Louis Theroux: America's Medicated Kids

[[Buddie]]

Cant wait to watch it. Loved his Docu's on the Chicago cops, Paedophile prison, State prison and Nazi extremists. I find it funny that he seems so quentisentially english with his seemingly geeky look but he puts himself in the midst of some of the most dangerous people and seems quite unflappable (remember when the far-right extremists were threateningly asking if he was Jewish or of Jewish descent). He never seems to make explicit judgements but his features sometimes betray either his inner feelings or those projected onto him from the viewer (I.E me!). No one else has tackled some of the toughest subjects going on in the world today.
he reminds me of Nick Broomfield who seems to have a lower profile these days but made some equally great Docu's in his time (like the two on the recently deceaced Eugene Le Blanc). I will let you all know what it was like tomorrow!

[[Buddie]]

Hi [...],

I'll be watching too. As a reminder: the documentory airs tonight, BBC2, 9PM.

[[Buddie]]

Well it was as ever an intersting and well balanced Docu' I thought. I was expecting to be angry but I just felt a bit sad really that 6 year olds are being given Antidepressants and an 11 year old kid who is on a staggering dose of Amphetamines (Adderall) and Seroquel (Antipsych med). Just makes me grateful that I was'nt medicated for all my growing pains as a kid. I have been on both amphetamines and Seroquel as an adult and they are mind-blowing (literally) drugs. Louis Theroux kept a calm and level questioning of all involved including Support workers, Psychiatrists, parents and most importantly and touchingly for me, the kids. The general view I got was that there are no easy answers to the medicalising of kids but I am sure in all the literature and Psychology research I have done is that Bi-Polar (as the 11 year old was diagnosed) is not diagnosable at 11 when the personality is being formed and I am sure it says in the literature for Seroquel that its not suitable for minors but then I could be wrong. They all seemed to be like typical moody teenagers to me and that was what Louis observed a couple of times. The Psychiatrist seemed to readily admit when questions of ethics were put to him that he was little more than a drug pusher for the parents to control their kids to avoid looking at their own issues! And so the cycle continues. Sounds like a society run out of control and getting increasingly directionless with ever increasing Psychoactive substances to fill the gaps, glue the fragments and keep the doors on an increasingly dissolusioned and lost human race. I dont personally think drugs are the answer but in fact the question and one that needs addressing pretty damn urgently!
Doc

[[Buddie]]

Hi Doctor,

Sorry, I meant to reply to this at the time, but got sidetracked.

I can't remember their names now, but a six-year-old on ADs made me feel very uncomfortable. In fact, I felt that the doctors were prescribing by the seat of the their pants. I felt it was more to do with control rather than treatment, at least some of the time. The older boy did appear to be autistic (to my untrained eye), but I'm not sure at all that there was anything wrong with the young boy or the teenage girl.