Mental Health – More Information

Mental Health

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  • here is absolutely no doubt that we are experiencing an “epidemic” problem with mental health problems these days, both in children and adults.
  • It is one of the most common reasons families come to my practice — imagine that!!
  • Anxiety is the most common of mental health problems, but ADHD “labels” is second.
  • Other kids have personality disorders from narcissism, “anti-social” and OCD symptoms.
  • Many of these kids can be labeled or diagnosed incorrectly, unfortunately.
  • The most common problem I see is a school-aged child getting diagnosed with ADHD when they really have Auditory-Visual-Processing Disorder.
  • Instead of a psychiatrist /or psychologist, they really need visual and occupational therapy.
  • It breaks may heart how many times I see this and the difficulty families have gone through trying to make heads and tails out of this.
  • The goal of this practice to discover the root cause of any “label” and find ways together to find the right path for your child.
  • There are many approaches taken to help individuals from food therapy, homeopathy, herbs, Chinese Medicine, Mind-Body therapies, sports, essential oils and much, much more.
  • There is no one-size fits all.
  • Many times I may recommend different seminars families should go to in order to break their habits and develop new mindsets.
  • Don’t be surprised if I send you some YouTube videos for inspiration.
  • Medications are the last resort unless absolutely needed.
  • Please read the article by Thomas Insel regarding the over medication of children below.
Mental Health

Post By Former Nimh Director Thomas Insel: Are Children Overmedicated? By Thomas Insel On June 6, 2014

A recent symposium at the Carter Center featured a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that as many as 10,000 toddlers may be receiving psychostimulant medication, like methylphenidate (Ritalin).1 The media reports of this, like many past reports, decried the overmedication of children. The numbers are notable.

  1. The latest estimate from the National Center for Health Statistics reports that 7.5 percent of U.S. children between ages 6 and 17 were taking medication for “emotional or behavioral difficulties” in 2011-2012.
  2. The CDC reports a five-fold increase in the number of children under 18 on psychostimulants from 1988-1994 to 2007–2010, with the most recent rate of 4.2 percent.
  3. The same report estimates that 1.3 percent of children are on antidepressants. The rate of antipsychotic prescriptions for children has increased six-fold over this same period, according to a study of office visits within the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
  4. In children under age 5, psychotropic prescription rates peaked at 1.45 percent in 2002-2005 and declined to 1.00 percent from 2006-2009.
  5. Taken together, what do these numbers mean? A common interpretation: children with behavioral or emotional problems are being overmedicated by psychiatrists too busy to provide therapy, at the request of parents too busy to provide a healthy home environment. A corollary of this interpretation is to blame schools too busy to provide recess or activities for fidgety boys. And usually, the blame extends to the pharmaceutical companies that market medications in pursuit of profits.

Reference: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/directors/thomas-insel/blog/2014/are-children-overmedicated.shtml