To medicate or not?

[Timothy]

Regarding behavioral concerns:

The main thing to remember is that this behavior is not completely the child's fault. The chemicals in the brain are out of balance and this casuses the behavior that you are seeing. The use of meds can help to balance trhe chemicals in the brain and help the child be in better control. With this said here are some pros and cons of using meds:

Pros & Cons

Pro:
May help to calm the child down enough to cope.
When calmed, the child may be able to learn coping strategies.
Parents get a break from the frustration of oppositional behavior.

Con:
Side effects of a med may lead to the need for another and then another...etc.
It may take several months of hits and misses to find the right combination.
Meds will need to be adjusted from time to time as one's body matures and changes
which means more guess work and experimenting.

To learn more about this condition you may want to research oppositional defiance behavior.
Any other thoughts?

[JulieAnn]

As I glanced at a definition for this so-called "oppositional defiance behavior", it would appear to be nothing more than severe rebellion in the heart of a child, which is, in actuallity, the sin nature expresing itself. Any behavior of the 'flesh' can be modified with medication, which is common in our modern-day society. American children are the most medicated children in the world.

[kimby]

I haven't been on here in ages. This is not normally a forum I read, but I was drawn in by the title I suppose.

As a teacher, I have a lot of thoughts on the topic. The first one is that the decision has to be based on what is best for the child. I have seen both extremes. Children medicated that maybe didn't really need it, and children desperately in need that were denied.

Some children are medicated when what they really need is some good parenting. These are often the children that don't give much trouble at school because they are in a structured environment. In the unstructured, often undisciplined environment at home they run amuck and parents cry out for medication to help.

There have been a few instances in my teaching career that cured me of ever doubting that some children do need medical help. Early in my career I had a boy that was slightly hyperactive. He wasn't a behaviour problem really, but he had a hard time settling to learn. His parents started the school year without medication to see how it would go. After a short time they chose to began administering it again. His personality did not change, but his ability to learn did. One major change that I did not expect was his handwriting. It went from barely legible to perfectly neat and acceptable. More recently I had a young girl who had major behavioural issues as well as a tendency to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. About 2/3 of the way through the school year her mother took her to the doctor and he decided to try some medication. Within two days I had a different young lady sitting in my room. She was pleasant to me and to her classmates. She was not constantly disruptive. She was able to learn and to allow those around her to learn. An interesting side effect of the medication was that she rarely fell asleep in class anymore. In both these instances I would have considered it bad parenting to deny the children these medications. To me it would have been as detrimental as refusing to give them antibiotics if their bodies needed them.

Many kids are overmedicated. Many parents turn to medicine instead of stepping up as parents. But some children truly need the medical help. We would be shocked to hear of a parent saying they didn't want their child taking an anti-seizure medication, or an asthma inhaler, or insulin for diabetes. These medications help the brain and body work as it should when it isn't quite managing on its own. Never would a doctor prescribe those medications if their wasn't genuine need. Medications that help balance brain chemicals need to be viewed in the same way.

[clark thompson]

I think the idea to medicate is at a high today because, the doctors get more money with more people taking more people. Often times childeren will grow out of this behavior, I know I did.