.."And Wozniak, whom I've banged on before, is part of the Harvard bipolar mafia."-Dawdy

..""What's commonly overlooked when considering diagnosing and treating children at such an early age is the risk of not treating and not intervening," Wozniak said."

Wozniak's background: C.A.B.F./bpkids org

Professional Advisory Council
Janet Wozniak, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital

Along with:

Joseph Biederman, M.D.

Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Chief, Clinical and Research in Pediatric Psychopharmacology Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital.

Boris Birmaher, M.D.

Professor of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
Pittsburgh, PA

Barbara Geller, M.D.

Chair of the CABF Professional Advisory Board
Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis, MO.

Robert A. Kowatch, M.D.

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I stand chance of repeating myself as well; but here goes:

1999 three children in my daughter's 5th grade class were diagnosed with Childhood Bipolar Disorder. Two were boys with prior ADHD dx. One was my daughter who started w/ OCD dx.Based on imipramine-induced "intrusive thoughts". All 3 were placed on Depakote and Zyprexa. The boys were left on Ritalin and Adderall.
When I see this article, it does not surprise me one single bit, because I am a parent of a kid in that time frame noted, and so are her friends.

One interesting thing to note here, that many people may not know about yet:

It is now becoming popular to remove the Childhood Bipolar Disorder dx and replacing that with P.D.D. Asperger's. This happened with my daughter and a few other cases I am aware of, but cannot make more specific comment on those.

While I can't vomit quotations or cite psychiatrist's names that have completed studies, I can share my own experience as a child (and in the end, my opinion).

Had I been medicated, properly, starting at about 5, things could have "easier" for me, and definitely for those around me. I bit children at school. I was always in trouble for talking. I scored incredibly high in scholastic tests, yet lacked the focus and will to acheive in school. I was always in trouble at home.

But...I think a line should be drawn as to when it is too young to medicate a child with such powerful drugs. At age 2, most children are not even potty trained yet!

How can a doctor discern that a child is bipolar before their personality has a chance to be formed?

While I applaud AP for reporting on mental illness, why is it that the negative gets so much press? "Bipolar off their meds" is what I usually see in regards to the disease - along with a heinous crime. Even in this case, it took the death of a child to bring the illness to light.

There are so many positives to the world of psychiatry...it's too bad that the public only wants to hear and see the "crazed", "bizarre", and "tragic".

I just use the copy and paste method vs. vomiting.
I'm not so sure the general public only wants "to hear and see the "crazed","bizarre",and "tragic".." stories. I'm pretty sure if the news media reported a consistent and balanced take on mental illness the general public would be far more interested.

I completely agree with you on this one. There's way too much diagnosing going on with children and so much of it is based on poor science. Putting a child on AP is a serious decision that should only be done as a last resort. I'm afraid that the folks at Harvard are too tied into Pharma money AND trying to be "ahead of the curve" at the expense of science (and our children).

Stephany said "I'm pretty sure if the news media reported a consistent and balanced take on mental illness the general public would be far more interested."

You think better of the general public than I. Sensationalism sells because people buy it. Most people do not take/have the time to look at multiple sources to check the veracity of a story. I'm always seeing one-off positive stories about the triumphs of folks with "mental illness". However, just like all the bad stories about violence and "mental illness", there's not a lot of depth. Not a lot of education. Just a lot of sound bites and rollover/rss feed synopses.