Real or simply more aggressive diagnosis?
The spread of the diagnosis is a boon to drug makers, some psychiatrists point out, because treatments typically include medications that can be three to five times more expensive than those for other disorders like depression or anxiety . . .. . . “From a developmental point of view,” Dr. March said, “we simply don’t know how accurately we can diagnose bipolar disorder or whether those diagnosed at age 5 or 6 or 7 will grow up to be adults with the illness. The label may or may not reflect reality.
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4 or 5 years from now, the headlines will read:
Diagnoses of Dystonia & Dyskinesia Jump 4,000%,
Scientists Baffled by Epidemic of Movement Disorders
Ben Hansen
Traverse City, Michigan
Institute for Nearly Genuine Research
http://www.bonkersinstitute.org
It’s hard to believe that just 10 years ago there was an epidemic of bipolar left undiagnosed and untreated and only now we can see it clearly.
What has changed is that there is now proffit in the system. 1) drug companies have a new population to treat 2) families have to have a diagnosis to obtain disability benefits and schooling accomodations.
Also, society just keeps tightening the screws on kids, permitting less and less deviation from the norm (with the norm defined as the best quartile). We set goals that cannot be achieved and fail to allow adolesence to run it’s ordinary course, and then act surprised when kids are agressive and moody.
And, since it is all a “chemical imbalance” no need for uncomfortable discussion of parenting and home deficits. Mom can just drop the little ankle biters off at the medicaid mill hospital and pick them up in ten days, supposedly all fixed, after they have have been titrated up on an atypical antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, and speed to treat the ADHD unmasked by the preceding sedatives. Of course it is all very scientific, since psycholigical testing “revealed” bipolar disorder.
5 year old children being treated for a disease that no one can prove they “have” or even know what “having” it actually means, with very expensive drugs paid for by the taxpayer known to have crippling long-term effects in adults, with no idea what effect they will have in children after 15 or 20 years. Doesn’t sound very prudent to me.
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