![]() These children and families need enormous amounts of support and help, and often medications. These are real psychiatric problems with many risks associated with them. This is not to minimize, in any way, the extraordinary difficulties experienced by these children and families when the children suffer from severe patterns of explosive rages and impulsive, often dangerous behaviors. Calling them all bipolar does a grave disservice to them and their families and creates the kinds of risks that came into sharp focus in the Rebecca Riley case. ![]() While a small group of these kids will go on to develop bipolar disorder, and a small group of kids develops a true bipolar in childhood, the vast majority of these children suffer from many other issues. Many in the field, including me, point out that we have no data to support this belief-there is simply no body of research that identifies this pattern. The people who support early diagnosis believe that many of these children will eventually become bipolar and that early diagnosis is warranted. Numerous questions arise from this story, but the big concern explored here is whether or not “early” diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which has exploded in the last 10 years, is a valid diagnosis, and what are the implications of the diagnosis? In particular, what are the risks of starting such young children on high-powered psychiatric medications that have not been well studied in children?įrom my previous postings, you know that I have deep reservations about using the bipolar diagnosis to describe a broad group of children who have explosive, reactive and impulsive behavior patterns. Rebecca’s mother states that she gave Rebecca only the prescribed amount of Clonidine. The prosecutors allege that Rebecca’s parents used this medication excessively to keep Rebecca quiet and subdued. Rebecca’s mother is now in jail, accused of murdering Rebecca by regularly giving her too much of the medication Clonidine, which was one of the medications prescribed for Rebecca by the child psychiatrist. In the story, Katie Couric explains how Rebecca had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of three years and how she had been prescribed several medications to treat her behavioral symptoms. On Sunday September 30, the CBS news program 60 Minutes aired a report entitled “ Who Killed Rebecca Riley.” The piece explores the tragic death of four-year old Rebecca Riley due to an overdose of psychiatric medications.
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