Study cautions: Psychotropic medications overprescribed to children

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Study cautions: Psychotropic medications

overprescribed to children

Fredericksburg, TX—April 20, 2010—A new study from the Journal

of Marital & Family Therapy warns of the dramatic rise

in the use of psychotropic medications for children. One in every

fifty Americans is now considered permanently disabled by mental

illness, and up to eight million children take one or more

psychotropic drugs.

The authors, P. , Ph.D. and Stone, LCSW, state

that there is little evidence available to warrant the widespread

use of psychotropic drugs for children, and little long term 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."

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. 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. Between 1994 and 2001, psychotropic prescriptions

for adolescents rose more than sixty percent; the rise post-1999

was connected to the development and marketing of several new

psychotropic drugs and the rebranding of several older ones.

and Stone claim that family health professionals are put

in the line of fire when children begin to experience the negative

consequences of long-term use of these medications. They are left

with the challenge of evaluating the quality of evidence-based

care offered to their pediatric clients by the psychiatric

community, and the negative effects of the medications without

sufficient empirical evidence or information.

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This study is published in an upcoming issue of Journal of

Marital & Family Therapy. To request a full-text version

of this article please contact scholarlynews@....

To view an abstract of this article please visit http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123216887/abstract.

Article: "Children and Psychotropic Medication: A Cautionary

Note." P. ; Stone. Journal of Marital &

Family Therapy; Published Online: October 29, 2009 (DOI:

10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00178.x).

Dr. P. is an Associate Professor of Marriage &

Family Therapy in the Department of Applied & Professional

Studies at Texas Tech University. He has also worked as a family

therapist for over twenty-five years, and has published in

numerous professional and academic publications. He can be reached

for questions at bjames.morris@....

Stone, LCSW, is a Family Therapist in Anchorage Alaska. He

has 38 years experience as a therapist, teacher and supervisor.

His work synthesizes the Strategic Therapy of Jay Haley with the

symbolic anthropology of Victor and Edith . He can be

reached for questions at georgestone@....

About the Journal: The Journal of Marital & Family

Therapy (JMFT) is published quarterly by the American

Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and, with over

20,000 subscribers, is the best known and most influential family

therapy journal in the world.

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