Monday, November 27, 2006

Emily's Question about psychological disorders in children




Is it beneficial or useful to diagnose young children with psychological disorders such as ADHD, bipolar, and anxiety? Are such diagnoses often "easy outs" for other problems, such as child neglect, child abuse, or some other form of poor parenting? Are many of these children simply acting their age? Does diagnosis cause some children to act the way they are diagnosed from being labeled? Can personality be accurately measured when it is not yet fully developed in a child? Can medicating children foster dependency on mood altering drugs as adults? Your thoughts on any or all of these questions would be appreciated.


Thanks, Emily Chittick