Friday, March 9, 2012

Meds- The Invention of Satan

My mother feels strongly that psychiatric medication was invented by Satan himself to create an endless source of money for greedy bastards, off the "so called problems" of others. Therapy, that's what you need. Talk about your problems and they will go away. Woosh!

She is not alone. Lots of folks believe that the act of buying prescribed medication puts cash directly into the hands of terrorists. Particularly when it comes to medication for children, there are tons of people out there who believe that a good spanking and some structure will cure all emotional and behavioral disorders. There is the Holier Than Thou group that says "I would NEVER drug my child, I will LOVE my child". Then there is the You are a Lazy Parent group. Parents who put their children on meds just don't want to discipline. They want to watch Real Housewives of Idaho without having to get up to pour water on the fire the child just started in the carpet.

Here is what irritates me..... I am consistently hearing or reading statements like "everyone agrees medications are over-perscribed" or "we all know these meds are over used" etc, and where I find these statements are directly following a persons explanation of why they are using psych meds themselves or with their children. It has become the common disclaimer. "Well, I use them but I agree that too many people rely on them".

Really?

Who?

As much as I love and adore the Motherlode blog at the New York Times, I found similar comments in a blog post there. It seems every time an article is written about the over use of medication or the (pseudo) reasons they really don't work, the people who rush to defend the use feel compelled to say it. Meds saved my life but are given out too quickly.

Again, who exactly are those others?

Not you of course.

Clearly there are people out there who abuse medications. There are people who abuse cough syrup. There are people who abuse spray paint. There are people who abuse the dusting stuff in a can for your computer keyboard. There is the abomination of people who trick doctors into diagnosing their child with a mental or physical illness in order to obtain cash in the form of SSI. It happens. It is child abuse. Wherever there is a system to help people there will always be jackasses who take advantage in ugly ways. 

So for the people who believe that all doctors do is prescribe medication, I have this to say. That's their job. You go to a doctor for a problem, who has spent a thousand years getting that degree, and if there is a medication to help that problem, you will probably get a prescription to take home with you.

Here is the problem as I see it. You hired the wrong person to consult with.

If you are looking for a treatment for your child's symptoms of mental illness, see a therapist.

If you are looking for help with your child's behavior, see a Behavior Management professional.

If you are looking for information about the effects of food on your child, see a nutritionist.

If you want information on vitamin supplements for your child, go into any vitamin store and the staff will talk the ears right off your head.

If you want to know about alternatives such as acupuncture, find an acupuncturist!

If you think your child is over-medicated, tell the doctor NO. NO more meds, NO more of this med. NO thank you I don't want meds.

If you want to complain that too many children are diagnosed with a mental illness, behavior/emotional issues etc, I will absolutely agree with you. However, to attribute the issue to the doctor who identified the disorder is just pure jackassery. If you feel the need to complain about the rate of occurrence look around you.

What the hell is causing our children so many problems?

Did you know that fruit pesticides are known to cause ADHD? Did you know that those pesticides are in the bodies of over 90% of all children in this country? Of course if you take that child with ADHD symptoms to a psychiatrist you will probably get a script. If you take that child to a nutritionist you will likely get a recommendation to buy only organic fruit and use and Omega 3-6-9 supplement. If you take the child to a Behavior Specialist you will get a list of things to do such as keep a quiet, dimly lit area with minimal decor for your child to decompress when hyper.

100 years ago, children were not diagnosed with ADHD. 100 years ago, mothers did not have jet fuel show up in their breast milk. 100 years ago you could walk out to just about any body of water in this country and swim in it. You could fish in it and then eat the fish. Pink Slime was not yet invented.

I guess in previous generations people believed that doctors knew everything. In the year 2012, it has become so incredibly complex and multifaceted, no single person or profession is going to have expertise on all of it. Tremendous leaps happen every day in all domains of human biology. We have to stop expecting to be told. We also have to stop blaming the person we can see and start thinking about the gargantuan environmental mess we have made.



("YOU" refers to all the complainers, blamers, diminishers, people who do not take responsibility for their health care, or wait to be told what to do. "YOU" does not refer to the reader here) .

23 comments:

  1. Hear! hear! I agree 100%

    PS. Please write more often. Miss you. :-)

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  2. Thanks CB!

    Kind of interesting that there is only 1 comment. Whenever I write something that people disagree with that is what happens.

    Go ahead! Disagree!
    (politely and with respect of course)

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    Replies
    1. I agree the more pill I have been taking the sicker I get and I get addicted to them

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    2. I agree the more pill I have been taking the sicker I get and I get addicted to them

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  3. I also think that 100 years ago we could understand that there were "scholars" and there were "do-ers"...some people needed to get out there and farm that land, or chop those trees, or whip the milk into butter, paint, sew, embroider, etc....now all the young folk who might have done those things with zeal and energy, and a feeling of accomplishment, must instead squeeze themselves into a desk and sit still looking at books and papers for six hours a day, then ride a bus home and do it for two more hours, at least, there. Of course you have to drug them to make them able to stand it!

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  4. No one is commenting on my posts the last few days either. They must all be out doing something, but I can't imagine what....either that or they don't like me now that my son got expelled from school. I do know what you mean. Almost NO ONE commented on my Ilya posts.....so I begin to think I hear all those voices out there whispering that I need to what? (they need to speak louder) whip him/call the police.....maybe medicate him? More? Beats me.

