Documentary “The Medicated Child” by Marcela Gaviria

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The increasing prevalence of mental health issues in adults and children leaves enough room for a detailed discussion on whether such approaches are effective and ethical. In the documentary titled The Medicated Child by PBS (2008), the cases of three children exposed to mental health issues are outlined in rich detail. Psychiatric disorders often have to be treated with the aid of medication. The documentary represents a detailed analysis of cases of Jacob, DJ, and Jessica intended to highlight the key dangers of prescribing powerful medication to children when treating psychiatric disorders. According to Bachmann et al. (2017), the effectiveness of drugs when working with children with psychiatric disorders is questionable because behaviors can be modified easily, but no outcomes can be predicted. The majority of side effects come through unnoticed and can affect children without them realizing it. This is why the discussion on this topic is so important and exceptionally pressing.

In the first segment of the documentary from PBS (2008), the life of a child with an ADHD diagnosis is presented. A three-year-old boy named Jacob was diagnosed with ADHD due to his sporadic behaviors and a rather high level of energy. Based on the information from Ghirardi et al. (2020), it may be safe to say that Jacob’s hyperactivity is much more similar to the inability to control his impulses. Knowing that his brain is still developing, even the diagnosis itself is rather questionable because of the lack of judgment that kind of forces children to conduct themselves differently to get noticed. To my mind, giving medication to a three-year-old child who is subjectively perceived as hyperactive should be considered unethical and unnecessary in the first place. The development pace is still relatively slow during this time, so prescribing medication would worsen Jacob’s condition and most likely cause relapses of the alleged ADHD reactions. A child’s behavior should never be modified with the help of medication, and the next story exemplifies that statement.

The case of DJ from PBS (2008) documentary represents a recognized attempt of a psychiatrist to treat a child using medication that was not tested thoroughly. With the psychiatrist stating that the whole plan was a “gamble,” the decision to medicate a child is outright irresponsible, if not borderline senseless. In Wongpakaran et al. (2017), a similar issue is discussed from the point where no medication should be given to children, especially if no particular testing activities were carried out to support medicine effectiveness. The difference in reactions to medication among teenagers and adults hints at the fact that one cannot simply prescribe the same medicine to treat conditions of a varied grade of severity. Evidently, the majority of psychiatrists would not risk their own children’s health condition to take chances with medication, meaning that safety and effectiveness still represent the pillars of care provision (Dekkers et al., 2021). Instead of making bets, psychiatrists should take prescriptions way more seriously and come up with solutions that do not relate to any kind of negative side effects.

The ultimate epitome for the need to test medication and prescribe it carefully is the case of Jessica, a young girl that was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was just five years old. The majority of thoughts and behaviors exhibited by Jessica were just an indication of her being different from peers. Despite Jessica’s intense thoughts about her parents, I do not think she really meant it. Nevertheless, the PBS (2008) documentary never touches upon the question of child abuse and neglect in the film, so it is rather hard to judge the actual reasons for Jessica wanting to “bust heads open.” Based on the evidence from Findling et al. (2018), bipolar disorder is exceptionally hard to diagnose in young children, if not impossible. Therefore, my take on this situation is that Jessica is a phenomenal thinker and an active child who has been able to process the world around her and generate a realistic response to surroundings. Without her parents’ influence, she would not be too likely to behave in a similar manner.

Looking at the cases of Jacob, DJ, and Jessica, I conclude that these three kids are practically ‘normal’ and do not have to be treated with the help of medication or diagnosed with adult conditions. Using medication to alter children’s behaviors is one of the least researched venues in psychiatry, so it should be essential to avoid any “gambles” on the way to treating kids properly. Powerful medicine can forever damage the minds and bodies of children, so doctors should not have the ethical nor professional freedom to test medication on young patients. The lack of information on mental health disorders forces many parents to side with medication-driven treatment options instead of looking into alternative therapy methods. This omnipresent trust challenges parents to support treatment options driven by drugs. Therefore, the lack of opportunities to choose from creates a conundrum where some psychiatrists exercise abuse of authority and engage in experiments that can have detrimental effects on children’s mental health.

References

Bachmann, C. J., Wijlaars, L. P., Kalverdijk, L. J., Burcu, M., Glaeske, G., Schuiling-Veninga, C. C.,… & Zito, J. M. (2017). Trends in ADHD medication use in children and adolescents in five western countries, 2005–2012.European Neuropsychopharmacology, 27(5), 484-493. Web.

Dekkers, T. J., Groenman, A. P., Wessels, L., Kovshoff, H., Hoekstra, P. J., & van den Hoofdakker, B. J. (2021). Which factors determine clinicians’ policy and attitudes towards medication and parent training for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1-11. Web.

Findling, R. L., Stepanova, E., Youngstrom, E. A., & Young, A. S. (2018). Progress in diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder among children and adolescents: An international perspective.Evidence-Based Mental Health, 21(4), 177-181. Web.

Ghirardi, L., Larsson, H., Chang, Z., Chen, Q., Quinn, P. D., Hur, K.,… & D’Onofrio, B. M. (2020). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication and unintentional injuries in children and adolescents.Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(8), 944-951. Web.

PBS. (2008). Frontline | The medicated child. pbs.org. Web.

Wongpakaran, R., Suansanae, T., Tan‐Khum, T., Kraivichian, C., Ongarjsakulman, R., & Suthisisang, C. (2017). Impact of providing psychiatry specialty pharmacist intervention on reducing drug‐related problems among children with autism spectrum disorder related to disruptive behavioral symptoms: A prospective randomized open‐label study.Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 42(3), 329-336. Web.

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