Medicating Children Makes the World a Better Place?!
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
United States
May 5, 2008 12:13pm CST
I have had issues with psychiatrists and medicating children for a long time and have usually kept my opinions to myself on this matter but today is the day that I share them with all of you. Please feel free to comment with your own opinions on this subject.
I have a 7 year old son who is a bit hyperactive and can at times be a space cadet. You know the type, have to tell him 5 times to hang his jacket up then 3 hours later it is still where he discarded it. But sit him down in front of his favorite video game and he has to be surgically removed from his chair to come eat dinner.
The doctors say he has ADHD as well as ODD.
Now I didn't go to school for child psychiatry. I can't charge people $200/hr to put their kids on medication. And I don't have a shiny diploma from an accredited college hanging anywhere in my house but I happen to feel that being a mother of 4 children trumps any knowledge learned in a text book.
The behavioral health insurance company that provides my son with therapeutic benefits has decided that since I "refuse" to medicate my son, they are going to discontinue the non medication benefits he receives. Their claim is that I am hindering his progress and making it impossible for him to "get better" by refusing to medical his "illness".
Here is a big surprise to everyone so please be seated while reading this next paragraph. ALL KIDS SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME HAVE BEEN HYPERACTIVE!
I myself, used to spend hours running around my great grandmothers dining room table. I would leave my house at 9AM and climb trees, search the creek for craw fish, play in the mud, run all over the neighborhood on my bike with my friends, and as long as I was back inside by 6 Pm when dinner was served, all was right and good in my little world.
Today a child who spent hours running around a table would be considered to have "deep psychological issues, that needed medication to be addressed and corrected."
BULLSHIAT!
Maybe if parents weren't so "busy" themselves or the world today wasn't full of so many dang perverts that parents could actually let their child out of the back yard we wouldn't have thousands upon thousands of children having to take pills each and every day to "level out their activity level."
Is this really what we as parents want for our kids? To keep them in a drug induced stupor that is stealing away countless minutes of their precious childhood?
I know I don't. And I will refuse medication over and over again every time some quack with a college degree says "it is what is best for my kid."
I'm sure all of us who were kids before the invention of Nintendo had ADHD. And do you know how we got cured when we brought our over active little butts into the house? Yep, a swift kick in the behind and we got told to sit the heck down.
Worked for me. And it is working for my son.
But god forbid parents actually be parents to their children. God forbid parents spend time with their kids. Whatever would the pharmaceutical companies do then with the million pills of Ritalin they mass produce?
Now I'm not saying that there aren't kids out there that do have some issues. But every kid who can't sit still for more than 10 minutes DOES NOT have ADHD.
And as for his ODD. What kid do you know that hasn't told some adult NO before? More medication? No. A good crack across the mouth cured me of that "illness". But wait! Can't do that nowadays or Child Protective Services will be beating down your door for child abuse.
Would you medicate your child? Has your child ever been prescribed meds? What are your feelings on medicating children to make them "easier" for parents/care givers to "deal with"?
6 people like this
12 responses
@maliki2 (255)
• United States
5 May 08
I don't agree with this at all. I have seen a big increase of medicated kids. And with alot of those medications come alot of problems. I think alot of doctors these days are just prescribing because they don't know what a childs problem is. Back whe I was a kid, alot of what I'm seeing now was considered, a kid just being a kid.
3 people like this
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
5 May 08
Exactly! I have 4 kids and my almost 2 year old has more energy in her little finger then I sometimes have in my whole body. I take her outside to play and I am seriously considering putting a leash on her because I can't keep her away from the neighbors dog that loves to lick her toes and make her laugh.
Is she hyperactive? NO, she is simply a kid. Same goes for my son that I wrote about. Get him out of the house running through the woods and hanging upside down from monkey bars on the playground and his behavior seems "normal" because he is JUST BEING A KID!
3 people like this
@AnnieOakley1 (5596)
• Canada
6 May 08
I'm right there with ya, Cyn. I couldn't have said it better myself. I almost think I just said all that. If I didn't, just read above. I can't believe how exactly the same my thoughts are.
No, my children have not been prescribed meds. They were disciplined at home the old fashioned way. My best friend had this exact battle with her youngest son. I'll let her tell you when she gets back from vacation.
I see their point at school, how difficult it would be to control the masses of kids they have to care for all at the same time. But a lot of parents choose to home school their kids rather than medicate.
1 person likes this
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
6 May 08
Oh I am damn near ready to throttle my sons teacher. By the luck of whatever draw or whatever deity she pee'd off the day class assignments were dealt out I will never know but it just so happens that every "problem" child that was in my sons kindergarten class last year has landed in her homeroom this year.
