The other day, there was a piece in the Times about the use of psychiatric drugs in children. It was a troubling story, as while there are lots of cases where kids do well on a drugs, there are other kids being dosed with drug combinations that are not well tested in children, and that may or may not do any good, and may in fact do harm. But that's not my point. Midway through the piece, there was a description of a three year old child that raised my hackles:
Fate Riske, 3, of Fond du Lac, Wis., takes two antipsychotics and a sleeping medicine to control what her mother, Elizabeth Klein-Riske, said were hours-long tantrums, a desire to watch the same movies repeatedly and an insistence on eating the meat, cheese and bread in her sandwiches separately.
I'm sorry, but I'm the mother of a three year old, and frankly, that sounds like normal three year old behavior, not something that needs three medications. My kid will watch the same movie three times in a row, and wants "plain pasta" for dinner every night, and throws fits because she can't wear her black patent leather party shoes to school, and in no way is she a candidate for medication. Sorry, no.
4 comments:
It's a sad day when people start medicating normal behavior in children.
What's next? "Oh - they're incontinent and wearing diapers every day. Put in a foley!" at age 6 months.
Julie, thanks for your comment. I had a moment of trepidation after I posted, wondering if in fact I was right...I'm glad to hear from a medical professional that my reaction wasn't off base.
Oh my, yes, are you right.
That's appalling.
I wonder about the desperation of the mother--and how isolated she must be as a parent.
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