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Are We Over-Medicating Our Kids?© John McManamy
"Astounding as it may sound, there has been only one major published study on
how SSRIs work on kids."
It took us nearly an entire century to recognize the obvious - that clinical depression does occur in teens and children, these days in epidemic numbers. But it has taken only a very short time for a public backlash to develop over whether we are doing the right thing by treating our kids with powerful drugs. Not long ago, USA Today weighed in with two pieces well worth printing out and saving: At least 500,000 children and teens in the US are taking antidepressants, according to the main article, a conservative figure experts feel. FDA data reports that 3000 prescriptions for Prozac had been written for children younger than age one, and a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that antidepressant use amongst preschoolers has doubled between 1991 and 1995. Yet no antidepressant has been approved by the FDA for use on children and teens. And kid's brains are not the same as ours. They are not miniature adults. "We just don't have enough information to draw the conclusion that they're safe and effective for children," according to Thomas Laughren, who directs the FDA team that approves psychiatric medications. Astounding as it may sound, there has been only one major published study on how SSRIs work on kids. According to the study, 56 percent of the youngsters improved on Prozac, but so did 33 percent in the placebo group. But make no mistake. For many kids, antidepressant therapy can be a lifesaver. A teenager recounted her experience to USA Today: "I felt as though I was in a glass box ... I was trapped. I just couldn't get out of the box to reach anyone." She stopped eating and her weight fell to 85 pounds Three months after taking Zoloft, she felt back to her original self. Now, a few years later, she is an honor student and president of her high school student government. Perhaps it is stories like this that has physicians reaching for their prescription pads. But in a previous article, this writer noted: "There are only six thousand child and adolescent psychiatrists in the whole country, and the pediatricians who pick up the slack get very little training in mental health. According to a study at the University of North Carolina, only eight percent of a surveyed group of 600 family physicians and pediatricians reported having received adequate training in the management Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Are We Over-Medicating Our Kids? in Depression is owned by John McManamy. Permission to republish Are We Over-Medicating Our Kids? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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