Children are seen as a group where medication use is low and hence a potential group for increased use (sales) of medications. Two crazy ideas have been floated in different parts of the world. In the USA the latest idea is for cholesterol level screening in children....
There is an old adage that when the only tool you have is a hammer, all problems start to look like nails. The rise of the medical model over the last 50 years has increasingly made every problem people have a medical “nail” and hence solved by the “hammer” of a pill....
A fortnight ago in my weekly newsletter I wrote about an online petition opposing changes and extensions to the Psychiatry “Bible”, the DSM V. Many people are concerned about new conditions being created and the threshold at which other conditions can be diagnosed,...
Once again a large question mark has been thrown over antidepressants. A major analysis of previous studies shows that the effect of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s) is no more than placebo (a non active sugar tablet) in mild and moderate depression....
A few weeks ago I wrote about screening for preschoolers. This touched a nerve as it has had the most comments of any blog I have written. The notion of “screening” children to determine their “fitness” for school together with the proposed “emotional wellness checks”...
