Psychology is an emerging field of study that has experienced close to exponential growth throughout the 20th century. Once an obscure pseudo-science, the field of psychology has grown to a community of prestigious schools, as well as online graduate degree programs. During this time, there was also a pivot towards study the psychology of adolescents, who are beginning to exhibit signs of emotional and mental distress at very young ages.
Nearly 20% of U.S. children ages 9 to 17 have diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Anywhere from nine to thirteen percent of them meet the definition of “serious emotional disturbance” and five to nine percent of them meet the definition of “extreme functional impairment.” In addition to a report of 22% of 13-18 year olds diagnosed with “severe impairment,” according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. Perhaps equally alarming is the rising trend in psychotherapy to administer prescription medications to many children without due consideration of the potential long-term effects of such diagnoses.
The rising rates of mental impairment and medication use is seen by some doctors as a dangerous fad that exposes young children to powerful drugs. Bipolar, a common diagnosis, is one such example where a drug, such as Seroquel or Risperdal, are immediately prescribed. In many cases, alternative solutions are not even considered, and side effects such as weight gain and changes in blood sugar (both risk factors of diabetes), are ignored.
According to a study based on hospital discharge records, during the last ten years, diagnosis of bipolar in children under the age of 13 has increased almost sevenfold and a typical treatment often includes multiple medications. In addition there have been more references to child mental health in the news in the past two years than in the entire preceding decade. That is an alarming uptick in diagnoses, which suggests that practitioners may be mis-diagnosing cases and prescribing serious meds erroneously.
Are these diagnoses right? Do antipsychotic drugs work the same on children as they do on adults? Can these medications be taken lightly? These are a few of the many questions surrounding psychiatric medication use on children. According to PBS, very little is known about the effect these medications have on children.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provides one alternative to prescription medications. To undergo treatment, children meet with a therapist for up to 22 sessions, during which time the therapist teaches the child how to deal with the mental health issue through cognitive, behavioral, and other interventions. In cases of depression, CBT was found to work just as well, if not better, than meds. It is also a safer treatment for mental health problems, according to the American Journal of Psychiatry.
One such type of cognitive therapy that has become popular in recent years is Play Therapy. In Play Therapy the therapist uses play strategically to help a child work through feelings and conflicts, gain insight, create a problem solving skill-set, mute dysfunctional thinking patterns and learn a variety of ways to relate to others. According to Association for Play Therapy, play therapists have a masters or higher mental health degree from an institution of higher learning, a mental health license/certification for clinical practice, with specific instruction and experience in play therapy.