These kids get up in the middle of a lesson and run around the room. She comes into class in the morning and there are have been a dozen boys standing up on their desks seeing who can jump off the farthest. They throw things, talk out, and are just all shades of bad.
My son....he puts his head down on his desk and refuses to participate. Hardly "bad" behavior when compared to the other students she has. How he has managed to learn anything in this class is a mystery to me but because his behavior isn't as "in your face" as the other kids she ignores his negative behavior.
I'm at my wits end with her but at least she isn't advocating for meds so I guess she is only part evil.
@badkat83 (1620)
• United States
6 May 08
I do not like medicine. Never take any myself, but I put my child on ADD medicine when he was little. I hated every minute of it.
I knew my child was different. I tried everything, diets, doctors, alternative doctors and nothing worked, and I guess I was sick of school calling me, so I put him on meds.
Well one day (and many years later) I decided to take him off of it. Never told school and never have been back to the doctors. Changed my sons doctor to mine.
I believe because of the meds my son was always 80 lbs and small. The minute I took him off, he grew and grew. A little too much. He went from 80 lbs. to 200 in 2 years and grew 5 inches. I know he is overweight now, we are working on that. But I believe it was the medicine.
So is he doing better in school. No. Not any different than when I had him on the meds. But that is something we as parents have to work on. And as for schools? They suck.
I don't listen to anyone now.
@bellaofchaos (11538)
• United States
6 May 08
Would you medicate your child?
Yes. I have medicated my child because at the time my son was a physically abusive child towards me and all the family members and so we started with a TSS and after a bit he was prescribed some meds. We went through different meds and none of them were right for him it acutally made him worse to the point of hospitalization. Now he is not on meds due to the fact that he can't take stimulants they make him physically violent. But he still has episodes and just quite recently I have some very ugly bruises from being beat up by my 6 year old.
. This happen while I was putting him into a hold technique taught by the TSS to restrain him so that he can't hurt himself or others when he explodes.
Some kids do need meds..MOST DO NOT!!!! I think that a TSS should be done before meds are even thought of. I have a daughter who is prescribed 20mg of adderrall becuase she is a complete space cadet. LOL!! But she is my little space cadet and I do not give her the meds at all. I don't want my child to suffer the side effects that can happen becuase my insurance company would prefer not to give my child a TSS and only meds. Grrr.
I'm not for meds at all I'm for other forms of interaction. My son is physically agressive and has the impulsivity part where he does dangerous things and doesn't think about getting hurt. So I have a TSS for 10 hours of home/community time. he doesn't have her in school and guess what I have 4 other children and 3 of them don't have these problems. So I'm not looking for a babysitter. LOL!! My daughter she has the innattentiveness and no attention span. She is such the space cadet she had a TSS for 10hrs in school and she gets 5hrs home and community. The TSS in school makes sure she stays on task. Oh and did I mention both of my kids are socially behind due to the ADHD so the community time is spent trying to get them socially up to par with their peers and work on my son with his agression in the home.
I would rather have a TSS thank stinky meds that can do (insert diety here) know what... I'm tired of people thinking that meds are the only answer they are the only answer if after you have tried everything else they are the only thing that works. I'm not saying that Meds are good I'm not saying that they are bad they are what they are. But I'm saying that for my kids it's not the right choice when we can correct the problems they have with a TSS during the school yr.
I get that some kids really do need it and I don't belittle any parent that uses them because that is the only thing that works for their children. But I don't condone that after one half hour or hour session a doctor says your child needs medicated and he didn't even present the problem in front of the doctor.
Sometimes meds are like putting a bandaid on a leg that is hanging on by a thread of skin. If you don't show the child how to deal with their medical issue how are you going to ultimately correct it. It's all about giving them the proper tools to deal with their ADHD if they truly have it. You teach them techniques when they are angry or when they catch themselves wondering on how to bring it back on track. You can't expect to medicate them and have what ever the problem is solved.
. This happen while I was putting him into a hold technique taught by the TSS to restrain him so that he can't hurt himself or others when he explodes.
Some kids do need meds..MOST DO NOT!!!! I think that a TSS should be done before meds are even thought of. I have a daughter who is prescribed 20mg of adderrall becuase she is a complete space cadet. LOL!! But she is my little space cadet and I do not give her the meds at all. I don't want my child to suffer the side effects that can happen becuase my insurance company would prefer not to give my child a TSS and only meds. Grrr.
