Monday, May 5, 2014
Reflection Blog 4
I really enjoyed the article "Medicating Young Minds". In reading the article though I am not sure I have a complete understanding of ADHD or bipolar disease or any of the other disorders that plague todays youth. I strongly believe that if a child is slightly fidgety or slightly hyperactive or slightly whatever that they shouldn't be medicated. Maybe they need therapy, maybe they need another way to release their energy. Children can also be wild and crazy because guess what, they are kids. However, not all children are just slightly different, some children really do need help. one of the things they said in the article was by "medicating a child's brain, you may be burning the village to save it." Now time for my questions, can children grow out of these disorders, or will they have to be medicated for life? If the child does have to be medicated for life, is it better for them to go through childhood un medicated and have them not have a "normal" childhood in order to not risk damaging part of the brain and wait until they are older, or to medicate them so they can experience childhood how children are supposed to experience it, worry free. The article also states that the frontal lobe doesn't fully mature until around 30, and the frontal lobe is where feelings are controlled, should we wait to medicate until after 30? These are questions I don't really have an answer to.
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I have a lot of the same questions you do, Jessica. I thought it was interesting what the researcher who studied medications for bipolar disorder said. He questioned the impact that not providing medication to these kids would be, when the kids could be rendered totally unable to function in our society due to their disorder. That really made me think that medication is a good option for those kids. Not functioning in society for 2 years during your formative years because of a mental disorder seems like a huge hurdle. But, so does altering your brain chemistry and physiology because of medication! I have one friend who has had to weigh these options with her kid and I know it's been a really hard decision for her (medication or not). Seeing her child being labeled as "bad" and "not smart" because of her ADHD has been devastating.
ReplyDeleteI still have a lot of these questions and that is after my son was wrongly diagnosed with ADHD. What he actually has is PTSD and I'm so glad that I didn't let the doctor put him on medication. I thought they were trying to only fix the problem with medication when for most cases counseling and learning skills to cope with the disorder are enough to help the child have a normal and successful childhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree i feel that the slightest indifference is now something that is wrong and abnormal and needs medication to make it all better. whatever happened to everyone developing and growing differently. Doctors need to find a better way or recognizing real disorders and parents paranoia
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