Book Review: Mental Health System Has Failed Many
Children with special needs or mental health problems are the neediest among us because so many people, including professionals, have little knowledge about some of the mental health and behavioral needs of children. Much of our knowledge, as clinicians, on child mental health stems from our knowledge of adult mental health. But this creates limitations because child mental health needs are often very different from adult mental health needs. In fact, depressed children are often misunderstood and researchers are trying to understand how depression affects the mental and emotional needs of children through more research. Many are unaware that childhood depression is often the foundation of multiple medical and behavioral problems. This lack of knowledge has a long history. Child affective disorders were underrepresented by psychiatry for centuries until the 1930s when child psychiatry became an independent discipline. No major text book contained a chapter on childhood affective disorders until around the late 1960s. Child psychiatry became more prevalent around World War II.
After the advent of SSRIs in 1988, most supporters touted these pills as a “wonder drug.” But after years of research and the 2005 FDA black-box warning emphasizing potential suicidal thoughts, some parents requested their children be taken off antidepressants. The majority of families now prefer alternative treatment options such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, vitamin therapy, or other holistic options. Sadly, most families either do not have insurance or cannot financially afford alternative treatments or mental health services. Children often get worse, don’t get treated, or become suicidal and even homicidal. The mental health system has nearly destroyed many of its patients and their families in favor of politics, financial control, and inadequate clinical knowledge.
My book, Mental Health in A Failed American System, further explains these inadequacies and Special Needs Book Review has allowed me to share this information with its readers and many supporters. Find out more below!
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