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With so many people fast becoming aware about the dangers of prescribing children psychiatric drugs one is bound to face opposition, you know, those that say, "but children need these drugs, ADHD is a mental disorder", and all that other psycho-babble clap-trap.
Please give it up for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
[Insert golf like applause here]
Yes folks, they have damned everyone and are pushing ahead with utter lunacy by claiming that Primary care physicians should begin evaluating children for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 4 and continue through age 18.
[Insert laughter here]
The new guideline, from the wacky mob of the AAP, will appear in next month's issue of Pediatrics, so everyone who reads it can be duped by the following:
1. Primary care physicians should initiate an ADHD evaluation for any child 4 through 18 who has school or behavioral problems and symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity.
2. As a prerequisite for diagnosis of ADHD, a patient's symptoms and behavior must meet the criteria set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Physicians should rely primarily on information from parents, guardians, school, and mental health specialists involved in the child's care. Additionally, physicians should rule out any alternative causes for the child's behavior and symptoms.
3. The clinical evaluation should include assessment of conditions that might coexist with ADHD, including emotional or behavioral, developmental, and physical conditions.
4. ADHD should be viewed as a chronic condition and patients with the condition should be considered special needs children and adolescents.
5. The approach to treatment of ADHD varies according to patient age. For preschool-age children, behavioral interventions should be considered first-line therapy. If resources to provide such interventions are not available, the physician should carefully weigh the risks of drug therapy at an early age with those associated with delayed diagnosis and treatment. For children 6 to 11, the AAP recommends combination treatment with medication and behavioral therapy if feasible. Evidence for use of stimulants in this age group is particularly strong. Older children should begin treatment with medication, and physicians might also prescribe behavioral therapy, although the evidence in this age group is not as strong as in the younger patients.
6. Medication for ADHD should be titrated so as to achieve maximum benefit with a minimum of adverse events.
Gone are the days when it was justifiable to fall asleep in the back of the classroom without waking up and finding a nurse standing there with a cup of water in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other.
Back in my day, it was far more less of a crime to fall asleep or to drop a pencil, fart, belch or stare out of the window. I was either given detention or 2 or 3 strokes of the cane [God bless those Catholic schools]
To be honest, six of the best is far more appealing than a childhood on mind altering drugs that would make one appear as if they had just been to an all night rave and popped numerous ecstasy tabs.
It makes me wonder if those at The American Academy of Pediatrics actually bark at the moon and still believe that people who are left-handed are evil.
I'm thinking of billing the The American Academy of Pediatrics for a new pair of underpants. Their six-point guidelines have just had me in a complete state of apoplexy, so much so that I have pissed myself laughing.
Full story HERE
Fid
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