Citation

Lakhan SE, Hagger-Johnson GE. Clin. Pract. Epidemol. Ment. Health 2007; 3.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1745-0179-3-21

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Many psychotropics prescribed to children are unlicensed or off-label. This article uses the two most prescribed psychotropics (MPH and SSRIs) to illustrate various concerns about their impact on youth. Many mental illnesses begin in childhood or early adulthood, warranting a treatment of some kind. However, commentators have argued that prescribing is influenced by five myths: (1) children are little adults; (2) children have no reason to develop depression or anxiety; (3) psychiatric disorders are the same across adults and children; (3) children can be prescribed lower doses of the same drug; (5) drugs are preferable to alternative treatments and are more successful. Several lines of evidence suggest that these are incorrect assumptions. We update readers with recent research in relation to these myths, concluding that researchers should clarify child/adult differences for psychotropics, attend to the growth of "cosmetic" use of psychotropics in children and adolescents, and address concerns about the diagnostic validity of mental illness in the current DSM classification system. © 2007 Lakhan and Hagger-Johnson; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; insomnia; depression; clinical trial; drug abuse; risk factor; child behavior; review; fatigue; mental disease; prescription; life event; weight reduction; clomipramine; cognitive defect; fluoxetine; fluvoxamine; serotonin uptake inhibitor; sertraline; tricyclic antidepressant agent; high risk population; dose calculation; cognitive therapy; anxiety disorder; sleep disorder; psychotropic agent; psychopharmacology; child growth; nonhuman; drug choice; drug safety; placebo; child health care; drug efficacy; risk benefit analysis; self esteem; irritability; diagnostic accuracy; onset age; drug utilization; phenobarbital; side effect; attention deficit disorder; evidence based medicine; agitation; methylphenidate; dose response; drug approval; low drug dose; drug contraindication; shivering; obsessive compulsive disorder; diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders; unspecified side effect; muscle hypotonia; abdominal discomfort; treatment duration; trend study; health belief; excitement; decreased appetite; pulmonary hypertension; off label drug use; pharmacogenetics