Conference Focuses on Psychiatric Abuse of Children
October 2nd, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Rampant on the news both specific to the mental health community and delivered to the public at large, over-prescription of psychiatric medications has been developing as a major problem for several years. With scores of reports highlighting suspicious links between high-prescribing and endorsing individuals and pharmaceutical company pay-offs, a growing mistrust of the eagerness with which some medications are prescribed is largely responsible for a surge in interest in non-invasive therapies such as psychotherapy. Over-prescription remains an issue in America and many parts of the world, however, and is especially disturbing in the case of children, who are often subjected to drugs that combat ADHD, depression, and other issues even when a clear need has not been established. In response to such activities, a conference on the psychiatric abuse of children has been organized for the venue of Syracuse, New York from the ninth to the tenth of October.
The conference will examine the ways in which children are subjected to needless drugs, and how these drugs create additional problems both during childhood and later on in life. Encouraging participants to take action against over-prescription in their own communities and professional fields, the conference is sure to inspire new ways to help families overcome uncertainty over medications when emotional and behavioral issues are present.
With the recent approval of an arsenal of anti-psychotic drugs, the need for more widespread understanding about the potential for harm presented by psychiatric drugs is steeply increasing. The conference welcomes both professionals and the public to attend, with the ultimate aim of educating and encouraging participants with straightforward and accurate information in the face of an industry that is not always perfectly honest.
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6 comments so far
This has existed as a conspiracy theory for quite sometime now, and I firmly believe that it does happen…it happens everywhere… in hospital, with certified medical practitioners, happens everywhere… the only way out is to be aware and show your doctor that you are aware of things and cannot be taken for a ride easily.
This is extremely surprising and equally disturbing for me… I was not aware of such a practice and now feel like I have no trust in the medical fraternity, after reading this article… first of all, the practice is playing with people’s lives, and moreover it is little children… children who cannot even understand the meaning of over-prescription… this needs to be monitored by the Government very strictly.
As a teacher I have always been very concerned about the increasing numbers of elementary aged students who are now on prescription drugs for behavioral problems as well as learning disabilities. I have been teaching for twenty years and when I first began many of these “illnesses” and medications were unheard of- now they are rampant! I get furious whenever I hear other classroom teachers talk about how much easier their jobs would be if more students were medicated. I have a real problem with that because this is what we chose as a profession, not for it to be easy but to be rewarding and I think that in way too many cases this solution is just the easy way out and it makes me sick to think about all of the children who are good kids but are put on these medications simply because they do not behave in a way that fits the cookie cutter mold of what everyone else thinks they should be.
Educating people is the best way forward, as this will create a sense of responsibility in the minds of medical practitioners, a sense that the people they are attending to know things well and cannot be fibbed to… this should be encouraged more and more through the mass media and also through the internet.
It is very sad that doctors, who are trusted with numerous lives, are over-prescribing medication…and that too to little children… for a little bit of money…this is very unethical and the practice should be curbed as soon as possible.
Great to know that finally attention is being raised in this critical area of concern!