By DR. ALLEN FRANCES New York Post
Excerpts:
Last week, The Post reported that more than 145,000 city children struggle with mental illness or other emotional problems. That estimate, courtesy of New York’s Health Department, equals an amazing 1 in 5 kids. Could that possibly be true? In the last 20 years, rates of attention deficit disorder have tripled, while autistic disorder and childhood bipolar disorder have each increased by a remarkable 40-fold. Human nature just doesn’t change that quickly, but the labels follow fashion and can escalate dramatically without there being an actual increase in symptoms. Our kids haven’t suddenly become sicker, it’s just that diagnoses are applied to them more loosely. Some of the broadening usefully captures missed cases, but there has been a big overshoot because of aggressive drug-company advertising. Once the adult market was saturated, pharmaceutical manufacturers turned their greedy attention to kids and began a sometimes illegal campaign to convince doctors, parents and teachers that every childhood problem is a mental disorder, the result of a chemical imbalance that requires a pill solution. Medication use in children has skyrocketed — great news for the shareholders, but potentially quite dangerous for the children. Perhaps most troubling about all this is how it is changing the definition of normal behavior. Is a kid who is more interested in playing outside than sitting in a classroom suffering from ADD — or simply 7 years old? Is a child who slams his bedroom door and refuses to come to supper suffering from depression — or having a tantrum? We should not medicalize the aches and pains of normal childhood. Allen Frances, MD, was the chairperson of the task force for the fourth edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” His new book, “Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life” (William Morrow) is out in May.
Read the Full Article Here: http://www.nypost.com/p/n...
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So true!! We also go the natural route when and if we can....my hubby is an Herbalist and I have so many weird side effects to pharmaceuticals! We also know ( from a retired Doctor) that they get paid from the Pharmaceutical companies for each prescription they write! He said that he would g...
That is part of the problem...all the pesticides, fertilizers, plastic containers, food additives, Dioxins, vaccinations ( which contain mercury),....we are basically swimming in toxins! Studies have been done showing that the unborn child is being bombarded by all the toxins that mother's ar...
Diseases have been around for centuries but I think we have accelerated their growth.
Don't be sorry for us....He actually is doing very well. We found a neurodevelopmental program when he was quite young and he is excelling at his school work and physical milestones. Children with Trisomy 21...
Thank you! I was scared spitless when they told us, a few hours after his birth about his challenge. I didn't know whether I was going to be able to do it. They tell you such horror stories before you even have time to assimilate the diagnosis! It's something that has to change!
Our son, has...
I'm not sure if those have anything to do with this. I do know that some have said they were being used in this way but....?
Of course if one starts drugging their kids with these pharmaceuticals who to say that those kids wouldn't be easier to brainwash for just that purpose?
Thanks for the info! Will be checking your group out later tonight....