Quote From: quietgothThe biggest problem with this topic is that everyone is looking for the 'quick fix' answer...
1) Yes : this nation is so big into having our problems solved without an excessive amount of effort that we over-medicate massively... especially children.
2) Yes : there should be grave concerns focused on the pharmecudical companies, given the importance of ethical behavior in the fields that they work in and the apparent lack of ethics and good sense they have shown.
3) YES : THERE ARE CONDITIONS THAT EXIST WHICH REQUIRE PHARMACEUDICAL INTERVENTION.
As far as I'm concerned, Tom Cruise made a complete idiot of himself by expressing ANY opinion regarding someone else's circumstances. What Brooke Shields needs to address problems that she faces is between Brooke and the medical professionals who advise her.
Regarding the mother of the 14-year old: you proceed as you think best. If following your doctor's advice has produced a better quality of life for your daughter and those around her, then you've done right by your daughter. These issues must be brought up so that we are aware of them and deal with them inteligently, but none of us should even think of passing judgement on the situation of any other person.
As for Psychiatry, it is the same as Medicine: there's a lot of 'art' involved. If approached with the right moral and ethical attitude, psychiatrists are valuable professionals who give us insight not only to people with serious mental conditions, but to the normal behaviors that we all engage in. The results of their efforts can be the most liberating advancement of the modern age, if we keep them in context.
There are people who need that kind of help. I'm not about to suggest that they avoid it.
That was awesome!
It's unfortunate, because the real enemy in all of this is lack of education. And when whackjobs like Tom Cruise speak out (I saw him with Matt Lauer and he didn't even use the right medical terminology for antidepressants!) it just serves to further confuse a serious problem.
Just because there are too many parents out there who'd rather dump Ritalin into their kids than provide the discipline and stability the kid is screaming for doesn't mean that ADHD is not a legitimate disease.
But the hierarchy for fingerpointing doesn't just include the pharmaceutical companies -- it includes physicians, it includes parents, and it includes patients. This even extends to demands for antibiotics when one has a viral infection but wants to "take a pill" even though antibiotics are ineffective in that case.
We all need to re-wire ourselves.
