In the January 14, 2003 issue of the Washington Post is a
news story that reported the results of a study done at the University of
Maryland in Baltimore on the drastic increase in psychiatric drug use in
children. The study, which evaluated 900,000 children on Medicaid in a
Midwest state, showed that more than 6 percent of children were taking drugs
such as Prozac, Ritalin and Risperdal.
This means that the number of American children being
treated with psychiatric drugs has grown sharply in the past 15 years,
tripling from 1987 to 1996 with no sign of slowing. The authors of the
study said they fear that cost-saving techniques by insurance companies,
marketing by the pharmaceutical industry and increased demands on parents
and doctors may be driving the increase.
In response to the study, Michael Jellinek, chief of child
psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, said, "There are fewer options
other than medication." He noted that insurers have increased their profits
by decreasing the use of psychotherapy, which is more expensive than drugs
in the short term. He continued, "The insurance system gave an incentive for
medications and a disincentive for therapy."
Julie Zito, lead author and researcher at the University of
Maryland, points out, "Other than zonking you, we don't know that behavioral
management by drug control is the way to learn to behave properly. If we are
using drugs to control behavior, that doesn't change the underlying problem
if someone doesn't know how to get along with their peers."
"The medicine may help the symptoms but not address issues
of self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and family relationships, all of
which are part of recovery," said Jellinek, who analyzed Zito's study. He
continued, "You can get a lot of benefit from behavioral treatments. If
someone is getting medicines for obsessive-compulsive disorder, I would like
to see them be given a trial of behavioral therapy to see if that helps them
and maybe decrease the medication."