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  5. Yes, yes, yes. I'm not a mom, but work closely with children and agree with you totally on this.
    I might have to share on FB. Thanks!

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  6. I love this! Very well said! Even though I think I am personally guilty of feeling like meds are overused - yet not by MY child, who desperately needs them! I hereby promise that if I have previously been guilty, I will never use that disclaimer again. And funny, too, because being a doctor, I get the other side of it too! So many patients come to me with "x" problem, then don't want the treatments offered. What do they expect me to do for them??? Just confirm their self-diagnosis and then tell them to carry-on?! You wouldn't believe how often I get that. Or...(now I am veering off topic, but you got me started)...they come to me with their pelvic pain (or similar), then act shocked or put out that they need to have a pelvic exam! I mean honestly. (I'm an ob/gyn, for goodness sakes, what did they expect to happen?) Am I supposed to look at them with my x-ray vision and diagnose the problem? (for which they won't want treatment anyway! lol) P.S. always happy to see the occasional post from you pop up in my reader, even if I've gotten lazy with commenting and posting lately!

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  7. Fantastic post, I liked every word of it. I don't have kids, but I get sort of the same thing with infertility.

    I keep turning this comment into a personal vent. Some people need meds, some people will benefit from a mix of all the professionals you listed above. We are all unique and need a tailored solution.

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  8. What a great blog entry!

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  9. Your statements should be an eye opener.

    I often have thought that medication seems to be overprescriped; the be all and end all of problems today.

    A teachers dream classroom in my mind was filled with drugged, cooperative students who, again in my mind probably just needed some discipline; from not just the parent.

    That was, until my son was diagnosed with ADHD.

    ADHD? I was absolutely in denial. I blamed the school, I blamed the doctors, I blamed immunizations, I blamed his lazy eyes, and I blamed everyone including myself.

    While I was in my state of denial I went to every doctor I could think of, I read everything I could, and I waited out the medication until it was proven to me that it was absolutely necessary; turns out, it was.

    So, we have the ability to decide what is best for our children. If as a mother I felt medication was the way to go right away, I would have chosen it right away. All of us control our futures, and if there is a problem and we want it fixed it's only up to us.

    Yes, the drugs may be overprescribed, but let's ask why before laying the blame on the prescriber.

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  10. you have said a mouthful. i agree, i agree, i agree

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  11. Don't know how I missed this post. I think there are many people today who refuse to take responsibility for anything. Everything can be blamed on someone else. If it is the fault/responsibility of someone else, then there is no personal responsibility to investigate, change, or make a decision. umm, done ranting.

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  12. Lots to think about here. I hate the process of psychiatric meds, the trial and error, the making things worse sometimes. But ultimately, I will do anything and everything to make the quality of by children's life better, including therapy, medication, vitamins, exercise, healthy foods, and education.

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  13. Hee hee, spanking instead of medicating!! Imagine the chaos of adding spanking to our repetroir of copeing tools- don't know anyone who is super sucessful with spanking high needs children anyway!
    Medication was the first step to
    "normalizing" our family (or creating some pseudo-reasonable facsimile thereof!} "Drugged Zombies" isn't nearly the scenario with most of the families I know eiether- "Taking the edge of violent and disorganized behavior so they can semi-function" is.
    Thanks for creating an informative piece of bloging journalism regarding the use of meds in our kids.

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  14. I have to admit that I too often want a drug for something instead of having to work at it. But that is only true for my drugs. Now I'm kind of sick of them and I want OFF (anti-depressants, ADD, sleeping pills, etc.) That Satan is a crafty SOB.

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  15. please, where did gold to refine go??? what happened, she was there and then gone????

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  16. Hello Anonymous person- Diana has a new blog, here is the link:

    http://www.fromsurvivaltoserenity.com/

    In other news, I totally agree that it sucks to have to experiment so much with psych meds to get a good result. It can be such a long difficult process. Wish they could do brain scans to find what they need!

    Right, spanking may stop the problem at the moment for some kids. Not for us, makes it far worse and drag on way longer. A brain that has gone all wonkey will not straighten out with physical pain!

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  17. Essie, I just wanted to pop in and tell you that I miss your blog so much. Please, please go back to blogging. I need your "spit my coffee" on my computer humor.
    Pretty please.

    I miss you too.

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  18. obviously this is an old post by now...

    but, i guess I am surprised how much work it has been to have 2 of my boys on add/hd meds. They don't just hand them out like candy like a lot of ppl assume...I have to go back every 6 weeks to monitor their weight, their reactions etc..

    its like a constant work in process

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  19. my husband and i adopted 4 kids from foster care, all with rad, among thousands of other capital letters following their names. found your blog on pinterest when i looked up rad. anyways, i'm new, have read maybe 2.3 posts but i think i love the fact you were once self-indulgent, now an adoptive mother of a child with rad and reeling in what that does to a person, the person parenting that child with rad. it's as heavy as it comes, it seems. also love your regular person approach, looooooathe saintly/angels-singing adoption blogs.

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  20. wow, I had NO idea I was listed on pintrest- that's so cool!k
    I too despise the saints and angels blogs, particularily in several cases when I know for a fact they are lies.
    Thanks for the note!

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  21. It is a great website.. The Design looks very good.. Keep working like that!.
    serpent

    ReplyDelete

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