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Talk Therapy for Kids, Prescription Drugs and Mental Illness

March 11, 2009 By 4 Comments

mental illness children

My family has a long history of mental health issues ranging from anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and I’m sure there is more that I’m not even aware of. I can safely say I’m mentally healthy – or so I seem to think! I like to joke about this because some days I feel like I’m losing my mind except I shouldn’t joke – this really is serious. Mental illness is real and not something people make up. If you have family members who suffer you understand what I am talking about. It is not something we can see but most times neither is cancer. It is a disease and even I am guilty for not acknowledging it or giving much sympathy to particular family members. Do they really choose to have issues with their brain and hormones that make them unbalanced at times and not like the rest of us? I think not.

I bring this very raw and emotional topic up and I feel naked writing this. As though I will be judged. I will be thought to be like the others in my family. When you have a family history of the illness you partially feel as though it defines you but I remind myself often that this is not the case. It has shaped me and impacted my life but it is not who I am. It also has made me realize that if I feel like I need help it is okay to ask for help – others I know have not done this.

Medicine is something that scares me when it comes to mental illness yet it has helped to make those close to me sane and what I like to think of as “normal” and so I cannot completely throw medicine out the window – sometimes it is necessary. I remember in college feeling very depressed, wanting to have the year end and be done with the experience. I hated where I lived, the guy I loved did not love me and I missed friends and family. My doctor prescribed an antidepressant and I filled the prescription. I did not take one pill. I knew I was not clinically depressed and medicine was not going to make things better or me happier – only I could do this. Only I could move on from this broken heart, deal with school for a few months and make the best of a bad situation. I did this without medicine but looking back I am angry with the doctor for just filling out a script. Was it because of my family history?

I fear this for my own children. My cousin was diagnosed recently with ADHD and possibly some other illnesses and he is so young that it breaks my heart. I’m not a proponent of medicine but I recognize with our history and his own history that the other options have been exhausted. Talk therapy is something he will go through in conjunction with medicine and figuring out the right course of treatment.  For some people this form of therapy is all they need. I’m intrigued by the notion that talking can actually be a solution for fewer prescriptions and children taking less medicine. What a novel idea because we all know it helps to just talk to through – get it out there and off our chest. For my dear cousin, he’ll need both for now but maybe not always. I’m torn knowing that I have that history and recognizing that prescription drugs have side effects and are over prescribed but also knowing that they can give an unhealthy person a second chance at living happy.

What if talk therapy is used at a younger age with children, could it be possible that this could help them long term not need medicine at all? The study is fascinating and could give many parents a great solution before prescribing medicine.  I recognize alternative medicine and other suggestions and embrace them as solutions for some families and children, this just seems like an idea that some families could explore safely and feel comfortable with.


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  • http://anisaschell.wordpress.com Anisa

    Another effective alternative to drugs is bio-feedback. I have two adult friends doing this right now and both are seeing a lot of success! Maybe you can ask about it for kids?

  • http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com Melodie

    In my other life I am a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner, which in layman’s terms means I work mainly with people (youth and adults) with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and help them along their path to recovery by supporting them in achieving their goals. I work with nurses and psychiatrists and other medical professionals, but MY job is to do the non-medical end of it all, and that is exactly where I like to be. I do believe in using medication, but when it’s not working I believe in having the right to explore an alternative route. I am a big fan of talk therapy and behavioural intervention for children. My daughter is on the cusp of an ASD diagnosis, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that she doesn’t go on drugs. Especially when they are young, early intervention can help to rewire one’s brain. It is my opinion that when medication is used on children that can mess up their brains even more. Of course sometimes meds are needed, that’s what they are there for, but non-invasive therapies work great too – sometimes even better. I have seen first hand what they ca do.

    Melodies last blog post..Foodie Fridays: Mung Bean Dahl

  • http://www.hippiedippiebebe.com/ Hope (of hippie dippie bébé)

    “I feel naked writing this. As though I will be judged. I will be thought to be like the others in my family. When you have a family history of the illness you partially feel as though it defines you but I remind myself often that this is not the case. It has shaped me and impacted my life but it is not who I am.”

    I guess I just wanted to say, Sommer, that I wish that you didn’t need to fear that others would judge you for being “like the others in your family”. Not only do I wish that it weren’t possible for you to be judged in that way, but I also wish that family members like yourself wouldn’t think it was such a terrible thing to be “like those others.” I believe, and I have a vested interested in this belief, that just like the color of your skin or your sexual orientation, mental illness is not something to be ashamed of.

    We can think of it like cancer or diabetes. If we have family members who have diabetes, do we fear that people will judge us because they think we might have diabetes too? Do we comfort ourselves in the notion that, “No, we’re not like them, they might have diabetes but no one can accuse us of having diabetes!”

    The unfortunate thing is that when people like myself have mental illness, no matter how serious or how minor, it exacerbates the issue when we feel a stigma and shame attached to our difference. Fortunately for me and other women, brave celebrities and makers of popular culture have “come out,” much like the Harvey Milks of the past, and openly discussed their struggles with mental illness. So I can say, proudly, that, heck I’m a lot like Brooke Shields, and proud of it!

    So don’t be afraid of being judged! I can say personally that when I have openly discussed depression, both on my blog and on forums, I’ve always been met with responses both encouraging and sympathetic, often from other moms who were relieved to hear someone admit to depression so openly. I had a similar response when I saw the effortless openness and overwhelming that Amy at CrunchyDomesticGoddess received when she spoke of depression.

    One more natural alternative to drugs, of course, is nutrition, exercise and supplementation. I’ve found that a SAD light, B vitamins and inositol have worked wonders for me. For my son who has both allergies and a borderline ADD, my goal lately been trying to support his immune system with magnesium, zinc and EFA’s while avoiding common allergens in things like dyes and preservatives.

    So much we can try first before resorting to the unknowns of medication’s side effects, true!

    Hope (of hippie dippie bébé)s last blog post..Is it Wrong to Openly Support Breastfeeding?

  • http://www.greenandcleanmom.org Green & Clean Mom

    What a thoughtful and sweet response, thank you. Online the response is seeming different verses the face-to-face world and living in a small town. I really appreciate this comment and will have to read some of the posts you speak of.

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