​
JANINE WALKER CAFFREY - EDUCATION INNOVATION
  • Lexplore
  • Who is Janine?
  • The Today Show
  • Contact

It's time to move mental health care out of the shadows.

12/12/2009

2 Comments

 
It is incredible to me how quickly doctors will prescribe powerful drugs to children for conditions they don't understand.  Part of the problem is that we don't want to talk about mental illness.  When children misbehave, it is very easy to blame it on some "condition" like ADD or autism.  Yet, when children or adults suffer with true, severe mental illness, it might go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.  It seems that parents and caregivers go toward one extreme or another.  They either drug every kid who can't pay attention or has a tantrum, or they ignore true symptoms and allow children to suffer.  This article takes an interesting look at the rate of prescription for antipsychotic medications for children in poor families.  It reaffirms the fact that families need more support to help them understand the multitude of dynamics that impact behavior.  It also reminds me that we need to understand the difference between real mental illness (especially in children), and minor behavioral issues.  Recognizing mental illness as illness, and providing adequate coverage for its diagnosis and treatment would be a great first step!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?hp
2 Comments
Meghan
1/15/2010 06:38:59 am

Which is why I am so so lucky that Mom did research and helped me get the best treatment for my disorder(s)

Reply
portrait of pirates link
10/1/2013 09:14:09 pm

Excellent and helpful post… i am so glad to left comment on this. This has been a so interesting read, would love to read more here….

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Janine Walker Caffrey writes about reading, education and a few other topics related to happiness and life in general.

    Archives

    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    September 2013
    May 2012
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    Categories

    All
    Achievement Gap
    Adult Learning
    Arts
    Civil Rights
    Common Core
    Differentiation
    Discipline
    Federal Aid
    Grand Parenting
    Happiness
    Lead By Example
    Length Of School Year
    Middle School
    Parent Engagement
    Parenting
    Personalized Learning
    Phonemic Awareness
    Phonics
    Reading
    Reading Horizons
    School Finance
    School Reform
    School Spending
    Social Justice
    Special Education
    Student Engagement
    Summer Slide
    Suspension
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tiger Mom
    Title IX
    Traffic Light

    RSS Feed