From Stingflower of new bloggy find Harshly Mellow, who also finds this creepy:

A tenth of two to five-year-olds have a serious psychiatric illness, yet most cases are being missed, warn experts.

The problems go beyond tantrums and bad behaviour and impact negatively on all aspects of an infant's life, the Institute of Psychiatry will hear.

And failure to spot and treat these conditions early is causing unnecessary distress and suffering.

Mental health services need to be geared towards very young children as a matter of urgency, they said.

WTF??? 10% of all two year olds are mentally ill? Riiiight.

Since when is "normal" the 90th percentile in ANY marker of childhood development?

I think what's going on here is simply a misguided consequence of the laudible efforts of pediatric practitioners to identify serious developmental disorders sooner. For example, some studies indicate that the incidence of autism is increasing in some areas over the past 20-30 years. However, it's not clear whether the reported increase is due to more actual new cases of the disorder, or to slightly lessened diagnostic criteria, implemented in an effort to diagnose children at an earlier age so that intervention can be started sooner.

It's entirely plausible that 10% of toddlers display behaviors that mark them as "at risk" of developing personality disorders or ADHD or what have you. However, as psychiatrists have learned repeatedly in following patients predisposed to mood disorder, schizophrenia, etc., the risk of development or even the appearance of frank prodromal symptoms (in the case of Schizophrenia) is no guarantee that the patient will progress to illness. So it's, at the least, reaching a bit to say that 1 out of every 10 young children has a serious disorder.

Which brings me to my other point. Isn't it a bit much to say that one in ten kids has a serious disorder? How serious can it be if it is SO prevalent? Is it possible that our definition of normal is just a tad skewed by the ready availability of drugs and treatments that make our kids fit into tidy little polite boxes? And these are as young as two years old. Ever heard of the terrible twos? Some kids are more terrible than others. Throwing temper tantrums and trying to assert dominance is normal for a toddler or a preschooler. It does not require medication. Just a little time, patience, and firmness from mom and dad. Oh wait. Mom and Dad don't have time anymore, and anyway, being firm with your kids doesn't make friends with them.

Arrgh. This is exactly why I don't want to have kids. I can't be a parent of the state.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:37 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 This is exactly why I don't want to have kids. I can't be a parent of the state. This is exactly why you should have gives. You can show the state what it means to be a parent.

Posted by: jen at November 28, 2005 12:20 PM (UMVKj)

2 Good grief. gives = kids That is quite the typo.

Posted by: jen at November 28, 2005 12:20 PM (UMVKj)

3 Isn't it a bit much to say that one in ten kids has a serious disorder? Yes, absolutely How serious can it be if it is SO prevalent? Not serious at all. This is simply a putsch by Psychiatrists to get more patients. Probably, aided and abetted by the folks who make Ritalin More troubled kids => more treatment => more drugs => more $$$ The ugly side of science -- scaring people to make $$ off them. Sadly, not so uncommon these days. Barnes, Hank

Posted by: Hank Barnes at November 28, 2005 01:06 PM (hZ5c+)

4 agreed.

Posted by: caltechgirl at November 28, 2005 01:07 PM (/vgMZ)

5 Lordy, if I believed that my kids would be in wards by now.

Posted by: vw bug at November 29, 2005 08:24 AM (Xl/Yt)

6 Oh holy crap! You know what? 2 year old children are manic-depressive ego-centric savants. ALL of them are. That's part of being 2. Unless there's a very distinct trait that can be singled out, I don't believe a minute of that "study". Sorry. Nope. From 2-5, kids are still developing, prone to outbursts of all sorts, and more often than not, just normal kids. Very few need psychiatric intervention. Those who do are in the smallest minority and nowhere near the 10% mark. So says the former pediatric nurse.

Posted by: Da Goddess at December 05, 2005 04:54 PM (nR5ux)

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