My favorite quote from Hit & Run's comment section - "Giving a toddler meds for mood swings is a bit like giving her growth hormone for dwarfism."

Phillip-
Way to go on your excellent reporting! I have always, right from the outset had problems with Zyprexa, and never, never use it, period. And I love this remark on dwarfism from Lisa, the quintessential phenotypic medical intervention: look at the surface and medicate. Ouch.

My least favorite of the many surface diagnoses: ODD, and then there's Avoidant Personality. Don't get me started. Now what do we do with those things? Can we treat blond hair?

Kinda like the fundamentalist recovery folk who rule that world: You're NOTHING but a drug addict/alcoholic, depression is not a psych condition. I know an MD that slit his femoral arteries because his recovery folk said he didn't need meds for his depression. I consulted on him, told them he was suicidal, they sang their same reductionistic song. He was gone in the bathtub. I can rant on recovery for days... that group needs confrontation.

That's why I wrote Deep Recovery in '92, I was sick even then of "codependency" the basis for years of psychobabble.

We as medical practitioners are in a bad spot, especially in psych, because for many years we only had the surface of matters to drive our diagnosis and treatment. Now with metabolic insight we can even measure how the DNA is talking to the mitochondria! Back to the books!

Interestingly, most of the people I admire are the basic science folk, -they keep quoting basic texts on physiology that we have ignored because we became so carried away with chemicals.

With the help of folks like you the world can change in our lifetime, because evidence is there. With solid evidence the whole secret code on diagnosis and treatment is broken and has to slowly be rebuilt. Kinda like Galileo and the Sun... heard on NPR that about 20%[if I remember correctly] of the current US Citizens still think the Sun rotates around the earth.

May be awhile before we change the DSM4-

Have a good week, great work, thanks,
Chuck

Dr.Charles said:

.."My least favorite of the many surface diagnoses: ODD, and then there's Avoidant Personality. Don't get me started. Now what do we do with those things? Can we treat blond hair?"

Great comment; and would like to add another thing for your "don't get me started" category.

Clozaril for Impulse Control Disorder.(seriously)

Don't get me started...I need to go dye my hair.(sarcastic and true)

I also agree with:

"With the help of folks like you the world can change in our lifetime, because evidence is there."

And,

Toddlers do not have moodswings; or need meds. They are in the correct developmental stage, doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. NAPS work. Lord have mercy, I had 3 kids under age 5, and by 5PM it was what my grandmother called "5 o clock meltdown time".

Guess what? I learned how to mash potatos with crying babies at my feet. Those were seriously the happiest days of my life.

I also believe, and this is controversial, that if a child 'misses' or skips a milestone developmental wise, ("terrible 2's, etc.") then there could be problems later.

One more thing; what I love about this blog, is how informative it is, and the lively, smart, open-minded discussions that happen in the comment section, as a result of Philip's hard work.

Thanks.--stephany