PBS Frontline is premiering The Medicated Child that examines the use of powerful psychiatric drugs on children. The Healing Project strongly encourages parents to judiciously use all prescription drugs, supplements and alternative therapies. The extraordinary rise in the use of very powerful unpredictable pharmaceutical compounds on children is of great concern. In many psychiatric disorders in both adults and children, psychological and behavioral interventions are often successful. Nonetheless, if these therapies fail to demonstrate results, pharmaceuticals are often the best solution. One should seek to find a board certified child psychiatrist or neurologist (preferably trained at a leading research center), depending on the nature of the malady, and have your child carefully examined before committing to a particular course of treatment.
The Medicated Child
Six million American children are taking psychiatric drugs, but most have never been tested on children. Is this good medicine – or an uncontrolled experiment?
About the Film
In recent years, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and prescribed medications that are just beginning to be tested in children. The drugs can cause serious side effects, and virtually nothing is known about their long-term impact. "It's really to some extent an experiment, trying medications in these children of this age," child psychiatrist Dr. Patrick Bacon tells FRONTLINE. "It's a gamble. And I tell parents there's no way to know what's going to work." In FRONTLINE's report, The Medicated Child, producer Marcela Gaviria confronts psychiatrists, researchers and government regulators about the risks and benefits of prescription drugs for troubled children.
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