I'm not for meds at all I'm for other forms of interaction. My son is physically agressive and has the impulsivity part where he does dangerous things and doesn't think about getting hurt. So I have a TSS for 10 hours of home/community time. he doesn't have her in school and guess what I have 4 other children and 3 of them don't have these problems. So I'm not looking for a babysitter. LOL!! My daughter she has the innattentiveness and no attention span. She is such the space cadet she had a TSS for 10hrs in school and she gets 5hrs home and community. The TSS in school makes sure she stays on task. Oh and did I mention both of my kids are socially behind due to the ADHD so the community time is spent trying to get them socially up to par with their peers and work on my son with his agression in the home.
I would rather have a TSS thank stinky meds that can do (insert diety here) know what... I'm tired of people thinking that meds are the only answer they are the only answer if after you have tried everything else they are the only thing that works. I'm not saying that Meds are good I'm not saying that they are bad they are what they are. But I'm saying that for my kids it's not the right choice when we can correct the problems they have with a TSS during the school yr.
I get that some kids really do need it and I don't belittle any parent that uses them because that is the only thing that works for their children. But I don't condone that after one half hour or hour session a doctor says your child needs medicated and he didn't even present the problem in front of the doctor.
Sometimes meds are like putting a bandaid on a leg that is hanging on by a thread of skin. If you don't show the child how to deal with their medical issue how are you going to ultimately correct it. It's all about giving them the proper tools to deal with their ADHD if they truly have it. You teach them techniques when they are angry or when they catch themselves wondering on how to bring it back on track. You can't expect to medicate them and have what ever the problem is solved.
@bellaofchaos (11538)
• United States
6 May 08
YOu've seen the bruises that were given to me on thursday and they are still very dark and still there. I want to make a point about why I medicated him. He was a danger to my other 4 children. I was told if I didn't try everything offered to help him there was a good chance him or my toher children would be removed because he was a danger to them with his violent outbursts, Plus the person saw my son flip out and hit me and my at the time 1 1/2 yr old daughter just because I told him no. I was trying for years to get him help and had it recorded. I have it recorded at head start of his abuse to his peers too. Befire I medicated him I took him to a psychiatrist, had early begingings intervention come in and various other agencies. It took my 3 yrs to get him proper help. It's more the physical aggression. I could care less if he's running cricles around my coffee table. LOL!!!!
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
9 May 08
Your son is in a class all by himself hon. Yes, I have seen what he is capable of. I have heard him having one of his fits. I have seen him being restrained by a professional to stop him from causing harm to himself or others. I don't fault you for making the choice to medicate him. He is one of the rare cases where I agree meds will/do help him.
But compare him to my son of the same age. Would you medicate my son being the way he is when comparing him to your son the way he is? I doubt it.
Take soccer for example. The only one of our kids that every had a problem was your little princess and that is because her daddy (the coach) let her do whatever she wanted to do whenever she wanted to do it. Our hyperactive, should be on meds, in need of serious counseling, children did fine! Why? Because they had an outlet for their energy and how they had so much of it at 8:30 AM is still a mystery to me but I saw that it worked. Maybe if the TSS worker my son has didn't take him and make him sit in the library for 3 hours while she was out with him he wouldn't be so wound up when he gets home. But hey what do I know, right?
@olivemai (4738)
• United States
6 May 08
I would not medicate my children! For those reasons, I wold try homeschooling or a catholic school, whichever was better for my area! I know what you mean. Insurance companies have way too much power over the people as it is! They are out of control.
@sweetie_in_wa2002 (16)
• United States
6 May 08
I completely agree with this. I can't believe that your insurance is going to do this. What has happened to the medical society today that they feel that they have a right to tell you that if you don't medicate your child that they are going to discontinue some of your benefits. To me it seems like the medical society today is just looking to fill everyones pockets and not worried about how the patient is. I truly believe that if a child needs to be medicated it should be the last resort option for the parent not the first thing that the doctor thinks of. I have three children a 11 year old. A 6 year old and a 2 year old all three of them are very different in all aspects. My 11 year old wants to be in front of the computer all day. My 6 year old is content with playing with her toys in her room. My 2 year old sometimes seems like he just bounces off the walls. All children are different. Next thing you know they will wnt to start medicating for not being active enough. How can they try and make us medicate our children. When did it become a who cares about the patient. Instead lets just make moeny profession I would never medicate my child. I also agree that children today do need better discipline. This telling your parents that you are going to call the cops if they hit you. My mother would have said you go right ahead. But thay better hurry up because now I'm going to beat the hell out of you. I got spankings when I was growing up. I had to even go pick ky own switches sometimes. I don't believe in beating your child but I do believe that if your child does something wrong. It is your choice to spank them and a little swat on the butt isn't going to give them a traumatic experience. Otherwise there would be alot of adults now days with alot more problems. Rather than the children having problems today. Okay sorry for being so long but I have very stong feelings about this subject.
