Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Seriously?



The New York Times has a new article regarding the proliferation of anti psychotic drugs being prescribed by doctors to the tune of over 54 MILLION in 2011. These drugs, Abilify and Seroquel, treat bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe depression. This, despite the fact that the rates of these disorders have been stable in the population for years!

Seriously? We need to spend $18.2 BILLION on disorders that could not possibly be that mainstream?

On a sad note - my neighbor committed suicide yesterday. The police carried garbage-sized bags of medications out of his home. 

Another neighbor that came to tell me about it said the school had recommended his son go on meds for ADHD. A perfectly normal little boy who had a father in Afghanistan for a year.

What is going on here?

15 comments:

Brian Miller said...

i think in some ways we are breeding the disorders...and diet and structure both play big roles in controlling it as well...

Nancy said...

Brian - One interesting thing about this - weight gain and all sorts of other problems from the drugs - could this be the obesity epidemic??

Leah J. Utas said...

Agree with Brian, but, we don't want to deal with anything. Pills make that happen.
I recall one of Archie Bunker's lines from All in the Family, "I need some kind of pill!"
Adults medicate to suppress pain, children are medicated so adults don't have to deal with them.
As to weight gain, I am sure it is part of the problem.

Nancy said...

Leah - It is very troubling and something we need to start really talking about.

ellen abbott said...

Teachers and schools recommending students be 'medicated' has been a sore spot for me for a long time. The range of accept wile behavior has been narrowing for decades. More and more people now have 'disorders' that need treating. It's bullshit. The powers that be want us tranquil.

And that's supposed to be 'acceptable' in the above paragraph. My iPad will freeze if I try to correct something.

Cloudia said...

it's called "Profit over people"



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Nancy said...

Ellen - I have the very same take on this - I know it is about greed - but the numbers are astounding - it begs for a closer look. Could the 'powers' want us tranquilized?? You have to wonder...

Cloudia - Oh yeah! That's a given anymore.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

I don't think teachers have any business recommending drugs for kids. I agree with ellen...

ain't for city gals said...

I do have to stick for the teachers as two of my sister are teachers. The teachers are not the ones wanting to give the drugs...they resist it as long as they can. It is the management or administration that insist on it...they can not have 1 teacher have to take extra time with a child...they want to to say he / she is ADD or somthing and they can medicate to calm him /her down and there is peace again in the class room. Heaven forbid they could hire an asst. or another teacher. I have an article I would like to send you ..it came from Outside magazine...pretty much what came first ...the anxiety or the pills. So interesting..my e-mail is molliedog1(at)msn.com if you would like to read it I will send it to you.

Nancy said...

ain't for city gals - You make an excellent point. With a daughter as a teacher I am very aware they don't all want to see kids medicated. But with overcrowded classrooms and disruptions continually - well, I can't blame teachers for just wanting to be able to TEACH. We need to come up with solutions to the problems our educators have to deal with and we need to do it soon. More importantly - we need to find out WHY som many children have ADD and ADHD. What is going on in our environment?

Rob-bear said...

It's a mad world out there. I sometimes wonder how anybody could stay sane, especially the young.

Nancy said...

Rob-bear - I agree. The young are under tremendous pressure. With all the testing going on to determine whether or not a school gets any money - can you wonder why teachers/administrators are under pressure to keep their classrooms quiet and free of children who are unable to sit still? Couple that with families under stress and you have to wonder how they are managing to do as well as they do.

Whitney Lee said...

I have strong opinions on this and happen to think it's a multi layered issue. I think a lot of the 'disorders' are diet related as so much of our food is full of preservatives and such while even those that aren't have become 'modified.' On top of that you have a society where everyone wants results yesterday and not many people have an interest in taking the time to diagnose and treat the issue when putting a pharmaceutical band aid on it is so much faster. Add in all the money there is to be made...it's quite the recipe for disaster. As for the teachers, I hate that there is so little activity in schools now. With all the studies showing how adults need a few minutes break and the chance to move around a bit on an hourly basis in order to increase retention and productivity, how can school administrators expect young children to sit still and quietly for hours on end? It's very frustrating, I'm sure equally so for the teachers.
I'm sorry about your neighbor.

Hilary said...

We're exposed to so many chemicals no matter what our circumstances. It's in our food, cosmetics, soaps, cleaning supplies, smog and in many cases, situations like this.. in our prescribed "cures." It's no wonder so many diseases are rampant. We ingest poison at every turn.

I'm sorry about your neighbour.

Nancy said...

Whitney - I agree with everything you said. It is a multi-pronged problem and not easily solved.

Hilary - It is a wonder we are still able to function, I agree. It says much about the human body's ability to keep going under stress, that's for sure.