Let me preface this by saying that clinical depression and anxiety disorders run in my family, so please don't take this is a large-scale indictment of all such drugs. I also have a substantial expertise in the medical and legal fields as well as some insider knowledge of big pharma, thanks to my friends from the medical field.

I've seen a large number of people take drugs for these conditions, including siblings, parents and close friends. My feeling is that people have the wrong set of expectations, as the medications alone often do little for people. They also need to engage in behavioral therapy, including altering their diets, surroundings and thought processes.

Moreover, it's often merely a GP, meaning a normal General Doctor, who is prescribing several meds for these conditions. That's something they are unqualified to do, and yet if you dare to question them to their patients, you'll be painted as a maniac.

I myself have taken some of them while in a funk and despite being labeled as someone who might have a mild chemical imbalance, they did little for me in that sense. It was only after I changed my diet and forced upon myself a more positive means of thinking that the issues began to remedy themselves. Another strong point that struck me was that in talking to psychiatrists, the thought that the drugs were thought to be the sole cure was substantial medical malpractice. It's a view I certainly share.

Stories, thoughts and input please...

__________________
12 team Full Dynasty w cap. 13F, 7D, 2G, 5B.
G 4.25, A 2.75, PPP 1.5, SHP 3, Hits 0.4, Blocks 0.5, PIM 0.25, DFP 1
W 5 OTL 1 SO 6 SV 0.25 L-1 GS 1

F:Stamkos, C Stew, R Johansen, B Dubinsky, Max Pac, Umberger, B Ryan, D Backes, T Ruutu, Lucic, Ott, MSL, Heatley, C Kunitz, J Benn, L Adam

D: C Fowler, Kronwall, A Goligoski, JM Liles, M Giordano, K Letang, N Nikitin, R Josi

G: J Quick, A Niemi, C Anderson, Rinne

I don't have much of any expertise in the medical field at all, but I have extensive expertise in the education field. The overlapping area between the two would be perception that drugs are solution to everything that ails us. I was glad to see you allude to this in your post.

In far too many cases, alternative solutions are not sought by people before turning to drugs. I fully understand, that in some situations, medication is absolutely necessary. But in many cases, it is the first option when it shouldn't be. In schools specifically, the pravelence ADHD diagnoses is astounding. In many cases, I have observed students while on and off their medication. In some cases there is a resounding difference where the students genuinely cannot function and their success is dramatically impacted. In other cases, there are only mild differences. In these cases, I wonder if the drugs are worth it.

Just my $0.02.

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Ultimate Dynasty League
16 Team Dynasty League H2H: G, A, P, PPP, SHP, +/-, PIM, SOG, W, L, GAA, SvPct, SHO

C: Stamkos, Getzlaf, Carter
LW: Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Brown
RW: Iginla, Pavelski, Horton
D: Byfuglien, J.Johnson, Goligoski, Hedman, Hamonic
U: Mueller
G: Schneider, Hiller,
B: E. Johnson, S.Kostitsyn, Neil, Biron, Giguere
IR:
Prospect: Nail Yakupov, Tangradi

__________________________________________________ ___________________________
UHL Dynasty St. Louis Blues
...a bad team trying to rebuild...

You answered your own question , no they are seldom worth it!
Like much of society today we want instant , instant money = credit , instant food = fast food , instant health "cures" = pills/drugs , instant fame = big house /fancy car , etc.
My family has a history of depression and I've had the odd occurance/episode.
I'm no doctor but , I will say that I feel there are 2 types of depression.
Clinical/mental depression that is present because of the way the brain developed from conception and physical/real depression which I define as depression that takes place because of something "physical/real' has occured in your life.Examples would be a broken relastionship , broken home , abuse , physical change to your person from an accident or illness.
I think you get my drift ; my point is that many people who are claiming to be depressed are not clinically depressed but depressed over an issue that they can regain control of with the proper help/care , not with pills.
We don't want to accept/deal with reality today so we go take a pill and hope in a short time that our problems have gone away , NOT!
Face reality , deal with the problem and get on with life!
It is just about as simple as it sounds , easy , once you make up your mind to deal with the issue you'd be amazed at how easy it can be.
I'm not saying it's a cake walk but , again I hope you get my drift.
Many of us go through these times , many of us make it through without stepping over that line but , there are those who fweel they can't help themselves and they step over thast line , minds made up that they are going to do whatever they decide they want to.
Thanks for starting this thread , this topic needs to be in the forefront of many peoples discussions today , again we need to get back to basics and common sense.
We don't all need phds , etc , to be knowledgeable about todays worlds issues but , we do need to take action to correct this madness.

__________________
Roto type keeper league.We keep any 6 ;15 teams , 3 div. of 5.We play 3 lines , 3 def. and start 2 goalies.6 BN.Stats are 1pt. for goals and assists , 2pts. for W , tie(O.T. or S.O. loss) 1pt. S.O. 1pt.Weekly line-up from Mon. to Sun.

