Bipolar Blast has a link to an excellent video response to the show. If I did this right the below link should take you to her blog's link the the video:

http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/frontline-is-re-airing-the-medicated-child/

Dear Philip:
Watching this program was so disturbing that I feel nauseous. I tried to pay special attention to the Pdoc’s and the parents in particular. I have to say I see these kids as victims, and being abused on a scale of unimaginable proportions by the psychiatric community and their ignorant parents. Feels and appears like the kids are being used as lab rats in some diabolical archaic systematic profiteering plot ( I'm quite sure that is not my paranoia typing). I watched these parents very carefully. There appeared to a common link between each of them; which is very ineffective parenting skills. The Doctors that were using nothing more that guess work and misinterpretation of the DSM 4 to somehow build a wall of respectability for their putrid actions. I was really sickened by this medicate first and diagnose later mentality of these supposed educated witch doctors with large vocabularies and little or no rational for their actions. I saw kids that are stuck with labels and side effects they will have to live with the rest of their lives. I worked with Kids of all ages and backgrounds for many years, and I have little doubt if you would have given me these behavioral problem children in advance of the diagnosis and damage caused by the medications; I could have given the large percentage of them the gift of normal childhood development. I’m angry that these idiots expect these kids to be prefect little behavioral angels, instead of normal kids that act out and challenge limits. This used to be called childhood development, and the normal process of being a child. Learning what behavior worked and what behavior don’t work because of the parental cause and effect equation. This is no more than a simple learning process of acceptable behavior –vs- unacceptable behavior which are linked to direct consequences. I’m sorry to say I believe these parents are abusive and have no clue about their parental responsibilities unfortunately. If these parents wanted complete behavioral control over another living entity, and to shuck off all real parental responsibility; they should have invested in a pet dog or rat instead of having kids. The medical community and these doctors are the enablers in this Passion play that allow them to get always with not being parents in the very sense of the word. Yes, who really pays the price for this misuse of our medical resourses? Exactly, the Kids themselves and society as a whole. We all pay the price for absolute professional ignorance/arrogance, and these actions taken of horrific and completely mystifying nature. I hope to God that these are not the same idiots writing the new DSM 5, or we are in for not just more of the same abusive tactics, but a rise in this abuse taken to and beyond epidemic proportions. This is a whole bunch of false data and assumptions that have spiraled into a massive fallacy perpetrated upon the very least of those able to protect themselves. I very seldom swear or use vulgarity in written or vocal conversation; but when I do, I use it as a wakeup call, and feel quite strongly about the subject matter I’m overly frustrated with. So here goes! What do I think of diagnosing these kids with bipolar and mental illness without any proper diagnostic tools or real down to earth supportive evidence? What do I think about these kids being used in guess work and experimentation? Talk about the blind leading the blind! Just two words would pretty much some up giving kids wrong guess work diagnosis and dangerous medications. : BULL SHIT!!!
Yours truly
Stan

I agree with every word you wrote, Stan. In this culture of quick fixes and I-want-it-now mentalities, a lot of parents just don't want to put in the time it takes to raise their kids to be respectful, well-behaved, and accountable for their actions. It's a whole lot easier to give the kid a pill, isn't it? Doesn't require any thought or skill or work.

I want to cry for these poor kids.

--Jazz

Stan,

I had pretty much the same reactions as you did when I initially watched the program.

Here is what greatly angered me. These doctors admitted their treatments are unproven. Yet if I suggested that they try something like magnesium (which has greatly helped me with anger issues) that would be deemed as voodoo medicine and unproven. An example - I no longer get angry for example when I spill something or can't get my contact lens in.

Furthermore, there are studies that have shown fish oil to be effective in treating Bipolar disorder.

Finally, I think any doctor who prescribes these drugs to children or adults for that matter, should be required to take them and then withdraw from the meds before they write a single prescription.

AA

I posted three comments on the WebMD blog under a new moniker for me. I'll let you guys guess which one is me (hint: not Anonymous). I don't think this off the Frontline website forum is getting all that much attention frankly. Kind of too bad. The show rattled me just as much this time around as it did before. If you go to the Frontline site it's interesting to read the story of how the producer found the kids and what she thought. The doc interviews and the updates are also interesting. Great that Brain Matters went bust immediately after the first airing of the show.

