Diana
 
This is a technique that requires a leap of faith and one that often breaks the 'problem pattern'.
 
Steve de Shazer often said that ' all that is required to solve a problem is to do something different', and that is what you seem to be doing.
 
The illusion is that there is such a concept as a 'complex' problem, and that with children these require complex solutions.
 
Warm regards
 
Andrew Duggan
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Diana Grant-Mackie
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Andrew Duggan
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 9:49 PM
Subject: Re: A Rush To Medicate Young Minds

Just an aside.
When I see a child throwing a 'wobbly' I tell the embarassed parents that I feel like doing that sometimes but I have to behave as an adult!!
Diana
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Andrew Duggan
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Diana Grant-Mackie ; [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 2:55 AM
Subject: A Rush To Medicate Young Minds

Hi All.
 
One of the growing concerns I have, and I have alluded to this is previous e-mails. is the growing practice of medicating children. There has been a staggering rise in the number of chuldren that are currently being diagnosed.
 
Diagnosis such as ADHD, bipolar disorder and Aspergers's Syndrome are increasingly being diagnosed world wide. The temper tantrums of belligerent children are increasingly being characterized as psychiatric illnesses.
 
Some child psychiatrists and camhs practitioners  speculate that this stunning increase in childhood psychiatric disease is entirely due to improved diagnostic techniques.
 
Parents and teachers today seem to believe that any boy who wriggles in his seat and willfully defies his teacher's rules has ADHD. Likewise, any child who has a temper tantrum is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After all, an anger outburst is how most parents define a "mood swing."
 
Contributing to this widespread problem of misdiagnosis is our willingness to accept the hypothesis and assumptions of camhs professionals.
 
Any thoughts?
 
Andrew Duggan