[neverdem]

Maybe it's a self-esteem problem.

I'm more inclined to think there's a lot of over diagnosis, but I could be wrong. I wonder what's the prevalence in other developed countries for juvenile depression.

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[neverdem]

PING

[thoughtomator]

This is a parenting problem. Any parent who wants to drug their kids needs their kids taken away from them. This is child abuse just as surely and just as damaging as molestation.

[cyborg]

I would like to know that too. My mother and I are at odds over depression. She does not believe in it which leads me to believe at least where she's from it doesn't happen often. Very interesting. I think giving preschool children drugs is very iffy. We don't know how this is affecting their brains.

[jocon307]

This is truly sick. I do not believe that persons under the age of 5 can be diagnosed as depressed in any way. Bratty, maybe, but not depressed.

[Viking2002]

What in the hell does this say for the state of modern medicine (and society in general) when we're medicating preschoolers?

[IronJack]

Hmmmm. Kids are told over and over "Don't do drugs. Drugs 'r bad. Mkay?" Then they're told that for every ailment, there's a pharmaceutical solution.

In many public schools, they're effectively told that if they DON'T do (the "right") drug -- e.g., Ritalin -- they'll be punished, suspended, harassed.

They're given unrealistic expectations in terms of appearance, conduct, academics, thrust on them by parents who are living vicariously through them and by an education system that is nothing more than a giant social experiment with them as the lab rats.

Their image comes from trash TV, gangsta (c)rap, loudmouth athletes, and punks who paint the picture of a hostile, dog-eat-dog world that will savage them unless they're bullet-proof.

They're suffocating under a blanket of good intentions, manipulated by every adult with a leftover dream from Woodstock, and lied to by everyone they've ever been told to trust.

They get trotted out every time some thief needs a tear-jerk mascot for his new entitlement scam. The thief gets rich off taxpayer money and the kids go to hell.

There's a "village" meddling in every aspect of their lives, contradicting the little moral value their parents try to impart in between golf games and Survivor reruns.

And we wonder why they're depressed ...

[StriperSniper]

Remember kiddies, SAY NO TO DRUGS!
(Unless they are the kind the government wants you to take.)

[dandelion]

Here is a link to an article I wrote for an online mag back in 2000. Because of this article, I was vilified as a "scientologist" (I am a conservative Christian), a charlatan (I am a degreed early childhood educator) and was threatened with lawsuit. I was AMAZED at the virulence of the ugly emails I received for writing that little children deserve the benefit of the doubt on this...

These folks definitely don't want anything interrupting the flow of the money.

NOTE: to avoid legal issues, this is an excerpt only, from a cached site. The original posting could not be found...

http://www.quest-iv-health.com/testimonials/chadd01.html

STOPPING THE ADD INSANITY: A CALL TO REVOLUTION

The ADD/ADHD pharmaceutical juggernaut is out of control - it is time for the classroom teacher to kill it.


There is nothing in the science of Early Childhood Education that can in any way endorse the systematic drugging of young children for any reason other than valid medical need to prevent harm. ADD (attention deficit disorder) has a set of symptoms popularly ascribed to it which are considered to be desirable and common to healthy active children worldwide. (These symptoms - inattentiveness, talking out of turn, fidgeting - are also seen frequently in people whose IQ is over 160.) Only in America, however, has the negativity surrounding common childhood behavior reached levels that could be classified as abusive, with the prescription of powerful drugs to control children who do not conform to rigid societal rules. ADD/ADHD itself has not been proven to be harmful to the children it purportedly affects, so logic dictates that powerful prescription drugs are far more harmful to children than the ADD itself. Look at the facts:


The Forgotten History of ADD


ADD is a relatively new disorder, having come into existence with the infamous "Factory School System" at the turn of the century, which was designed to create "good workers" for urban area industrial factories in Great Britain and the United States. At that time, the ideal worker considered to be submissive, diligent, conformist, and productive; therefore, the ideal student was considered to be compliant, quiet, and able to take instruction. The Eugenics Movement was a powerful influence in the creation of the Factory School System.


Many proponents of selective sterilization and breeding, looking to declare certain races and individuals as genetically superior, saw the Factory School as a field lab for validating their theories. Intelligence testing, norms, and deviancy studies were common in Factory Schools, and by these oppressive standards one such group was tested - aggressive, independent children. These children did not display the preferred characteristics, and were considered to be inferior; they were pronounced by George Fredrick Still in 1902 as "defective in moral character". Others described it as "Brain Damage", then "Minimal Brain Damage". It was attributed to varying organic causes, but all agreed that these children did not meet the new "ideal". Following World War II, the ideologies of the Eugenics Movement became unpopular, in large part due to the atrocities committed in the name of eugenics by Nazi Germany. But the eugenics philosophy was now status quo in the United States, and authorities were reluctant to relinquish their rigid ideas of normalcy; so new names were invented for the "Defective Moral Character". It was renamed "Hyperactivity" in the 1960's, and in 1980 became "Attention Deficit Disorder".


The Present Definition of ADD In November of 1998, a distinguished panel of 13 professionals from fields as diverse as psychology, psychiatry, neurology, pediatrics, epidemiology, biostatistics, and education met under the aegis of the National Institute of Health to try to reach a consensus regarding ADD and its treatment. The Consensus Development Conference Statement is the most reputable definition of Attention Deficit Order to date. The panel's own conclusion in the section, "What Is the Scientific Evidence To Support ADHD as a Disorder?" was this:


"As of yet, there is no independent valid test for ADHD. Although research has suggested a central nervous system basis for ADHD, further research is necessary to firmly establish ADHD as a brain disorder." Read that again. The most expert opinion available from the National Institute of Health has stated that there is NO INDEPENDENT VALID TEST FOR ADHD. No expert opinion is available to clearly define what ADD/ADHD truly is. Moreover, according to the panel, in the next phrase they confirm that ADHD is not firmly established as a brain disorder. What is it, then? The most clear statement by the panel is found in the next section, "What Is the Impact of ADHD on Individuals, Families, and Society?"

To read the next section: http://www.quest-iv-health.com/testimonials/chadd01.html

[WV Mountain Mama]

Check for ADD in other coutries as well. I am sure our rates are much higher in that category.

[Marie Antoinette]

This is just *wrong*. Kids need to run around in the sunshine and fresh air! They need exercise and to explore outdoors. I would be depressed too, if I were cooped up all day away from my family.

Unfortunately, what was once common sense/common knowledge has been lost. It will now take several "studies" (gov't funded of course) to remind society of these things.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping, links. Topic that hits home. My best friend, my cousin Steve, committed suicide 3 weeks ago. About 10 days later the FDA came out with the anti-depressant warning. My initial thoughts were that the antidepressants were not helpful, but a weapon against HIM. Thanks for the links, topic, comments...pro and con.