Drugging your kids

I believe it is OK to utilize drugs to correct an identifiable chemical imbalance or some other condition that can be tested for and shown through blood/lab work. ADHD and other types of behavior problems don't fall under this category. I believe ADHD and these others can be corrected by sending the kids out to play and letting them get tired. Most kids with "ADHD" have parents that are content to let TV and video games babysit their kids.

 

I do not give my kids drugs, but I'm definitely interested. What are these behavior altering drugs, and where can I get them?

 

You can have the school district where you live help you get a Psych eval to determine if your kids fit in a catagory defined in the DSM IV as needing psychotropic meds to help with their behavior. Once you do this and get a positive diagnosis you can be set up with social security and social services. If you're interested.

 

I might be wrong, but I think she was joking .

 

Nah, I just hoped to find something over the counter that would make them clean their rooms and choose friends wisely.

Okay, seriousness...if a doctor/psych recommended medicating one of my kids, I'd consider it, but it most definitely would require quite a number of considerations and a lot of investigation. I see far too many kids drugged up when what they really need is parenting. I've also seen parents who really do seek out having their kids diagnosed and drugged simply for the social security money. It's sick, and that industry should be SO much more regulated!

 

Yeah. Deadpanning is half of who I am, but it doesn't always come across the same online, for some odd reason. Most online people NEED those emoticons. :laugh: It would be kinda funny to carry around ones on sticks in real life for those who need them in person...

 

I teach elementary school, so I see every condition under the sun. I agree that meds are too widely distributed, but I've seen kids who need them just to have a chance. I've seen other kids who just need firm discipline. I'm not a medical professional, but it seems to me you can tell the difference in a lot of cases.

 

Yes, yes, yes, you're right. Parents who send their kids to public school but do nothing to treat their kids' imbalances need to come up and just see how their child's behavior hurts other kids' ability to learn.

It does take Godly patience.

 

Let me tell you about growing up with ADD (yeah, and sometimes I had the HD to go with): life is INTENSE.

You try going through life when your mind changes from one subject to the next every five seconds and often for no particular reason. Let me tell you what it is like. Its like someone holding the remote control and changing your tv channel JUST as you've gotten the gist of the show, but before you can decide if you want to watch it. There is NO control.

Then there are the very few things that catch and keep your focus, but in those cases you focus so hard that you can't be distracted. In my case, once I learned to read and got control of my dyslexia (btw, neither condition existed as a diagnosis when I was a child. I was just the "odd duck") I focused so hard that the rest of the world ceased to exist. To this day I have to be touched if someone wants my attention while I am reading.

ADD is no joke and not a way to calm down undisciplined kids. I got spanked plenty as a kid, it didn't change how I perceived the world. Time and maturity taught me coping skills and that slowly allowed me to almost control my thoughts. Just don't turn on a radio or tv set while you are talking to me OR try to hold a conversation with me in a room where several conversations are being held at the same time. Not only will I not be able to focus on what you are saying, but even what I do hear I won't remember.

 

Amen! Here too, but much better than to have been given permanent mind altering drugs to a child that has no say in the matter.

You and me; we're like twins sometimes. :smilewinkgrin:

 

There are some cases where meds are very helpful and needed.

Of course...there are parents out there who use meds as the "easy way out." And no meds should EVER be offered to kids without parental consent (yes, in some areas, that can happen).

Furthermore, any parent who allows his/her kid to be placed on psychotropic meds (benzodiapines, tri-cyclics, SSRI's, ADHD stimulants, etc.)--for goodness' sake--do your homework! Read up. Get a second (or more) opinion. And run--fast--from doctors who hand the stuff out like candy.

One particularly messed-up family (now in another state)--the son was on SIX psychotropic meds. One doctor prescribed them all...including three that were contra-indicated to each other! I told the mother (who was, frankly, a nut case) to never take her son back there, and to get him to a doctor that was less likely to kill or injure him. She ignored my request.

Poor kid spent his time alternating between hopped up and zoned out.

That example is one extreme. Claiming that there are never, ever cases where medical help is needed...that's the other extreme.

One doctor friend of mine always goes through the following issues with kids dealing with ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc., before going the pharma route:

Week 1: Change nothing, but parents keep a COMPLETE and DETAILED record of the following: Diet (ALL food & drinks), sleep, exposure to media (TV, internet, video games), amount of active exercise.

Week 2-3: Eliminate all caffeine and as much refined sugar as possible. Take multi-vitamin. Set regular bed and wake times. Limit media exposure to 1 hr/day or less. Insist on daily outside play time (if nothing else, take a walk outside).

His theory: Between diet changes, rest & exercise, and reduction of caffeine, much is fixed. The kicker: our media exposes the brain to imagery at a much faster rate than can be handled. Thus, our brain is in "overdrive" too much; hence, the overdiagnosis of ADHD.

Oh, and he also makes 2 other good suggestions:

1. If the kid has an "early birthday:" Consider holding him/her back for 1st grade.
2. If he's a boy, quit trying to make him something other than a boy. Of course they're active. They're boys. Same with the odor.

 

I agree with that and think you gave some fair advice. As a parent I consider my son to be mildly affected, at least in comparison to myself. We had two teachers suggest medication might be the answer for him when he was younger. My son had the advantage of me being very attune with coping skills. He may well could have been diagnosed more severe and had more issues had he not had me to guide him.

Here is where I struggle with giving any medication, not because there are not currently times which exist when the damage without drugs would be worse than without them. But I feel this is unfortunate, because I believe in my heart that in almost every case there would be natural, none medical ways to teach a child to cope and adapt with the issues they face. I believe if the focus were more on developing these methods than on the use of drugs great strides toward advancing natural systems of treatment could be developed to the point that almost 100% “could be” treated naturally.

Of course these types of treatments would be very intensive and time consuming, especially at first. It would also take a lot of scientific study and developing of procedures. But I do believe the ability to accomplish natural healing is possible, unfortunately it is just not very convenient to do so, or not as convenient as drugs.

For the large part, Medical Doctors are trained to prescribe medications, not to develop natural healing and to train parents in developing time consuming, in-depth skills that it would take to help their child naturally.

I believe drugs should be a last last last resort and would personally put the threshold to the door of drug treatment much further away than it current perceived by most.

Just my 2 cents.