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
9 May 08
Rant right along with me. Your comment was appreciated.
I have heard that "tell them to hurry up because now I'm going to beat the hell out of you" line before. I think I used it on my daughter when she threatened me 9 years ago. lol
@sweetie_in_wa2002 (16)
• United States
10 May 08
I know. My boss has a seven year old and she was telling me that she threatened to spank her daughter here a while back and she said that go ahead I will just call the police. If that would have been my daughter. The moment she told me that I would have spanked her but and then told her that to go ahead and call them and then after she gets done with that. She might want to start packing her bags because she was going to be taken somewhere where she had to share a room with about ten other girls and she would never see me or our house again.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
6 May 08
I agree with you on this. Yes some children need medication but far too many are over medicated or medicated for the wrong reasons. When my niece was three we had her in a pre-K and the teacher there wanted us to get her checked for being hyper active because she wouldn't sit for two hours while the teacher talked. We were like "what three year old will"? Most adults can't sit still for that long, they will fidget as well let alone a toddler. They want these kids to be zombies. They don't want to take the time to teach and unfortunately you get new parents who have no one else to rely on will do what doctors and teachers tell them figuring they are on the professionals. As you said it's bull.
Now that being said my niece is on medication but hers we as parents (her mother and I) knew what the problem. We first took her to one doctor who wouldn't diagnose her right and just put her as ODD and had hr on meds she shouldn't have been her on. We finally got her to a new doctor and onto the right medications. My niece is manic/depressive (bipolar) the same as her mother and I. We knew the signs and could see it in her. She has responded well to the medication and is on the bare minimum needed. She is also on a sleeping aid but again mild due to her having sleep issues. She always had, even as a baby (talk about driving us nuts 
) but it's not enough to knock her out, just enough to aid in going to sleep. We try to keep such things at a bare minimum because we don't want her to think a "Pill will solve it all" which I see so many think now a days.
Good luck with your fight. It does sound like you know what you are doing.
) but it's not enough to knock her out, just enough to aid in going to sleep. We try to keep such things at a bare minimum because we don't want her to think a "Pill will solve it all" which I see so many think now a days.
Good luck with your fight. It does sound like you know what you are doing.
@p3halliwel2005 (3156)
• Philippines
6 May 08
Here in our country we don't medicate children because they are hyperactive. We don't give much though of ADHD or ODD. Here we don't get jailed for spanking our kids and disciplining them the way we as parents know when they commit mistakes. Children gets treated here with medicine only if they are really sick. I don't like medicines at all and I won't give my kids medicines just to stop them from being hyperactive. Medications have added ingredients in it that can affect our kids health as well like those side effects we get when we take certain kinds of medications. Kids are kids. Hyper or not. They don't need meds for that. If they were sick with fever give them paracetamol and put a cold compress on their forehead. Give them vitamins for growth but not medicines to stop them from being kids.
@skinnychick (6905)
• United States
10 May 08
It depends on what the ailment is. There are some kids out there that are depressed for whatever reason and probably could use some meds for that. Some attention from their parents may be nice too.
As far as ADD, ADHD, blah blah blah...Most of that is lack of parental attention to an extent. That is not to say that some kids may not actually be afflicted with such conditions but goc's are quick to jump to the prescription pad. I would never medicate my kid with any medication unless I believe that they need it.
Both of my kids could probably use a little medication but then again they are just being normal, bratty, energetic little souls. Whoever said being a mom and dealing with kids would ever be easy, especially when they sprout their own personalities.
@ShardAerliss (1488)
•
6 May 08
Woot for a rant!
I totally agree with you. I wouldn't medicate a child for 'behavioural problems.' But then I'm strongly against medication as it is. Children are full of energy, and sometimes they just don't know how to channel that energy. That simply means they need to be given something to do.
The school said my youngest sister had ADHD. Fortunately my mom ignored them. Sure, my sister could be an absolute BRAT when she was little, and her teens are proving interesting times, but she simply needed something to channel her energy into that wasn't yelling her head off while the rest of the family did quiet things... doesn't help that the next sibling up is 8 years her senior.
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
9 May 08
There are 5 years age difference in my 1st to 2nd child then 5 years age difference in my 3rd to 4th child so everyone has someone to play with except my oldest who has me to annoy. Yay for being a young mom! When my kids start to fidget I take them outside or to an indoor play area in the mall or to Chuck e Cheese just so they can get it out of their system. Seems to work more miracles than I have seen any pill produce. Imagine that, and I didn't even have to go to college to get as smart as I am.
