Parents’ obsession with their children’s self-esteem plus profit-driven diagnoses create a dangerous prescription…

I’ve come to this opinion after evaluating and treating over 2,500 children for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, the condition that has become the explanation for virtually all children’s underperformance and misbehavior at school…

These parents weren’t after perfect “trophy” children. They loved their kids but were worried about them. It occurred to me that it was their worry over their children’s feelings, especially their self-image and self-esteem, that was driving this epidemic of psychiatric drug use…

Still, we want our children to feel good, right? But what if that means taking them to the doctor, getting a diagnosis that may have lifelong implications and taking a medication potentially for years? Does that make sense? Is it the best thing for our children? …

Our discipline practices have changed. We put forth much more effort in talking to our kids about bad behavior before we take action (a style poorly suited for the hyperactive mind).

Money also plays an important role. Insurance companies reward doctors more for brief “med checks” than longer talking sessions. The doctors make more money by prescribing and the drug companies make money, too..

Also, there are a number of simple actions we could take to help our kids that don’t involve using a psychiatric medicine at all…

Father’s involvement is critical. He often has a different perspective than the mom (he generally sees less of a problem because he’s around less and also stereotypically is more effective with discipline). His participation with any behavior plan (or medication treatment for that matter) makes its success far more likely than without him.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/INGT9MCJHF1.DTL