Doug,

I've been saying that to psychiatrists for a decade. Thanks for saying it.

I was also told by various psychiatrists "the drugs all work for the same illness". (meaning childhood bipolar, OCD etc)

I;ve been told a lot of BS over the last decade, and frankly it's getting on my nerves.

Thank you Mr. Bremner.
At last!

Good statement, but sadly, with the drug companies toe hold, and the seemingly dramatic affects the drugs have at first, if antipsycotics are restricted to childhood schizophrenia, look for an "epidemic" of that label.

My son was given a script for Risperdal immediately after being dx as BP at age 7. The pdoc assured me it was very safe, standard treatment that she used all the time.

She didn't mention it was an off label use (Risperdal hadn't even been approved for autsistic children, at that point)

Lisa Van Syckel gave me a list of the ages of children treated with psychotropics which I am going to post in a little while. Also a funny piece written by John Mack about how direct to consumer advertisers use pleasant images to gloss over the list of toxic and lethal side effects. In the case of Abilify notice how they show people floating along in a 'feeling groovy' kind of way.
http://pharmamkting.blogspot.com/2005/11/fda-dtc-hearings-snippets-from-day-1.html

Nice thought, yep, at first sight. And certainly necessary. But then, "childhood schizophrenia"? "Schizophrenia"? What? I'll never get what the big idea is behind drugging up people, especially kids, who suffer from PTSD, no matter in what shape it comes.

Here is the (sad) list from NJ provided by Lisa Van Syckel (and when I say "a" that doesn't mean there was only one, often MANY:

A months old infant on chloral hydrate (sleeping pill).
A two year old on Strattera (ADHD psychotropic drug).
A three year old on methylin (methylphenidate, or Ritalin, a stimulant ADHD drug)
A four year old on Concerta (extended release methylphenidate for ADHD)
A two year old and a three year old on Risperdal (risperadone)
A three year old on Adderall (amphetamine salts)
A two year old on Ativan (lorazepam) (sedative, sleeping pill)
A three year old on Ritalin
A three year old on Focalin (dexmethylphenidate, ADHD stimulant drug)
A four year old on Zyprexa (olanzapine)
A three year old on Paxil (paroxetine)
A three year old on Seroquel (quetiapine)
An infant on Valium (diazepam)
A four year old on Ambien (sleeping pill)
A four year old on Prozac (fluoxetine

posted at:
http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/2008/11/baby_respirdal.html

Dispensing those age kids those drugs should be a crime, punishable by law.

How unfortunate children are victims of a profit based industry. It's child abuse in the worst form--hidden away so innocently in the name of medicine.

Rebecca Riley is dead at age 4 and no one seems to remember that little brunette girl with a bright smile. People need to remember these kids and learn from it.

I could not work in a profession that prescribes these drugs, not after what I've been through with my daughter.

I've said many times that being forcibly medicated as a teenager caused me to have fibromyalgia. I can't even name all the drugs I was on between 13-19. dx-ing "angry" children as bipolar because their parents are too stubborn to make changes at home is just another example of our fat lazy American culture. taking a frakking pill will not cure everything.

There is no excuse for what this parent has done. This child will have brain injury from the drug.

No one puts a gun to a parent's head and forces them to lobotomize their kid. No one forces them to take the prescription from the doctor.

This is child abuse.

When I was in eighth grade I was put on Risperdal doe generalized anxiety disorder. It was awful. I was put on Risperdal, Abilify, Seroquel, Effexor and lots of other drugs as a teenager for generalized anxiety disorder. None of the drugs helped and they had horrible side effects. The Risperdal had the worst side effects ever. I was on it when I was 13 and it was a horrible drug. It was used as an add on for an antidepressant to treat generalized anxiety disorder and it had so many horrible side effects. Abilify did, too. It's completely horrible what that awful psychiatrist did to me when putting me on Risperdal. Risperdal is a horrible drug that I experienced as a teenager that did so many horrible things to me. I wish I could find the doctor who prescribed me it again and asked what the hell that doctor was thinking prescribing a middle schooler Risperdal for generalized anxiety disorder.