I read bits and pieces of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV” (DSM-IV) during medical school, which was an informative yet frustrating experience: one that I would like to revisit and expand upon when DSM-V is released. My understanding of psychiatric illnesses and their diagnoses and treatments is extremely limited. I can only imagine how difficult it is to care for some psychiatric patients, let alone, children.
Enter Kyle. The NYTimes paints a grim portrait of his struggle with antipsychotic drugs:
“Kyle’s third birthday photo shows a pink-cheeked boy who had ballooned to 49 pounds.”
“Kyle smiles at the camera. He is sedated.”
“He was sedated, drooling and overweight…”
Kyle isn’t alone.
“Texas Medicaid data ... showed a record $96 million was spent last year on antipsychotic drugs for teenagers and children — including three unidentified infants who were given the drugs before their first birthdays.”
Kyle and other children from low-income families “were four times as likely as the privately insured to receive antipsychotic medicines” because it is “cheaper” than psychotherapy, according to a Rutgers U. study.
I wonder what things are like in the prison systems.
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