LW - Malkin
LW - J. Skinner
LW - T. Ennis
LW - Conacher
LW - Raymond
C - Matthias
C - M. Richards
C - V. Filppula
C - Vermette
RW - B. Schenn
RW - M. Read
RW - J. Huberdeau
RW - M. Gaborik
Def. - Pietrangelo
Def. - B. Smith
Def. - Diaz
Def. - OEL
Def. - Stoner
G - Louongo
G - Markstrom
G - Neuvirth

I've worked in the pharmacy/prescription benefit management fields for 4+ years now. It never ceases to amaze me how doctors are so quick to diagnose children with disorders like bipolar, major depressive, anxiety. I've seen them write prescriptions for 9 year olds who allegedly have these ilnesses and it's total crap. Does a 9 year old really need something like Abilify or Seroque1 or a strong antidepressant to cope with life? How much of this is the parents' fault? It really makes you wonder who's to blame.

__________________

12 team H2H dynasty league
Start 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 1UTIL, 2G
9 man farm (<60/30 GP)
G, A, PPP, SHP, PIM, +/-, SOG, HIT, BLK, FW / W, SV, SV%, GAA, SHO

C: Kopitar, Toews, Krejci, M. Koivu, Plekanec, Johansson
LW: Eriksson (RW), Hartnell, M. Richards (C), McDonald (C)
RW: Malkin (C), St. Louis, Eberle, Gaborik, Atkinson, Cole
D: Karlsson, Pietrangelo, Doughty, Suter, Goligoski, Carle, Beauchemin
G: Lundqvist, Fleury, Hiller

Farm: Chiasson, Killorn, Jenner, T. Johnson, Merrill, Rattie, Vatanen, Visentin, Wilson

We live in a society that still has a modernist aim toward medicine and bodies. There has to be an ideal cure for this condition! Depression must be stifled! etc. etc.

You're right, there's a lot more to easing depression than drugs, which COMPLIMENT personal endeavours to work against their depression.

Our society is so medicalized. If someone does something pretty terrible or weird, people usually want to know if they were on meds, if so, had they taken them recently, or if not, should they have been on some. It only adds to the stigma against mental illnesses. No one gives anyone shit for getting the flu twice a year and getting a cold every other month, but if you have depression? My personal experience has shown people to be outright skeptical, and they get pretty tired (to put it mildly) of hearing it given as a reason (not an excuse) for certain behaviour, activity, etc.

I refused anti-depression meds when I was a kid. My parents wanted me on them but I told them I could do this myself, with some help from them. I'd know when I'd cycle in and out of episodes, I'd eventually figure out how to adapt, what to expect, and what I needed to do to minimize it. Still felt terrible for a lot of it, but I knew it would end. Now I'm at a point in my life where I can manage really damn well. It wasn't easy but with the support of some friends and my parents I got there.

And for those who have depression over certain events in their lives that triggered it...they don't need meds, they need help figuring out how to navigate that to the point where they won't be depressed anymore. A grieving widow does not need anti-depressants. Yet some will say they should get some to "help".
I have a friend who's been on bipolar meds since he was 11 ad just recently got off of them because it turns out he isn't bipolar. The meds were ****ing up up something serious and since he got off them march last year, he's had no depressive or manic episodes. I know people diagnosed with ADD or ADHD who think they're failures or idiots because they did poorly in school, when our goddamn teachers didn't help them understand the material in the way they learn. The teachers didn't adapt, and didn't recognize that the people who were most successful were of a certain learning style. Just because my school was shitty, and couldn't handle a veritable horde of children who weren't "getting" the material, and demonized the kids instead, my friends think they're failures in a fair bit of ways. It's sickening, I get really riled up just thinking about modernist thought processes. I know that I learn by listening. Someone can shove incredible notes in front of me and I won't be able to retain that information unless I read it out loud a few times. I have friends who learn visually. I have friends who are more tactile learners. People learn differently, and when they're acting out because they're upset over insinuations that they're stupid, it's no damn reason to say they've got ADHD or whatever.

Too many misdiagnoses in this world, too many people jumping to medicalize everything, as if there's some sort of ideal "healthy body" out there that everyone needs to strive toward in order to be fit, moral citizens.

****ing sick of it.

__________________
ZFHL
------------
Ovechkin-Couture-Kovalchuk
Benn-Ott-Eriksson
Halischuk-Berglund-S.Thornton
Bowman-Legwand-Mitchell
Faulk-Orlov
Martin-Y.Weber
Wilson-Smid
Niemi

Butler,Horak,Nodl,Omark,Bartulis, Carson,Demers,Staios,Garon,Schneider

PROSPECTS
Nyquist,Bennett,Guptill,Haula,Knight, Kristo,Ranford,Rieder,Sundher,Barberio
Dumoulin,Deslauriers,Janosik,Klefbom
Ness,Sproul,Vatanen,Poulin

You definitely raise some good points. However, it's not as cut and dry as that. Some children genuinely need medications - not all imbalances can be fixed by other methods.

A friend of mine has a 10 year old son. When he was 6 years old, he was talking about dying. These are fantastic people that tried numerous interventions and the little guy's happiness/quality of life didn't improve. They finally tried a chemical intervention and it has made the world of difference. I really don't think there's much of anything else they could have done, and the medication was more or less a last resort. So yes, a child sometimes does need those drugs.

