The Truth and Responsibility in Mental Health Practices Act [STOP DRUGGING OUR CHILDREN ACT]

I don't know of any child who needs Ritalin or any other psychiatric drug to make them learn. The schools are all whining about how poorly our children are doing, but no one talks about how the drugs effect the children and their ability to learn.

Some children are taking enough drugs in a given day that it is a wonder they even know their own names, let alone stay awake long enough to answer roll call for each class. It's called a pharmaceutical straitjacket, the best way to subdue a child without restraints. (lets also remember that most of the drugs used are not even FDA approved for the use in children under 18 years of age, and most children are getting very high doses of several drugs each day. Enough to knock out an adult, but then not to many people know about that, do they?)

No one ever talks about how the drugs WILL cause severe brain damage to the children. Also the drugs, the SSRI's can and do cause serious physical damage to the joints, muscles, and nerves. Some children have died, others are crippled beyond any hope, then there are those who just suffer daily. But no one cares about this. Think about it, how could so many children be suffering from ADHD, BIPOLAR EFFECTIVE DISORDER, SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER, OPPOSITIONAL DEFIANT DISORDER, and MENTAL IMPAIRMENTS?...could it not be the severe adverse reactions from the drugs? Yes, it can. And Yes, it is.

These drugs even make it to where a child cannot remember what he/she reads. Learning becomes impossible in a highly over medicated state. I mean geezzzz, a drunk cannot drive while intoxicated. So how can a child learn while suffering from drug - induced intoxication?

Oh, lets not forget that children are also put into JUVENILE DETENTION centers ( which are really institutions set up for the children who have been in psychiatric crisis units a total of 4+ times for temper, destruction of property, abusive behavior, self harm, hallucinations both auditory & visual) too because of these wonderful drugs. No one thinks to tell parents that these are the ADRs. (Adverse Drug Reactions from Ritalin, Cylert, Dexedrine, Adderall, Paxil, Luvox, Remeron, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel, Wellbutrin, Nortriptyline, Tofranil, can make a child psychotic, even more so if they are mixed with each other in nice lethal cocktails as they so commonly are) But I'm just a Mom, I don't have the M.D, Ph.D., or any other title behind my name. I only have experience with these drugs, and the thankfulness that I no longer watch and live the nightmare. I took my "cash cows" out of the system.

I would like to show something to you. I think it is something that would be most helpful in what is being done to our children.

I know you don't know my son, and all the grief he went through because of the drugs he WAS on. The labels that were put on him will never be taken off. He is marked for life now.

I mean would you hire someone who had the labels of Bipolar, Schizoaffective, Oppositional Defiant, and ADHD in their past?

I have sent emails and letters to the following representitives of my state with no reply as yet as this is a cash cow for state funding I do not expect to get a reply and i am hoping that freepers will help in pushing this through to STOP THE DRUGGING OF OUR CHILDREN

To Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of ___________ as follows:

Section 1.
As used in sections 1 to 7 of this act, the following terms mean:

(1) "Informed consent," consent to mental health treatment based upon a full, fair and truthful disclosure of known and reasonably foreseeable benefits, risks and hazards of the proposed treatment and of alternative treatments. This process allows the patient, client or recipient of mental health treatments, or the legal guardian of such patient, client or recipient, to exercise a free and independent judgment by reasonably balancing the probable risks against the probable benefits;

(2) "Mental health care provider," a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, chemical dependency counselor, group therapy leader, licensed or certified professional counselor, psychiatric nurse or any other individual or organization that provides mental health services.

(3) "Research" and "reliable scientific research," publicly documented investigations of falsifiable hypotheses, using appropriately constructed treatment and nontreatment control groups, constructed so as to permit determinations of methodological reliability and validity, conducted at reputable institutions of higher learning, medical schools, research institutes and departments of psychology and reported in sufficient detail to be meaningfully interpreted and replicated at alternate research sites. Research will generally follow the criteria for acceptable scientific conceptions and evidence as noted by the United States Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 113 SCt 2786(1993).

1. Mental health patients and clients, as all consumers of medical and other health care services, have a legal and moral right to be fully and fairly informed of the risks and hazards and relative benefits of all proposed mental health treatments and of alternative treatments.

2. Mental health care providers shall truthfully inform all patients of the risks, hazards and relative benefits of all proposed mental health treatments and of alternative treatments.

