Posted on 04/11/2005 6:28:41 PM PDT by neverdem
You don't trust the judgement of the doctors who are treating these kids with medication, yet you expect me to trust the judgement of a doctor's Office Manager?
For the record, I'm not necessarily saying that any of these kids needed medication. If you would read my previous posts, you will see that my argument with you was that these kids only need a loving Mom and Dad. My cousin had a loving Mom and Dad when she developed the problem and she had the same loving Mom and Dad after the problem was corrected. She may have been treated with drugs, or not, I don't know. I do know that her loving Mom and Dad had to seek professional help for her, and it worked.
I was horribly shy (selectively mute, as they're now calling it). One day, a car pulled up next to me when I was walking home from school, and the driver offered me a ride. I backed away, muttering something about living close by. Obviously enraged, he slammed the door and drove rapidly off. Later, a picture of that car was in the paper--the latest victim of a mass murderer was seen getting into it, and a bystander happened to take a picture of it. So, shyness can literally save your life.
Prozac is very appropriate in some cases. From what I've read though, it's a mistake to give to children.
It seems thought/emotion altering drugs help in some areas and hurt in others. For some folks they are the only answer. I take an antidepressant (not Prozac), and I can tell you it works wonders, but has a side effect of mildly increased anxiety in certain situations. But, as a mature adult, I am aware of it and can control those 'stray' feelings when they occur. I can well imagine that a child or teen, who is immature, inexperienced, and does not know themselves, would have a terrible time with thoughts or feelings as side effects of drugs.
There's an interesting show on a PBS station, channel 13 in NYC, about defense mechanisms in animals now.
I'm glad your shyness probably saved your life.
I agree with you about school. I dreaded going every day. In my early years, by far most of what I leaned, I learned on my own (however this was less and less true as I went on from high school to college and grad school).
BTW, capital letters are our friends (LOL).
It (almost) sounds like a child who didn't go to pre-school/day care, and wasn't "socialized" before starting school, and the teachers panicked.
HOW DID WE EVER GET TO HUMAN LIFE IN 2005 WITH SUCH TROUBLED PEOPLE IN IT?
This is a crock of sh*t, if ever I've heard one.
All these people need to watch Nanny 911 to see how the "pathologies" we and THE CHILDREN are suffering from stem directly from the self worship encouraged by our dysfunctional society.
My daughter qualified for special ed when she was 3 because she couldn't talk.
A special ed teacher thought my daughter had select mutism. My daughter understood everything, but didn't say a word.
The teacher tried to force my daughter to talk by not letting her have lunch until she asked for it. My daughter never did verbally.
My daughter hated this class, and cried every day I left her there.
We pulled her out after a few months.
We then found out that my daughter has brain damage, and the muscles in her mouth were weak. She couldn't talk.
Same here, my Dad, (not the smartest Chimp in the cage), thought I was retarded because I spent my time listening to Elvis on the old Victrola, (cathral radio, probably before your time).
I was tested in the seventh grade and scored in the top ten percentile in IQ. I continued to be an average to failing student until the ninth grade when I couldn't take the boredom any longer and switched to the academic stream and doubled my course load.
I ended up going to University and earned three degrees including a Masters. I haven't done much with my education but it was worth the effort.
Looking back at what kids today have to put up with I have to say I feel sorry for them. They have even fewer opportunities to escape from Stalinist education than I had.
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. What's the diagnosis, if I may ask?
I wasn't specifically referring to anything you said; I was commenting in general that many people think that psychiatric diagnoses are bogus (many diagnoses are NOT). I worked in a psychiatric hospital for 3 years, and am very familiar with the field. There are children who truly do need meds. And yet I do agree that there are many kids today that are medicated when they shouldn't be. When I worked in psych, the psychiatrists would try very hard to avoid putting kids on meds, but there were some cases when it was just absolutely necessary.
"My daughter was pegged ADD.
I took her out of school and now she is a happy seven year old doing 4th grade work. Not a chemical in her body.
Sometimes people grow out of things without medication."
ADD seems like it is over diagnosed. Its not surprising to me you give a kid a huge bowl of fruit loops, then maybe a pop at recess. And then they have to sit quietly listening to some union teacher droning on and on about uninteresting crap. Not engaging the children.
Of course kids are going to explode sooner or later.
Thankyou, I try but alas, I sometimes I feel like a Motherless child..........
No, sorry I was channelling Richie Havens for a moment.
.........sometimes I feel that I'm barking at the Moon.
Thank you for the reference links!
I was like that most of my school years. It was a bit lonely, but I just didn't talk to people. When I got older, the other kids thought I was stuck up!
Now I'm a trainer and I don't mind at all being in front of an audience. I don't mind talking to strangers and there are very few instances where I retreat into myself. Sometimes I just can't say a word! But most of the time I am very social.
But I never was medicated... my mom did not take me to a psychiatrist or a therapist or even the school counselor. I was just considered shy. I don't know why I was that way, just as I don't have any idea why I made a complete turn around.
Stuff happens
Thanks.. honestly I was someone who was against the drugs which I also saw as overperscribing. Until I felt the difference it made for me when I was down.. I am now a fanboy of the drug companies:).
Its my belief a lot of problems people have, like chronically overweight, which they think of as their own fault.. could be cured by drugs. Especially in the next decade with a lot of the big pharma going after that illness.
I thought I was just really shy you see.. not an illness. I had it since I was maybe 10 years old, so it just seemed normal to me.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'd die before I'd let my child live like that. If drugs will alleviate her symptoms and give her a start on a normal, fear free life, then bring em on. Of course, my child would not have to face public school, she'd be homeschooled (as one of our sons was), but she would still need to function in public. Again, if drugs will make that happen, then she'd get them.
I think ADD is way over diagnosed. When I asked our doctor to check our youngest son for ADD, he gave me a form FOR THE TEACHER TO FILL OUT! I told him I thought that was pretty cool,not only do the teachers teach, but they're also psychiatrists! Also told him if he relied on teachers to make the diagnoses, I hoped he slept well at night, knowing that half the boys in my son's class were on Ritalin....all diagnosed by a woman who didn't like boys. Homeschooling became the issue.
In some cases these drugs can save a life.
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