Pathologizing childhood

CDC claims that 20% of children and adolescents in the U.S. have a mental disorder. (JAMA, v. 310, no.1) Wow. So I skimmed the article. 2/3 of those were hyperactive/attention deficit, about 1/6 were behavior problems, and 1/6 alcohol or drug problems. Talk about pathologizing childhood! This is a gift to Big Pharma to push legal drugs on your kids. But it gets worse. The "health care" costs? $247 billion. No wonder our health care costs exceed those of other industrialized nations if this is how it is figured.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1707733

http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/medications.html

From a mother who was talked into drugging her child:  If “accelerated” has become the new normal, there’s no choice but to diagnose the kids developing at a normal rate with a disorder. Instead of leveling the playing field for kids who really do suffer from a deficit, we’re ratcheting up the level of competition with performance-enhancing drugs. We’re juicing our kids for school.

We’re also ensuring that down the road, when faced with other challenges that high school, college and adult life are sure to bring, our children will use the coping skills we’ve taught them. They’ll reach for a pill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/opinion/sunday/raising-the-ritalin-generation.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/health/22KIDS.html?_r=0