Reply to I work on a psych ward...ask me anything

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do you think that putting a young child, say 5 or 6, on drugs such as Ritalin or Aderol (sp?), can trigger mental illness?  I ask b/c I know someone who's child was diagnosed with ADD at 4 or 5 and he was put on Ritalin and then Adderal shortly thereafter.  Aren't those really harsh drugs to give such a young child? [/quote]

Young children are really hard to diagnose. ADHD behavior can be early signs of later mental illness or even signs of traumatic stress. It can be hard when they are young to determine if what you are seeing is 'just' ADHD or if it is the early signs of something else. No I don't think it is the meds that caused later mental illness. It may be that he never had ADHD but that his early symptoms of mental illness mimicked ADHD. Or he may have ADHD and another mental health issue - there is a lot of co-morbidity.

Giving a child meds when they are young can be harsh, yes. Most psych drugs are powerful, not pleasant and have lots of side effects. However it is a risk/ benefit analysis in each case. If the child needs the medication to function academically, to make friends, to be emotionally healthy, then it is worth the risks/side effects associated. That child will be much better off in the long run over the child who was unmedicated and struggled to make friends, who struggled to learn, who struggled to fit into his/her classroom, peer group etc. Medication is not a cure all, many kids still struggle but they struggle less. The long term outcomes show that the more success the child has academically and socially and the better their sense of emotional well-being - the better they will do in the long run. For some kids, medications are needed to increase this success. [/quote]

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