Studies show that there has been an increase in the
prescription of anti-psychotic medications to children. In my experience I have
found that many young children are prescribed multiple medications as a quick
solution to correct behaviors. Why this happening now is is a question we must
ask? What has changed over the years? Is it the availability of medications? Is
it the change of tolerance in society?
First and foremost we need to answer why antipsychotics
would be used in young children. I think "Aggression" as a symptom
and behavior is why they get such medications. But aggression is innate to all
animals and human beings alike. In nature the ultimate stopper to aggression is
fear. In all animals this is an instinctual operation. In humans this role through
evolution has been outsourced to our intellects. Hence, the first brake for
human aggression is our intellectual capacity to suppress it and the second one
is fear.
In today’s society there is no patience for dealing with aggression.
The first prescriber is often the primary care practitioner. It is know that
the anti-psychotic medications like Risperidone, Abilfy, Olanzapine and
Seroquel decrease aggressive behaviors. Hence, they are prescribed more easily
no matter what the diagnosis or psycho-social circumstance are, e.g. ADHD
versus Mood or Psychotic Disorder, or a dysfunctional family setting. There is
also a shortage of Child Psychiatrists in overwhelmed clinics leading to the
quick prescribing of these medications to cater to the pressures of desperate
parents and other systems such as schools, foster agencies etc. These factors have dramatically increased the
unnecessary use of powerful medications with no foresight into the future
consequences of prescribing them without proper justification.
There is always room for improvement in practice and prescribing.
There are clinically sound reasons for the use of these medications in young
children under the supervision of a child psychiatrist with proper
justification.
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