- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- preschoolers today articles
- preschoolers today q&a
- children today articles
- children today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Weighing Your Options
An Excerpt From Should I Medicate My Child? Sane Solutions for Troubled Kids With and Without Psychiatric Drugs
By Lawrence H. Diller
drugs to your child probably leaves you with mixed feelings. You may not be sure what these drugs do or how they help. You are probably worried about side effects. If your child is already taking medication, you may be asking yourself whether you've made the right choice even if the drug appears to be helping. Like many parents I see, you may be uneasy with the number of prescriptions written for children these days and wonder if our culture sometimes uses medication to shoehorn children into a one-size-fits-all mold of smiling compliance. You may also worry about the repercussions of not medicating your child. All of us involved in a child's treatment frequently worry that ongoing problems will cause the child to lose hope. "Why even try?" she might say in response to a challenging homework assignment or a situation that requires self-control. I'm just a dumb/bad/weird kid.
Like Natalie, the mother of Ruth, you may fear for the well-being of the rest of the family. Like Anna and Steven MacAteer, you may be weighing the act of medicating your child, thereby ensuring that she will stay in her current classroom vs. the threat of expulsion or placement in a special class. Both sets of concerns are present in loving parents who want their child to be healthy and happy. I've written this book for parents who want to see how a thoughtful doctor, one who keeps these same concerns constantly in mind, thinks through the problem of psychiatric medication on a case-by-case basis.
In the last year, I wrote more than 400 prescriptions for Ritalin or its equivalent. I also prescribe, although much less frequently, anti-depressants, major tranquilizers and mood stabilizers. I'm for psychiatric drugs in the same way I'm for antibiotics. When antibitics are used judiciously, they can save lives. But those who reach for antibiotics at every sniffle and cough, regardless of the underlying cause, endanger us all by encouraging strains of resistant bacteria. No drug, including psychiatric medication, is either good or bad. Drugs are simply tools that can be used with a greater or lesser degree of judgment. But parents don't buy books titled Should I Give My Child Penicillin?