Yesterday's debacle of a situation that got blown completely out of proportion has me now still needing to speak my mind on the subject of mental issues and how the professional realm of doctors, teachers, and such react to it.
I have heard many stories of parents feeling like they are at a loss when it comes to their children and their attitudes or behavior. I have probably experienced a fair amount of the ridiculous assumptions that it is now fine time to speak my mind on the subject. Since it was apparent that these professionals need to seek out my opinion on the subject... I now need to really let loose my thoughts on the matter....
Has it crossed the minds of these professionals that people manage to say one thing and be seeking another for the need for attention? Has it even crossed the minds of these professionals that too much information readily available via the internet creates more text-book symptoms being shared in the doctor's office to seek out attention? Heck, even self diagnosis is on the rise because people take the generalized terminology and blow it up to epidemic proportions? Especially in the realm of mental health?
I really have no intentions to sugar-coat or even ignore the fact that there are truly disturbed people out there and there are truly warning signs to pay attention to and should never be taken lightly, but I truly believe that there is minimal attention to details that end up resulting in misdiagnoses and unnecessary medications being administered. Lets just discuss a couple of scenarios that I personally experienced over the past 13 years with DD and what I have managed to do about it, along with what was the professionals would have done....
Back, in the days of elementary school for DD, I had to deal with a couple of less than motivational teachers. One was coined "Hitler in heels" because her teaching method bordered on criminal with her short temper and booming voice that had every child in her class cringe. The other was called "the Zen teacher", because she believed in her classroom.... children should be seen and not heard. Both were opposites, but had the same end result of placing blame on my child for her less than entrapped attention to her environment. While both teachers hinted towards having me get my child tested for A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder), I did a little research and found out that my child was suffering from side effects of a well-known medication that was prescribed to her for her reactive airway issues. This drug called "Singulair" was noted as a safe medication for children (as well as adults) to take and had minimal to no side effects. Being a remotely new drug, the mention of side effects did not surface until well after DD started taking this medication. Upon some research, I found that every complaint about my child's lack of attention to detail (as well as her body aches/pains, random facial tics, mood swings, and consistent nightmares) stemmed from being a side effect to this medication. After discussing my findings to the doctor, I got the "green light" to wean her off to see if this was truly a result of side effects. Needless to say.... it was the solution. After mere days off that medication, my child's focus improved and all her other complaints vanished. Now, with that in mind, if I decided to take the route that the professionals (meaning the teacher's idea to have my child tested and eventually medicated for A.D.D.), I would be subjecting my child to taking one pill to counteract the side effects of another. Which would result in possible other medications to fix issues from the other medications, creating a domino effect of other issues that were not really there to need to be treated in the first place. Basically, just a band-aid to the real issue because these professionals refuse to look deeper into other possible conclusions.
Fast forward to the current time. DD is now in Junior High. It is a new school, new experience that transitions them from a singular classroom dynamic of Elementary School to a multiple classroom experience that is found in High School. With this new experience, it is known that there needs to be time to adapt to a different environment, but some people... well most people.... will experience stress for the first time. Now, add in hormonal imbalance (you know, puberty), and teenage angst to that. What you get is a high strung teenager that tends to have a flair for the dramatic. Of course, girls have this affliction far stronger than boys, but it is par for both genders. This is where the child thinks they know best and believes that their parents are completely clueless to the challenges that are placed before them (aka the "you don't understand" phenomenon). With yesterday's debacle of the doctor taking a firm stand that what was obviously teen drama induced angst as a serious threat to the welfare of this child, I was forced to have my child go through a psychological evaluation for depression. Spending money that was not necessary to come to the same conclusion that I came with if this doctor bothered to listen to me, happened to just get me so furious that I returned to the doctor's office to give them a piece of my mind. I did not want DD to see me lose my cool because, frankly, it is not a pretty sight to behold. While understanding the importance of keeping our children safe is foremost the most important thing, it was the shoot-from-the-hip mentality that clouded the judgement and even further made protocol for handling this situation far less effective. Do these doctors think all parents are clueless? Apparently, the mental health professionals noticed that I was not a clueless parent. Of course, it makes me have less faith in the system if a mental healthcare professional asks me what course should be taken in the care of the child. Yep, I was asked that last night. It appears that their college degree is nothing more than a means to a title if they cannot make an executive decision for the care of another individual. I did have the sickening sensation that they were more than willing to just write a prescription without learning all the facts. Also, it appears that the risks of medicating someone for something that has not been solidly proven necessary to medicate was not even considered. Really, would you prescribe an anti-depressant to a person that happened to have a bad day when they went in to see the doctor and truly was not diagnosed as clinically depressed? The side effect risks are scary enough to think about.... potential risks for a person to become suicidal while taking an anti-depressant are far higher when the patient is under the age of 18, but the risk is still there for adults far over the age of 18 demographic.
It appears that society has become more dependent upon the easy way out than to actually look deeper and seek out other potential scenarios that could be causing the problem in the first place. Albeit a side effect of a medication or blatant disregard for all the facts... there is a risk to just agreeing to taking a pill to fix all your ailments. Are you willing to take that risk? Is the potential risks of side effects worth taking if there is a different, yet more personally involved solution out there? Has every professional decided to refuse to put in any more effort than the least possible? Has society become so dependent upon accepting the first opinion that they refuse to seek a second one when it comes to their best interests?
If I did not take the initiative to seek out the various angles of why and accepted what was told to me.... my child would be taking unnecessary medications that can be more damaging than helpful. Maybe I am just one of the very few that refuse to agree to roll over and play stupid when there is a college degree hanging on the wall of the professional that I sought out for help. Maybe my insatiable desire to learn has placed me in a certain demographic that refuses to constantly be a "yes" person all the time, because really... how does a person learn if they do not challenge the conclusion in the first place. Isn't that what life is all about? Learning experiences at every turn? Isn't that what our freedoms allow? Freedom to think? Freedom to learn? And maybe... just maybe... freedom to choose?
Okay, time to get off my soapbox. Carry on with your day.....
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