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By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 21, 2010

A sure-to-be-controversial new study suggests psychotropic medications are overused in children.

James P. Morris, Ph.D. and George Stone, LCSW contend that one in every 50 Americans is now considered permanently disabled by mental illness, and up to eight million children take one or more psychotropic drugs.

They state that there is little evidence available to warrant the widespread use of psychotropic drugs for children, and little data regarding its long-term impact on development.

According to the authors, the mental health field is currently designed to treat adults with psychotropic medications, but they are often misused in the case of children and adolescents,

“This presents an ethical challenge to marriage and family therapists, who should be very cautious about these medications as an option for children. The long-term research on their safety for children is uncertain.”

The article is found in found in the Journal of Marital & Family Therapy.

As an example, the diagnosis of early-onset bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has climbed drastically in the past decade.

Drugs designed to treat the above two disorders show a fair short-term risk-benefit ratio, but a poor long-term benefit.

Morris and Stone indicate, “If the psychiatric community has been misled by pharmaceutical companies in thinking that these drugs are safe for their children, the parents of these children have been in turn deluded into putting their children in harm’s way.”

The authors continue that the pharmaceutical industry is largely influenced by the desire for economic profit, and the marketing muscle behind the industry, and leniency of institutions such as the FDA, tout benefits that are not yet properly evaluated for pediatric use.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/21/are-kids-overprescribed-psychiatric-medications/12996.html



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