The Evidence Is In: Why We Need to Develop Alternatives to Psychiatric Medications for Children

The Rx Generation: Alternatives to the Use of Psychiatric Medications with Children

Conference: The Evidence Is In: Why We Need to Develop Alternatives to Psychiatric Medications for Children

Robert Whitaker

The medicating of children in our society with psychiatric drugs began with the prescribing of stimulants to children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder in the 1980s. Today, children and teenagers are regularly being prescribed stimulants, antidepressants, mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. By some accounts, more than one in ten children is medicated. This is a profound thing for society to do, and if we look closely at the science behind these practices, we can see that these practices, over the long-term, are causing great harm.