@grammasnook (1871)
• United States
6 May 08
Sometimes I wonder is the child really active or are the parents underactive? The school tried to tell me that my son was adhd and that was like 17 years ago, they suggested bringing him to the doctors (which I did ) The doctor himself told me there is nothing wrong with your son, schools have tried to play doctor for a long time, just do not listen and wrote down that my son was not adhd. I had sent the note into school and don't you know they sent me a note home telling me that my doctor was wrong and that they wanted him to be seen by thier suggested doctor! Instantly I called my pediatrician and read the note to him, he was outraged. I really didn't understand why they came to this conclusion since my son was never in trouble and was bringing home a decent report card. A's and B's, he was getting a c in reading and they said this was a sign of a learning disability. My response was BS this is a sign that he was not excelling in all classes but he was average in reading. I never put him on anything nor did I see the doctor they wanted to see, now my son is 22 years old and an active member of the community and living a wonderful life.
Have you ever noticed that it is mostly boys that are diagnosed with this disorder?
I also wanted to comment on the person that wrote about the young man that has been coddled by his mom. He is having anxiety attacks if he goes into a place that is crowded and has to leave, perhaps he is clostephobic? The schools should have nothing to do with trying to diagnose your child. They can suggest for you to bring them to thier doctor if they are that concerned but if you are not as a parent then do not worry about it. Boys are active, oh and if you have to tell your child 5 times to hang up thier jacket that is what I my friends call selective hearing because if you tell them to go and play video games you can bet your bottom dollar that they we will do that the first time! lol I also believe that the school gave the child a complex by making him see psychs that he did not have to see. NO MEDICATIONS FOR CHILDREN. The best med you can give a child is TLC.
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
9 May 08
It's funny now that you mention it but yes it is usually boys who are given these diagnoses. But don't let that get out because then it will be blamed on a testosterone imbalance and we will have grade schoolers on even more meds.
I too took my son to see a psychologist who said there was nothing wrong with him. The school couldn't accept that so I agreed to let my son be examined and tested by their psychologist. He came back and said my son had a learning disability. ROFLMAO. Even my sons teacher laughed at that one. My 1st grader is doing math on a 3rd grade level and is proficient in everything but reading. And being mom but not a doctor I suspect that is because reading a 10 page book about penguins just doesn't interest him. His mind isn't being challenged enough. He can recognize words and sound out some of the hardest words for his grade level even if he doesn't comprehend their meaning but I know my boy and I know if he is bored then he isn't going to bother wasting his time continuing to be bored.
He can play V-Smile learning games up to a 4th grade level because they challenge him. But you will never see my son in an "advanced" class now because he has a "learning disability". You're right...BS!
@grammasnook (1871)
• United States
9 May 08
When my daughter was young she was a straight A student all through her schooling. When I brought the concern about her being bored her teacher agreed with me and put her in to attend a school for advanced students. My daughter on her yearly test the state requires in the 4th grade had scores putting her in the 7th grade level passing it with b's. In order to go to this "special" school she had to pass a test and an interview. Don't you know I was shocked when she did not get in. I immediately met with the principle to ask why.
Are you sitting down? I sure hope so, she did not get in because they said she lacked the imagination. I asked for them to be specific. When asked why did the girl in the story wore a pink dress to the party, she responded and said because that is what her mom wanted for her to wear to look pretty. They said if she had said something like .. it was a barbie party and all the girls had to wear pink.
Confused look on my face my mouth to the floor and I asked are you kidding me? She said no her it is right here. I then said to the principle so you are telling me that her imagination will get her through Harvard?
My daughter which is now 16 years old has set her own goals and is still a straight A student and she will get where she wants to be. When she was in the fourth grade she asked her teacher if her parents could lock in on todays rates for Harvard for when she is ready to go.
I hate schools/teachers that believe that they know your child better than you do.
@SusanLee (1920)
• United States
9 May 08
I'm inclined to agree with you. The children cannot be turned loose to run off all that natural energy. I have a seven year old grandson who is on medication. Without it he can't focus, and yes he has had his behind busted prior to the medication. What is so sad to me, is there is a beautiful park half a block from where he lives. In my day as soon as we got in from school we would have changed our clothes and been out the door and to the park. While staying at my daughters for a couple of weeks I took him to the park. There were parents everywhere. There didn't appear to be any unattended children, which is good, but sad too. I don't know what the answer is. Personally I think the pedophiles should be exterminated. There is no help for a rabid dog, they have to be exterminated, and there is no help for people that hunt our children. Everything is out of balance.