I'm copying and pasting what my comment was the first time this program aired in January 2008:

"What people need to really hear that was said in that program, is that anti depressants were dropped in use by doctors via the blackbox warnings, and atypicals were replaced for use. This is what is happening now, with the use of Risperdal, Abilify, etc.
"The 2 boys shown in the program are quite alarming, one has permanent head and neck movements, which in my opinion look like a side effect from the Risperdal, and it's being called simply a tic.

"The young boy who sees Dr. Bacon has me the most alarmed, and I want to emphasize that one needs to watch the program and watch the doctor react to the mother/parents questioning of the medications their boy is taking after they watched the Rebecca Riley 60 minutes show. This doctor waved away any idea of therapy, due to him "not being able to get anything from it due to symptoms", and said the boy is 99% treatable with meds only.

"When that mom described the child's morning anxiety getting to school, the doctor said they could "get through the morning" or he could give him Xanax. Basically they left with an increase of other meds he was on, and defeated the purpose of the parents concern. When the doctor handed the mom a Trileptal rx, all he told them was to watch for nausea and sleeping all day.

"This is what happens in these appointments. The parents are basically trusting a doctor, and if you pay close attention to Dr.Bacon, you will see how it's meds on top of meds and more meds.

"I could see the mother's hesistant look on her face when she questioned the meds, and was glad to hear her decline the Xanax. When a person like her is in a doctor's office [and I mean this nicely]the doctor rules the roost. She clearly is learning from her gut instinct and I have a feeling she will get a little more pushy now.

"The fact that Dr. Joseph Biederman refuses all media interviews is an example of an evil axis, at work, and I feel the program exposed quite much about how we got into that evil pit.

"Dr. Carlat had one snippet that said, "You don't know who to trust.", and I believe he has that right, especially since he is in the process of repaying his "debt to society" for selling Effexor via speaking engagements, and now he's doing "counter" talks for free.

"What is alarming and what made me the most upset, due to being a parent who sat in doc offices from 1999 until present, was that the same ease of rx is being dosed out, TODAY, and to younger children, and now more and more anti psychotics are being used, it is an alarming situation.

"The reporter questioned the FDA spokesman regarding why there isn't a black box on antipsychotics, which are more dangerous in side effects than anti depressants, and he stated because all of the data is only about "demented elderly".

"Lack of data, doctors pushing pills to parents like they are aspirin. That mother had no information given to her about what Trileptal is, does or any side effects except for nausea and fatigue.

"If anyone was watching with a certain view point say, pharma, or parents drugging their kids, go watch it again and pay attention to Dr. Bacon, he is clearly riding the axis of evil."

You know, as a parent of a mentally ill child, one is left with very little in the way of resources.

Here's a description of my son at age 5:

1. Consistant sleep disturbances--awake with nightmares on average 6 nights out of seven. Takes 1-3 hours to fall back asleep. Has never, cince infancy,consitantly slept through the night, even with implementation of medical/behavioral sleep programs.

2. Phobic since he was able to speak--the phobias change over time, but there is always an illogical, dominating fear of something--spiderwebs, tunnels, thunderstorms, the possibility of trees falling on the house, the possibility of the trunk of the car opening while driving. True panic attacks often occur.

3. A variety of compulsive behaviors that change over time, but are always present--must have shoes tied in a specific way, must stop and run outside when an airplane passes overhead, no matter what else he is involved with, must say the same phrases at the same time of day.

4. Not autistic or Aspergers. Superior IQ, attached to parents, good social skills.

5. Sensory dysfunctions--wears shoes so tight his feet have blisters. Reacts to exposure to loud noises --parties, stores, with complete meltdown.

6. Explosive rages--his older siblings are afraid of him. His parents have bite-marks and bruises from restraining him.

7. "Consequnces" and structured behavioral interventions do not diminish explosive behavior. Child consistently expresses deep remorse for bad behavior.

