A Rush to Medicate Your Children

"There was a time in the profession of child psychiatry when doctors insisted on hours of evaluation of a child before making a diagnosis or prescribing a medication. Today some of my colleagues in psychiatry brag that they can make an initial assessment of a child and write a prescription in less than 20 minutes. Some parents tell me it took their pediatrician only five minutes. Who's the winner in this race?

"Unfortunately, when a child is diagnosed with a mental illness, almost everyone benefits. The schools get more state funding for the education of a mentally handicapped student. Teachers have more subdued students in their already overcrowded classrooms. Finally, parents are not forced to examine their parenting practices, because they have the perfect excuse: Their child has a chemical imbalance.

"The only loser in this equation is the child…."

—"A Rush to Medicate Young Minds," by Elizabeth J. Roberts, October 8, 2006, washingtonpost.com

[The writer is a child and adolescent psychiatrist in California and the author of Should You Medicate Your Child's Mind?]