The number of prescriptions handed out to children under 16 for depression and mental health disorders has quadrupled in a decade

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here

and it is REALLY FUCKED>

as anyone will tell you, mental ill health in children is about the FAMILY not about the child. but it costs to much to treat the family and therefore fill the child up with druge cause that will really help.

this incenses me.

yes me too soph

I must parp myself in a nice way

I agree with sophable but I also think that some emotional disturbance is normal during teen years. Obviously for some young people this tips into mentall ill health but I really do worry that we over medicalise what is normal and, by deeming it an illness treated by drugs, make it harder for an individual to work through their emotions and deal with the changes that life brings in a positive way.

why is it always about the family? I had OCD from the age of 8. I really DON'T believe it was my family's fault. I do agree that it's shocking that AD use has increased, given that there seems to be increasing evidence most ADs aren't suitable for under 16s.

Great post, dursley!

mummytosteven, I will not and cannot comment on your situation except to say that OCD is NOT genetic and NOT an illness that you can catch. it is a very serious and unfortunate symptom of a huge level of anxiety. I don't know what caused you that anxiety in the first place but am confident that your symptom was rooted in that.

Thanks Desi.

god I worry that dd1 will have mental health issues

she has such high levels of anxiety in waves

can be fine for months then have a month of freaking

enid, and you do your best to alleviate that anxiety (anxiety is normal in toddlers upwards innit)...and if she did need extra help you would go as a family because you get this.

that is the difference.

i'm a mum. i'm in no doubt that i'm fucking ds up to smaller or greater extent. i'm not inured from that. however, i take responsibility for it. if he is anxious then undoubtedly dh and i are a main contributing factor (he's not at school yet).

yes I do lots of talking

giving her idesas to help herself

avoiding stuff I know will freak her out

we are such a unit, it worries me, amd sure is not normal

you are obviously sensitive to her feelings, and how she feels about herself, and trying to get her to help herself, so sounds like you are doing loads to promote her wellbeing.

normal shmormal

Whilst I find this really sad there is a place for anti depressants in the treatment of depression in teens. If it hadn't been for ads I might not be here now. Yes a major part of my problem was my family but them knowing and having family treatment would have made it far worse. THe health authority accidentally sent my psychiatry appt to my mum. she went mad so did my dad, I never got to go to that appt, if it hadn't been for the ads I'd have never made it past 17. Even when the family is the problem they have to accept the diagnosis and want to help make it better. If they don't there is little option other than drug therapy and in biological depression (which I had/have) I think ads are necessary.

Billwb, no-one here is saying anti depressants are a bad thing. They have their place.

But I do think we should all be concerned when this level of medication is being provided to children for depression.

I don't find these stats shocking as I have a teenage dd who suffers anxiety and depression. I took her to the drs at an early stage to get her some help and it wasn't really taken seriously and then her life unravelled further and a bad situation was made much worse. Dd saw a very incompetent school consellor and that made things worse too. However, once the problem was taken seriously (over a year later) she had to go through an assessment process before AD's could be prescribed. This is the norm for under 18's. AD's cannot be prescribed to under 18's without an assessment. Although dd was recommended to take AD's by the child psychologist for various reasons she can't take them.

I work with young people and I see a lot of mental health disorder. This is not simply about the family this is also about society. Which is why the UK comes so low in tables about children and young people and happiness

Hmmm, I see BillWeasleyBeast's point ... my sister had a hard time as a child, and family therapy was suggested. My mom stormed out.

I know, in the US anyway, manic-depression is getting diagnosed (and treated ) in record numbers now, despite the drugs not having been tested on kids, and there being no dosage protocol, etc etc. Children react very differently than adults to some drugs, ritalin being a clear example of this ...

There is an article in yesterday's Torygraph about ad's being prescribed to a four year old girl because she was upset about not getting into the same school as the rest of her friends. I shall try to find it and post a link.

Completely agree with Sophable on this btw, and sounds like you're doing the right thing to me Enid.

Here we are: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/23/nantidep223.xml

It isn't new news though, I was mistaken.

why is this a suprise ? there has been a massive increase in the use of ADs across society as a whole ,its a new fixit for the havent got time generation .

what is biological depression?

without wishing to undermine in any way the absolute seriousness of your state of depression bill, I don't know what you mean....do you mean a chemical imbalance...which is likely to result from repeated and prolonged exposure to negative affect i.e. emotion? It's biological, but it has it's roots in the environment.

totally hear what you are saying with regards to your family and sadly I'm sure this is fairly typical. however, whilst there is a place it is very troubling that in many instances it is the only treatment advocated.

I'm not sure it's the only treatment advocated - but that the waiting lists for things like therapy are so long that they end up prescribing the anti-ds to 'fill the gap' so to speak.

Sophable, when I say biological depression I do mean a chemical imbalance but I think you are slightly mistaken to say that it is caused by an external stressor (it can be and frequently is) but for me depression is a genetic thing, all the women in the maternal side of my family right throughout living memory all suffer with serious depression. I'm not saying there weren't external factors for me, there were, but I have a natural propensity to be depressed because of my biology. Talking therapy cannot, imho, fix the chemical imbalance, it can help you deal with the feelings and problems that cause and arise out of depression but drug therapy is necessary for some people. I wish children/teens actually anyone had to suffer depression but drugs are sometimes an essential part of getting better and we shouldn't dismiss the good they can do. Depression is an illness, one which is both physical and mental. You have to treat both aspects, where they are both present, in order to recover.

that should have been: didn't have to suffer depression

ahhhhh....things running down the female side of the family line for generations. welcome to my world.

it is a bit chicken and egg this given the proven cross generational nature of attachment disorders and untold other dysfunctional behaviours. imo.