8.Lots of verbalization--child does not stop talking,and topics appear to reflect racing thoughts: A typical "conversation": Mom, to ants, grass looks like trees. How long does it take copper to turn green? Do you know how tall the Statue of Lberty is? When we drive to New York we can see the planes.

9.Incompletely toilet-trained.

10. Physically healthy--no seizure disorder, no genetic disorder.

12.Little to no regard for his own safety.

13. Bouts of impulsive, sexually inappropriate behavior, and cannot ever be left unsupervised with other children.

14. Little to no benefit from intensive therapy.

It frosts me when folks claim that kids like these just need structure, discipline, and the understanding that kids are kids.

Parenting a child this disabled, and keeping them safe, means exclusion from much of everyday life. There's no childcare for a kid like this. You have groceries delivered when your kid is going through a bad patch, because they can't handle being in a store. You make sure your 7 year old has a bedroom door that locks from the inside so that they can be safe.

So, yes: I drug my child.

So he can go to school. So he can have friends. So that he doesn't deliberately run into traffic, or jump from a second-story window just to see if he can.

So that he can live at home, and not in an institutional setting, which is where he would be, now, 4 years later, when he is faster than I am, and nearly as strong.

And he still has intensive therapy, 2-3 times a week, gets his blood sugars checked regularly, gets his heart monitored.

If there's a better option out there, I haven't found it.

Sorry this is so long, but I get so ticked off by the assumption that parents are somehow too stupid or careless or gullible to know better than to give their kids dangerous medications. some of us do it because the options are more dangerous.

I know I am one of the most strident critics of the use of AAPs in children and therefore parents like "v" are very angry with me. I agree the situation she describes with her child is absolutely tragic. And I do believe there is something seriously amiss. I still don't think these meds are the answer although appreciate that they seem to work for a period of time. I am quite convinced though that they make things worse over the long term because of the tolerance and withdrawal effects on the brain. What I'd like to understand is how things got so out of hand. What was the process by which the child's tantrums and dysfunction became worse and was there any correlation with vaccines for instance? Is there any family dynamic at all that might explain some of the problem? At what point in the process of the exacerbation of tantrums etc. was medication started and have the behavioral issues ameliorated in a straight line since then or are there periods when it's even worse than before medication ever started? On what basis are you saying the child is definitely not autistic or Asperger's? Also to what extent have exposure to toxins, heavy metals, allergies to gluten, dairy etc. really been explored? What therapies besides medication have been tried? And has the whole family been in therapy or just the child? I know I come across as unsympathetic. And I hope these parents remember I lost a child to psychiatric medication and have studied not only the corruption in the process by which these medications reach the market but also the actual neuroscientific evidence for toxicity and long term brain damage. I know it's a real conundrum when there is a child with this level of behavioral dysfunction and I'm truly sorry a way to ameliorate it is so very hard to find.

Dearest V.

I would really like to sit here and spend some serious time commenting on your post. I honestly plan to at a future time. Judgment and observation are two very different things! I'm sorry if you happen to take my comment personally, yet I will stand whole heartedly by the statements made in my post. It's not that I don't have great empathy for your particular situation; but what is happening is a far too common occurrence with the children of today; which I personally feel amounts to both abuse and neglect. I have to drive north and be with a friend of mine that has had a cancer relapse. But when I get back Sunday I will try to explain further my position without trying to offend you or anyone else; which is probably pretty much impossible when you’re dealing with such controversial and personal issues. I hope you noticed, I said the large percentage of kids are being abused and could be helped by more responsible parenting skills and choices. I didn't say this was a complete brush stroke approach to children with mental or behavioral health issues. I was also referring to the kids and parents I viewed and observed in this film. But I still hold onto a general view that kids of being over diagnosed and medicated without proper rational or evidence to support such measures. Sometimes it just maybe the parents are the ones that need a diagnosis, counseling, and medication, instead of the kids? I don't know your particular situation, you, or your child. So I can't make a statement about you or your child of any relevance here in this format. I'm not a therapist or espouse to be one here. I am bipolar and was quite a challenging child myself. I thank God (you can take that figuratively or in actuality, which ever you wish) I wasn't put through what kids are being put through today. I truly hope things work out the best for you and your child on a heartfelt level.

Yours truly
Stan