by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola:
Story at-a-glance
- Rates of mental illness in children are rising rapidly, with psychotropic drugs being the conventional solution. The documentary “Kids on Pills” examines treatment options and long-term impacts of medicating children
- U.S. doctors are more likely to diagnose children with conditions like bipolar disorder and prescribe multiple medications, while European doctors tend to be more conservative in their approach
- Children in the U.S. often receive cocktails of powerful psychotropic drugs that have numerous side effects and health risks, with minimal evidence of benefit in many cases
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- The long-term effects of polypharmacy in children remain unclear. Some experts warn these drugs alter brain development when prescribed at young ages, causing lasting changes
- Alternative therapies like occupational therapy and family-based interventions are encouraged. As parents, you must advocate for your children and consider nondrug approaches to address behavioral issues
Rates of mental illness in children have risen at an alarming rate, and the conventional solution? Psychotropic drugs. Today, it’s no longer uncommon for children to receive a cocktail of medications to manage their mental health. But is this really the best course of action? Or are we just subjecting our children to severe side effects while inadvertently worsening their mental health in the long run?
The 2022 documentary “Kids on Pills: Happiness Out of a Bottle” from Only Human1 takes a closer look at the treatment options for children with mental disorders. Directed by Stefanie Schmidt and Lilian Franck, the film compares how American and European children are treated and medicated for these conditions, and what the long-term impact on their health might be.
Rate of US Children with Bipolar Disorder Has Increased 4,000%
The documentary follows the lives of several children who have sought treatment from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for their mental health disorders. The doctors in Boston have been the subject of criticism and controversy for several years due to their early diagnosis of mental disorders among children, some only a few years old.
Siblings Anna and Will Birtwell, 9 and 6 years old respectively, have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic depression), and often struggle with unpredictable mood swings. Their mother, Kelli, narrates:2
“The tiniest thing would set off a two-hour rage or crying fit. She [Anna] might start saying things that someone says when they’re depressed. For instance, one week would be drawing butterflies and flowers and rainbows and all sorts of things that [are] happy. And then the next week, she would take a black crayon and scribble and rip the paper through, and she would say just things like ‘I don’t want to be alive anymore.’”
Jaylene Quijada, also a patient at Massachusetts General Hospital, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was just 3 years old. In her case, the manic aspects of the condition are more evident. Jaylene’s psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Doyle, who is also the chief medical director at the hospital, comments:3
“Looking back, she was the most classic bipolar kid, with these full-blown, manic, giddy laughing, out of control, unable to be redirected children I’ve ever seen.”
However, physicians in Europe diagnose psychiatric irregularities like this differently. According to Dr. Martin Holtman,4 who has a clinic in Frankfurt, if the factors used to diagnose bipolar disorder in the U.S. were to be considered as mere behavior descriptions instead, then the children would be diagnosed with milder disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Holtman recounts how young American patients in Frankfurt might be given psychostimulants for their ADHD, but when these children go to the U.S. for vacation, they return with additional prescription medications, saying they’ve been diagnosed in the States as bipolar.5
Children in America Often Fall Victim to Polypharmacy
Polypharmacy refers to the use of multiple medications to address a health condition, and it is becoming prevalent among both the elderly and the youth. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics,6 out of 302 pediatric patients surveyed, 68.2% have experienced polypharmacy.
In the featured documentary,7 Jaylene’s mother, Elizabeth, shared how Doyle has prescribed various types of medications to manage her daughter’s condition:
“About [age] 6, she started with the anxiety. So, I mentioned that to him [Doyle] and he said, ‘Well, let’s give her an antianxiety medication.’ So, at that point, he gave her Lorazepam to calm her down. That didn’t do anything. It just made her more hyper; it just made her more stimulated. So, he said, ‘Well let’s try Klonopin.’ We tried that — [it] didn’t help her. Nothing would help.
So, at that point we went back and forth. He just kept mixing the medication[s], like the Risperdal. That was the only thing that really helped her. So, we just kept upping the dose, upping the dose, splitting the doses up to see if that would help.”
Doyle adds that he even tried giving Jaylene small doses of lithium — a mood stabilizer with side effects like memory problems and seizures.8 It even poses a risk for kidney failure when used long-term.9 But it still didn’t work out, as Jaylene started to become confused and couldn’t think clearly, causing him to halt the lithium treatment.10
Meanwhile, Anna, who has been taking a new drug called Abilify to curb the manic side of her condition,11 is shown to be struggling with severe mood swings and crying fits. Her mother says that according to her doctor, the new drug works to get rid of “the manic side” of the condition, but as a result, the depression manifests more, causing Anna’s intense outbursts.12
Indeed, U.S. children are now being plied with powerful drugs to treat mental health concerns. Rarely do these medications address the root of the problem. Plus, they create new issues of their own. The result? More symptoms that are then treated with additional medications.