1. All requests for reimbursement for mental health treatment shall be accompanied by an informed consent form which shall include at a minimum the following information:

(2) Scientific journal citations demonstrating that the proposed treatment has been proven reasonably safe and effective by reliable and valid scientific research studies including treatment outcome research comparing the proposed treatment to alternative treatments and control subjects;

(3) A brief and truthful listing of the known and reasonably foreseeable risks, hazards and relative benefits of the proposed treatment;

(4) A list of alternative treatments with a brief and truthful description of the benefits and risks of each;

(5) The signatures of the mental health care provider and the patient signifying mutual agreement to the proposed treatment plan.

2. Licensing boards governing the conduct of mental health care providers shall adopt and enforce rules of professional conduct mandating the informed consent contained in section 1 of this act.

1. Every patient, client or recipient of mental health services in the state of ___________ shall receive a nontechnical explanation of the nature and purpose of the mental health treatment procedures, including all forms of psychotherapy, proposed to the patient, client or recipient of mental health services. This nontechnical informed consent explanation shall include at a minimum the following information:

(2) A statement of whether or not the proposed research has been proven safe and effective by reliable and valid scientific methods, including a listing of scientific journal citations demonstrating that the proposed treatment has been proven safe and effective by reliable and valid scientific research studies including treatment outcome research comparing the proposed treatment to alternative treatments and control subjects;

(3) A brief and truthful discussion of the known and reasonably foreseeable risks, hazards and relative benefits of the proposed treatment;

(4) A brief and truthful discussion of alternative treatments and the known and reasonably foreseeable benefits and risks of each.

2. The informed consent discussion required by subsection 1 of this section shall be documented by the signatures of the mental health care provider and the patient, client or recipient of mental health services signifying mutual agreement to the proposed treatment plan.

3. Patients, clients or recipients of mental health services who are incompetent, by virtue of infancy, mental status or other legally valid reason, shall provide informed consent for mental health treatment through the written informed consent and signature of a legal guardian.

1. State and private insurance programs regulated by the state shall not reimburse any mental health care provider for the provision of a treatment unless such treatment has been proven reasonably safe and effective by reliable and valid scientific means.

2. Mental health care providers have a legal and moral obligation to offer treatments and assessments, including all forms of psychotherapy or testing, to the public that have been demonstrated to be safe, valid and effective by reliable and valid scientific investigations.

3. To enforce this obligation and protect the citizens and families of the state of ___________ from hazardous, ineffective or fraudulent forms of mental health practices, mental health care providers are required to truthfully inform insurance and reimbursement system of the reliable scientific evidence of safety and efficacy, if any, for all proposed mental health treatments and alternative treatments.

1. Except for research purposes, psychological tests used by mental health care providers shall include a manual or other published information which fully describes the development of the test, the rationale for the test, the validity and reliability of the test, and normative data. A reasonable discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the method or procedure shall be offered to the consumer and the signed consent of the client shall be obtained prior to use of the method or procedure.

2. A mental health care provider who uses computerized testing services is responsible for the legitimacy and accuracy of the test interpretations. Computer generated interpretations of tests shall be used only in conjunction with professional judgment. A mental health care provider shall indicate when a test interpretation is not based on direct contact with the client, that is, when it is a blind interpretation. A reasonable discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the method or procedure shall be offered to the consumer and the signed consent of the client shall be obtained prior to use of the method or procedure.

3. A mental health care provider shall be qualified to administer and interpret tests employed. A reasonable discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the method or procedure shall be offered to the consumer and the signed consent of the client shall be obtained prior to use of the method or procedure.

4. A mental health care provider shall offer psychological tests for commercial publication only to those publishers who present tests in a professional manner and who distribute them only to qualified professional users. The mental health care provider shall ensure that test advertisements are factual and descriptive.

5. The provision of a written or oral report, including correspondence regarding clients or testimony of a mental health care provider as an expert witness, concerning the psychological or emotional health or state of a client, is a psychological service. The report shall include:

(1) A description of all assessments, evaluations, or other procedures upon which the mental health care provider's conclusions are based;

(2) Any reservations or qualifications concerning the validity or reliability of the conclusions formulated and recommendations made, taking into account the conditions under which the procedures were carried out, the limitations of scientific procedures and psychological descriptions, and the impossibility of absolute predictions;

(3) A notation concerning any discrepancy, disagreement, or conflicting information regarding the circumstances of the case that may have a bearing on the mental health care provider's conclusions; and

(4) A statement as to whether the conclusions are based on direct contact between the mental health care provider and the client.

