The Misdiagnosis and Overmedication of "Bi-Polar" Children

[Hootad Binky]

First they were rambunctious. Then they were hyperactive. Then they had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and now, with the same symptoms, they have been pronounced "bi-polar."

So now thousands of children are gobbling up to 8 different anti-psychotic medications, each to offset the side-effects of the other, every day, year after year, and no-one knows what effect this will have on them as adults and few if any of these drugs have even been adequately tested on children in the first place.

Saw this documentary last night on PBS. It's also on this site, with a lot of other resources:






In recent years, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and prescribed medications that are just beginning to be tested in children. The drugs can cause serious side effects, and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. "It's really to some extent an experiment, trying medications in these children of this age," child psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Bacon tells FRONTLINE. "It's a gamble. And I tell parents there's no way to know what's going to work."

In The Medicated Child, FRONTLINE producer Marcela Gaviria confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks, benefits and many questions surrounding prescription drugs for troubled children. The biggest current controversy surrounds the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Formerly called manic depression, bipolar disorder was long believed to exist only in adults. But in the mid-1990s, bipolar in children began to be diagnosed at much higher rates, sometimes in kids as young as 4 years old. "The rates of bipolar diagnoses in children have increased markedly in many communities over the last five to seven years," says Dr. Steven Hyman, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "I think the real question is, are those diagnoses right? And in truth, I don't think we yet know the answer."

Like many of the 1 million children now diagnosed with bipolar, 5-year-old Jacob Solomon was initially believed to suffer from an attention deficit disorder. His parents reluctantly started him on Ritalin, but over the next five years, Jacob would be put on one drug after another. "It all started to feel out of control," Jacob's father, Ron, told FRONTLINE. "Nobody ever said we can work with this through therapy and things like that. Everywhere we looked it was, 'Take meds, take meds, take meds.'"

Over the years, Jacob's multiple medications have helped improve his mood, but they've also left him with a severe tic in his neck which doctors are having trouble fully explaining. "We're dealing with developing minds and brains, and medications have a whole different impact in the young developing child than they do in an adult," says Dr. Marianne Wamboldt, the chief of psychiatry at Denver Children's Hospital. "We don't understand that impact very well. That's where we're still in the Dark Ages."

DJ Koontz was diagnosed with bipolar at 4 years old, after his temper tantrums became more frequent and explosive. He was recently prescribed powerful antipsychotic drugs. "It is a little worrisome to me because he is so young," says DJ's mother, Christine. "If he didn't take it, though, I don't know if we could function as a family. It's almost a do-or-die situation over here." DJ's medicines seem to be helping him in the short run, but the longer-term outlook is still uncertain. "What's not really clear is whether many of the kids who are called bipolar have anything that's related to this very well-studied disorder in adults," says Dr. Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "It's not clear that people with that adult illness started with what we're now calling bipolar in children. Nor is it clear that the kids who have this disorder are going to grow up to have what we used to call manic-depressive illness in adulthood."

While some urge caution when it comes to bipolar in children, FRONTLINE talks with others who argue that we should intervene with drug treatments at even younger ages for children genetically predisposed to the disorder. "The theory is that if you get in early, before the first full mood episode, then perhaps we can delay the onset to full mania," says Dr. Kiki Chang of Stanford University. "And if that's the case, perhaps finding the right medication early on can protect a brain so that these children never do progress to full bipolar disorder."

FRONTLINE: the medicated child: introduction | PBS

[Deus Ex]

I know this is Issues & a serious topic, but you have to check this out.





I believe all this talk of ADHD is just a modern term they use for naughty kids.

[barbaro]

I do think in the USA there is the mentality that medication solves any problem, be it small, medium or large.

The FDA is like a cult, IMO.

You have heartburn? That's called "Acid Reflux Disease."

You need to go to a Dr. And pay for the Dr. then the Dr. will prescribe you medicine, that you need a prescription for. Then you go buy it, and pay money for it.

Same for just about anything.

[Hootad Binky]

And who benefits? A lot of drug companies.

In the 70's, childrens' cancer was 80% lethal. So pediatric oncologists got together and created a database that carefully documented the treatment/response/side-effects of medication for every single child being treated for cancer in the US. Result?

Large amounts of data, improved treatments and a greatly improved survival rate. Pediatric neurologists are trying to do the same thing now with childhood mood disorders but unfortunately without help from the FDA.

Clinton gave drug companies an incentive by promising them a 6-month patent-protection extension (worth about $1 billion in sales, on average, per drug) if they conducted trials of anti-depressive and anti-psychotic drugs prescribed for children, and not surprisingly they've started to "comply" and I wouldn't be surprised if they had this arrangement in mind in the first place; in other words, ransoming childrens health and safety in exchange for more guaranteed profits.

[corvettelover]

nothing to do with bad parenting of course. Call the super nanny she will fix it

[Jet Gorgon]

Geez, Hootad, the Canadian free healthcare system not working for you? Horrors. You trust in it so implicitly.

[peterpan]

Had one of the neighbors kids come over to play a week ago,while his Dad shared a beer with me the kid did his best to wreck my house. Behavior explained away by Dad as he's "hyperactive'.
I said, he just needs his bum smacked to make him aware of the value of others property.
Dad says, "we don't believe in smacking."
Yea, we can see the result.

