where children are often put on multiple medications. Children in stressful situations where they’ve been removed from their parents’ home will exhibit behavior problems while they adjust to the new surroundings. Children need even more care, guidance and love at these times but patience may be in short supply do to the overburdened staff dealing with the many children in the system. There is evidence that children are routinely medicated to a level that will make them compliant with the system. There is also evidence that too many drugs are ordered for children in the US Medicaid program.
A briefing paper ordered by the National Conference of State Legislatures shows that many states are studying the problem and passing laws that specify procedures to be followed so that children are not overmedicated. Previously, Texas was one of the worst states as described in this news report from some years ago. A second Video describes one child's experience in the Texas system. The state has since passed laws to protect children in the state’s care. Other states have been found to have similar approaches to dealing with children.
Further guidance in the use of childhood medications is available from the US National Institutes of Health.
