Are Children being Overmedicated? What do you think?

Here are fews paragraphs from today's article from the Milford Post by Dr. Azerrad:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x1162817640/Azerrad-Too-young-for-adult-medicine


"By prescribing strong medicines instead of teaching children new choices using proven behavioral methods, we short-circuit a child's learning process and, even worse, lay the tracks for a lifetime habit of responding to challenge and disappointment with avoidance, denial and chemical dependency. Growing up is not a condition. Childhood is not a disease. Children act up and defy authority and they need adults to teach them how to manage difficult feelings and handle disappointment appropriately.There are ways for parents to do this that are quite effective and don't involve drugs, but they do involve parents being teachers. Our preschool children are far too young to defend themselves.It's up to parents to "say no to drugs" and teach their children that life is meant to be learned and experienced - it's not just a pill to be swallowed."

I agree with Dr.Azzard's view that most children's behaviors are rambunction, and are part of normal development. Also, I have seen a few kids whose behaviors are in the bi-polar range that do warrant medication but parents can learn parenting skills to manage these behaviors as well as applying similar techniques to manage their children's behaviors that don't need medication.Too often, over the years, I know of, and had some parents who play the medication card to apply for SSI. They have the mindset that because their child is behaving rambunctiously and they are having difficulties managing their behaviors, they learn from others in their environment how to apply for this "paycheck" to avoid working. I am appalled how some parents still refuse to apply the skills they learned in parenting classes or through FST programs after they are awarded a "SSI" check. The motivation goes down to "zero" in terms of continuing counseling with their clinician. What needs to be done to resolve this problem?

A study needs to be done to correlate SSI applications with the first counseling appointments throughout the state. Clinics need to be more assertive in asking if parents are coming to counseling and medication appointments to get a SSI check only. If this is the case, then clinics need to be more proactive in educating the families that getting SSI only, does not solve their child's behavioral problems. Massachusetts is behind the times in thinking parenting is a "right" due to the DNA, not true. If laws were passed to require parenting classes and psychological evaluations for at-risk parents,like they are for adoptive parents, then maybe the statistics for children taking medications for behavior would decline.

Robbin Miller, LMHC
Citizen-Therapist
Faciltiator