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Ultimate Dynasty League
16 Team Dynasty League H2H: G, A, P, PPP, SHP, +/-, PIM, SOG, W, L, GAA, SvPct, SHO

C: Stamkos, Getzlaf, Carter
LW: Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Brown
RW: Iginla, Pavelski, Horton
D: Byfuglien, J.Johnson, Goligoski, Hedman, Hamonic
U: Mueller
G: Schneider, Hiller,
B: E. Johnson, S.Kostitsyn, Neil, Biron, Giguere
IR:
Prospect: Nail Yakupov, Tangradi

__________________________________________________ ___________________________
UHL Dynasty St. Louis Blues
...a bad team trying to rebuild...

While I understand where you're coming from rogue, I don't fully buy it. How many kids get slapped with the ADHD/ADD label and get nurtured with a heaping dose of Vyvanse or Adderall or Concerta for the entirety of their childhood? Most medications are highly over prescribed. A kid acts out in class or is too rambunctious at home and he's instantly considered a problem child - cram some amphetamines down his throat, he'll be cured, right? Your friend's son talked about death and was immediately considered sick? Death is part of life; he'll need to figure that out sooner or later. Did he talk about committing suicide or praising Satan? It just lends validity to my point that parenting is largely the problem these days. It's a tough job I'm sure, not that I would know at this stage in my life, but I do know that outstanding parenting can cure more problems than medication can. I obviously don't know your friend or what the situation in question was, but how fair is it to force a 10 year old to take medication that's supposed to make him "more normal"? It seems everyone thinks their kid is ADHD/ADD or depressed or autistic etc. As a non-parent, it just seems like an excuse for poor parenting and an escape route from putting in the work that a parent should. My two cents.

__________________

12 team H2H dynasty league
Start 4C, 4LW, 4RW, 6D, 1UTIL, 2G
9 man farm (<60/30 GP)
G, A, PPP, SHP, PIM, +/-, SOG, HIT, BLK, FW / W, SV, SV%, GAA, SHO

C: Kopitar, Toews, Krejci, M. Koivu, Plekanec, Johansson
LW: Eriksson (RW), Hartnell, M. Richards (C), McDonald (C)
RW: Malkin (C), St. Louis, Eberle, Gaborik, Atkinson, Cole
D: Karlsson, Pietrangelo, Doughty, Suter, Goligoski, Carle, Beauchemin
G: Lundqvist, Fleury, Hiller

Farm: Chiasson, Killorn, Jenner, T. Johnson, Merrill, Rattie, Vatanen, Visentin, Wilson

My child is being considered for ADD and so I've frantically been doing research in this area (medications, parenting choices, schooling etc).

One thing that I found out that is that ADD/ADHD is actually both under and over diagnosed. IN other words while 10% of the population of kids may be on some kind of medication/treatment for ADD/ADHD, only like 30 something % actually had the condition. So this meant most should not have been, but also that there is a huge number of kids who should. (Can't remember the exact numbers, but it was something like that)

It's much more complicated than I initially thought and while I am LOATHE to medicate my child if unneeded, I also want to give my child the best chance to learn and have healthy relationships/make healthy choices.

Medication can be one part of that equation, along with all sorts of other things (that we have already tried).

How much success did you have with diet and exercise? What, if any behavioral therapy have you tried to use? Have you tried L-theanine and caffeine? Caffeine has been used with some success in certain instances and is far milder. L-Theanine is a naturally occurring amino acid, and is known to help with focus and attentiveness.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't use any prescriptions for this type of a problem, but are you really at the point where it's a last resort?

__________________
12 team Full Dynasty w cap. 13F, 7D, 2G, 5B.
G 4.25, A 2.75, PPP 1.5, SHP 3, Hits 0.4, Blocks 0.5, PIM 0.25, DFP 1
W 5 OTL 1 SO 6 SV 0.25 L-1 GS 1

F:Stamkos, C Stew, R Johansen, B Dubinsky, Max Pac, Umberger, B Ryan, D Backes, T Ruutu, Lucic, Ott, MSL, Heatley, C Kunitz, J Benn, L Adam

D: C Fowler, Kronwall, A Goligoski, JM Liles, M Giordano, K Letang, N Nikitin, R Josi

G: J Quick, A Niemi, C Anderson, Rinne

Partnered with the local Child Development Centre to try and work on some behavioural strategies. She also has a one on one worker at the school that she meets with. We have a few key things going on at home that have made a difference as well.

We also made a decision to move her from team sports, where she really struggled, to more individual sports like karate and ballet, which has seen some success.

Diet is a tough one because we really eat quite well as a family (my wife is awesome in that way), and she has no known allergies. Would be tough to know where to start and I would need to see some very solid scientific evidence on the connection between certain dietary changes and particular behaviour struggles.

Never heard of L-Theannine, but did some really good research on caffeine and at the end of the day it's a drug with it's own side efffects, and the science on some of the more common medications are better studies and controlled, so the caffeine thing seems no better than a more established medication.

No idea where we are going right now and there is nothing crisis level right now either, but just wanting to give her the best chance to be relationally healthy and happy - like every parent wants.