A violation of any of the provisions of sections 1 to 7 of this act shall constitute, at the discretion of the relevant licensing board, grounds for revocation or suspension of any mental health care provider's license or certification to practice in the state of ___________. Each violation shall be reported to the public upon inquiry.

One point that I've been making for a while about the various school shootings:

We've had guns in American homes since the 1600's

We've had troubled teens since the first humans

But it's only in the last couple of decades that we've indulged in the wholesale drugging of small children, which also corresponds to sharp increases in insane violence.

When my son was in k-4 there was this little girl in his class who was a textbook example of ADHD... that is, assuming that ADHD is real. She could not sit still for 5 minutes, let alone a class period. I was then a teacher at the school, and it broke my heart to see her sitting in the office to see the principal again. Well, I dont' work there any longer and I understand she's one of the best behaved kids in first grade. I saw her the other day... she's gained some 30 pounds, walks dragging her feet, has no expression... Why aren't parents such as hers charged with child neglect?

This whole ADD/ADHD is just the result of touchy-feely disciplining trends, the abundance of indoor "toys" (video games, television with 300 channels, etc.), lack of hard physical chores for children to be responsible for, easy access to junk food, day care institutionalization. In other words, kids are being raised completely opposite of how they were raised for thousands of years. We have a nation of spoiled brats and everybody is afraid to get tough with them.

And now the know it alls are curtailing recess activities because they think kids get too rough.

I'm homeschooling my two oldest. My middle daughter had some trouble in first grade, and the school wanted to get her on drugs.

We finally found out that she's hypoglycemic -- if her blood-sugar drops below a certain threshold she goes nuts and has hysterics. What fixes it is to give her a low-carb, high-protein breakfast which includes some meat (meat digests slowly, keeping her blood-sugar fairly level for a longer period), and making sure she gets an afternoon snack at about 3pm. Presto! No more psychotic episodes to deal with

And then some kids get medicine that helps them to focus on their studies so that they end up being great students, go on to great colleges and grad schools, and have happy lives.

Perhaps there is some overprescription, and excessive efforts to diagnose being a boy as being ADHD, but this hysterical article does not make the case against ADHD medication well.

Too many people glorify teh old days when kids played outside a lot more, fathers used the belt on their kids, and their kids learned to behave. I think they remember the oast as better than it was.

In the old days, the hyper kid might manage to make it through school exercising enormous self-discipline on account of fear of a whipping from his father, and then he could take his place in life as a manual laborer. The same kid these days might actually end up as a good student and end up ebing quite successful.

Just because we are conservative and have a healthy distrust of social workers and the like, does not mean that ADHD is just something teachers invented because they don't want to deal with disruptive students all the time.

Thanks for posting this. I feel this vitally important to our children and our society. On the one hand we spend billions of dollars on the "war on drugs" while forcing parents to drug their children because they don't fit a predetermined mold.

Children who are diagnosed as ADHD have a psychiatric diagnosis that will follow them forever, and they are not allowed in the armed forces.

I also had a friend whose son was diagnosed as ADHD by a TEACHER, for heaven's sake. The school wanted her child on Ritalin. Well, she took her son to a neurologist who informed her that if her son were to be placed on Ritalin, it would have done major neurological damage.

BTW, I don't believe in ADHD.

The following is based on:

1. my short (four years) experience in Special Education and,

2. on the "stuff" I was taught while getting my Masters in Educational Psychology,

I believe that the "Disorders" mentioned in this article MAY be real, but they are nowhere near as prevalent as the educational psychologists and educational psychiatrists and the NEA would have us believe. Remember, their living depends on this!

Special Education, at least in the school in which I taught, was a dumping ground for all the kids who did not fit into the predetermined slot which the teacher thought he should occupy.

There are kids who are difficult to teach, but there have ALWAYS been kids who have been difficult to teach. Today the teacher and school administrations are handicapped by the threat of litigation and by the threat of adverse action that may be taken against them by higher-ups in the feeding chain. The adminstration threatens the teacher. The school board threatens the administration. The parents threaten everybody with a court action.

There is also the fact that teachers want to be rid those students who don't fit the mold and want to get them out of the classroom. The various "Diseases" mentioned in the article are seen as easy ways to be rid of them.

If the kid is readmitted to the mainstream classroom, it is usually with the proviso that he be put on some drug to "correct his behavior".

OK, this has been more or less a rant, but the present practices ordained by the educational psychology/psychiartry bunch is NOT helping the education of our young people.

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