Toddlers and Prescriptions
According to the research made by Patricia Mullan et al., "Children aged 3 years or younger had Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosed and receive markedly variable psychotropic medication regimens " (1). It seems that today's society demands more time for making a living, rather than raising a family. A situation in which raising a family demanded the wage of one parent, usually the father, has vanished. Both parents require to work in order to sustain a family in today's world. This sustenance would include education, healthiness, happiness and mental health. It is not unusual today to find a family situation in which both parents go to work, and arrive home late. Once they get back home after a tedious labor routine, they are not in the mood for dealing with any minor problem that their kids might have, especially when the child has a behavioral problem. They do not even have the time for helping their children with neither homework nor deal with some conduct problem that might arise. It is worth mentioning that one of the most common ways children call for attention is by misbehaving, specially disobeying. One easy and impersonal way of dealing with these problems
c Breggin, Peter R. Toxic Psychiatry. New York: St. Martin's, 1991. As conclusion, first, parents who do not have enough time nor interest for raising their kids should think twice before having a child. Parents are responsible for the education of their children and must cope with problems together. Impersonal solutions such as psychotropic drugs might seem very attractive, but they might not be the adequate one. Drug treatment is definitely not the adequate one for a three year-old child whose metabolisms is developing at a high rate when comparing with an adult. When considering the testing of psychotropic drugs with infants, a position must be taken, since there is no approved evidence complying with the prescription of these types of drugs to young children, only for eighteen years and older. Parents should consider their child's condition before accepting any type of treatment, and research about alternative treatments such as behavioral therapy. Alternative therapy is available for the treatment of certain child disorders, especially for ADHD. These treatments are carried out without the aid of any drugs, and require a lot of time, as well as after-session dedication. This means that parents must take some time off their duties and work together with their kids. These types of treatments are successful ones; they do show positive outcomes, and even better ones than the pharmaceutical ones. Psychosocial therapies like family therapy, help people overcome depression, attention problems, and other type of problems such as panic attacks. These treatments are held by means of talking therapy as their main course of action. One of the best known methods is the Reinforcement program, positive or negative. Positive reinforcement reefers to any kind of thing, such as an object, that increases the probability for a certain behavior to be executed at the presence of the same stimulus. Negative reinforcement on the other hand, refers to something a subject will work to avoid. Brestan and Eyberg assert in their article "Treatment for Misbehaving Children", that "Two treatments were found to be well established" for the treatment of behavioral problems, "The first was parent training, which involves teaching parents how to monitor the child's behavior and reward or punish effectively" (1). Barlow and Durand, describe some of the treatments available for ADHD, one of them is a Reinforcement program which "rewards the child for improvements and, at times, punish misbehavior with loss of rewards" (443). Breggin analyzes the cons of drug therapy and sates that "... Children with problems that once were handled by remedial education or improved parenting are instead being subject to medical diagnoses, drugs, and hospitals (Breggin, 12). c Rappley, Marsha D., et al. "Diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder and Use of Psychotropic Medication in Very Young Children." Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 153 10 (1999): 1. Children between the ages of three and four years old are being over-prescribed by professionals with powerful drugs called psychotropic drugs. Some of the drugs listed under this category are Prozac, Ritalin, and other types of antidepressants, stimulants and neuroleptics. A research conducted and discussed by Magno Zito et al. in "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers"
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Approximate Word count = 2273
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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