Adults aren't the only crazy ones!

In typical fashion, like Erin with her podcasts, Dave and Christina with their blogs, and Cressida with her, uh, ear to the ground, I read the following in the newspaper. (I love print media.)

"We need to treat these children. They are in a desperate state," Biederman said in an interview, producing a video clip of a tearful mother describing the way her preschool daughter assaulted her before the child began treatment for bipolar disorder. The chief of pediatric psychopharmacology at Mass. General, he compares his work to scientific break throughs of the past such as the first vaccinations against disease.

In the past, bipolar disorder was reserved for only those who made it through the unpleasantries of puberty, but recent research has suggested that children as young as 2 (!) can require treatment for the agreesive behavior. However, in December a child died from an overdose of drugs used to treat her bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These drugs were NOT approved for use in small children.

We take a step back: Aren't kids that age wildly agressive one moment and giggling the next? I thought that was expected of your infant child. While I have seen the diagnoses of ADD and ADHD increase dramatically over the last 10 years, this seems to be the latest increase in pre-pubescent behavior disorders.

I would never say that people with behavior disorders shouldn't be treated with appropriate drugs, obviously. But I am more conservative when it comes to children.

How conservative should we be? There is significant debate on whether such young children should ever be diagnosed as bipolar. How do we draw the line? Should children be protected/prevented from the sometimes agressive treatments that adults receive?

I would argue that the standard for aberrant behavior in children must be significantly higher. There is an increasing culture of The Average, originating from the educational system that has leaked into medicine. My child doesn't perform as well on exams. They must not be below average, there must be something clinically wrong - and treatable - with them. Let's medically fix that lower performance and reach the level of The Average. Yes, some people benefit from it. But medical treatments have led to less of a focus on educational treatments. I say this with my limited experience with teaching students with dyslexia and ADD last year, my mother's work with SpEd children, and working with Melissa's teachers to design her curriculum. The difference between the attitude and energy applied to the educational program of children with medically treatable disorders vs non-treatable is amazing. Melissa's teachers were forced to design entirely new curricula for her, whereas my mother's and my hands were tied working with kids with ADD, as they were expected to be drugged and perform like their peers. It is not effective for everyone, despite it certainly working for some.

Good, I think I've managed to complain about both medicine and education.