[Deus Ex]

A clip round the ear never harmed anyone.

[Marmite the Dog]

I would put 99% of the blame at the feet of the parents.

No discipline and poor diet. Anyone who regularly feeds their kids shit like McDonalds should be locked up.

[Texpat]

I agree with your first two sentences. Parents who don't teach their children how to behave seek explainations. Doctors are more than happy to discover a medical malfunction. The kid gets doped up, the parents are relieved to hear they're not the real shitbags they secretly know they are, and the doctor buys a new BMW.

I've heard fish & chips have a soothing effect on children.

[AntRobertson]

I agree with your first two sentences. Parents who don't teach their children how to behave seek explainations. Doctors are more than happy to discover a medical malfunction. The kid gets doped up, the parents are relieved to hear they're not the real shitbags they secretly know they are, and the doctor buys a new BMW.

As good a summary as I've ever seen.

Same thing applies to blaming violence on TV and vidoe games in my opinion - first it was comics, then TV, then video games... There's only one constant in it all, crappy parenting.

[Rattanaburi]

I heard the term bipolar a lot back in the 80s from my mom. there also was talk of the effect of red dye in foods. Genetics may be a part of it. It doesn't end in childhood. I often wonder about myself and my mood swings. I probably have some type of mental condition or a collection of them. I don't believe the 'experts' know anything concrete. I do believe that the glow of money has resulted in a lot of ideas clouding the truth. There is a real problem here. These kids grow up and carry their condition with them. There are a lot of people who just can't seem to focus and can't find contentment. They go through life jumping from one thing to another never really commiting to anything or accomplishing anything. As some said parental control can make a difference in some cases but I really doubt that is the case for all.

We are coming into contact with so many new chemicals through our environment. We get them into our systems form the foods we eat and the air the breath. You have to wonder what the changes on the human body and mind are from these; after all, doctors absolutely believe chemicals can affect the mind.

[Texpat]

It doesn't have to be about bi-polar exclusively. One of the biggest rackets I've seen are opthomologists.

I've never met anybody who goes in for an eye screening that doesn't come out with a prescription for glasses. These guys create their own job security.

Every eye exam I've had, I've been told I require glasses. Every time my glasses arrive, I wear them for 3 or 4 days and throw them in a drawer. They caused headaches, eye twitch and eye strain, much worse than the imperceptable, slight irregularity in the shape of my left eyeball.

Everytime I return for my next annual exam, they force glasses on me again. Glasses correct your vision, but you become dependent on them. If the problem is mild I believe the likelihood of being perscribed glasses nears 100% when in fact, it may never get worse. If you do wear glasses, it likely will. (I'm not a doc, these are just my opinions)

Some people genuinely require correction and I'm not suggesting all eye docs are intentionally misleading people.

The dynamic of a patient seeking advice/diagnosis and cure from a doctor who feels obliged to provide something troubles me. Especially something tangible. I'd be interested to know what percent of patients go to a doctor appointment and leave with no sort of medicine, cream, suppository, eye drops, inhaler, whatever. Likewise, a patient that goes to a doctor and leaves with nothing but a smile and a "good-luck" will feel that the doc isn't trying his/her best to solve the problem.

[zipcode]

As others have already posted, diet/nutrition is key.

It is not difficult to avoid foods containing MSG and high fructose corn syrup. Elimination of just these two additives from the diet, and addition of fresh fruit with every meal and snack, will do wonders.

On a tangent, for those of you who like to grill burgers, get some cherries/apricots/nectarines/peaches, fresh or dried or frozen, and add some chopped into the burger meat before cooking.

Not only will your burgers be juicier and more flavourful, but the fruit stops the formation of nitrosamines during cooking, reduces the amount of cholesterol absorbed in your gut, and (possibly of greater value if quality of meat is suspect) prevents growth of various bacteria within the uncooked meat.

Sadly, the beef council in US will not allow retail sale of beef "adulterated" with fruit juice/pulp, so DIY.

[obsidian]

trendy dx. -- much like schizophrenia years ago.

[Norton]

These guys create their own job security.

Not to mention their "specialist" friends by way of referrals.

[Hootad Binky]

Geez, Hootad, the Canadian free healthcare system not working for you? Horrors. You trust in it so implicitly.

The OP article is about the US, actually (but I'm sure you actually read it and knew that already ).

[Hootad Binky]

It doesn't have to be about bi-polar exclusively.

For me it's dentists.

Fiends, every last one of them, imho.

Everytime I go in there they want my wisdom teeth. From not listening to their bleating and carping, I now have all my teeth, as nature intended. Yes, they hurt a bit coming in and a couple aren't perfectly straight, but so what? All they mean is more money for the dentist.

F*ck'em, they can't have them!

[zipcode]

^Are those Jimi and Jimmy?

As an aside, finally found a MP3 of King Crimson's "Epitaph"! My CDs were victim of the divorce

[Boon Mee]

I blame all this on the Culture of Entitlement.
Me, me, me & the MTV scum...

Absolute Outrage And Children Raised By The Village « Sigmund, Carl and Alfred

[obsidian]

medication, prescribed by doctor and based upon a sound dx, can also work wonders with some folks.