Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a parent of an 8 year old daughter that has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

She was first placed on Clonodine and Hydroxizine. I never did give her the Hydroxizine as I was too afraid of the side effects that it may have on her. The Clonodine did not work for her at all. She was having hallucinations at this point. She was saying that her barbies were coming alive and my porcelain dolls were coming alive as well. There were also always people in my house, so she thought.

They then hospitalized her as she was acting very violent as well. She was going after anyone in sight. She pushed me down the stairs a few times and was quite violent towards her siblings. She was in the hospital for 10 days. They started her on 25mg of Seroquel. That was in March of 2007. The Seroquel helped for a while, but it seemed that it wasn't enough as she started to get violent again. So we went back to her psychiatrist and they increased the dose. Things were ok. They kept increasing her meds little by little until little increases didn't help anymore. She was then hospitalized in September of 2007. They increased it 100mg while she was there.

She is now on 500mg of Seroquel and soon to be 600mg. The psychiatrist says that at 600mg the meds hit all the receptors in the brain. When she gets to 600mg, if we don't see a change then this has been a year of experimenting. I know alot of the psychiataric drugs have not been tested on children...I just don't understand why. They say that more and more kids are on anti-psychotic drugs...why haven't they tested them yet??

As a parent it is very scary to know that my child is on a drug that isn't approved for anyone under the age of 18, but without it I fear that she would be in the hospital or she would put someone else there. She goes twice a month to see her therapist and she visits the psychiatrist about once every 3 weeks.

We live in a rural area and there are very little options to those who have children with psychiatric disorders. The thing that her doctors are amazed with is that she can control herself for the most part at school. She is a very intelligent little girl. To this day, she still cannot sleep through the night as she has nightmares. I now have a cd that I have her listen to when she goes to bed at night. It is instumental music that is very calming and it seems to help her fall asleep. However, she still is not able to sleep through the night. I do agree with her diagnosis. She shows all the signs of Bipolar. But like they say, some of the sypmtoms are also symptoms of other disorders. I wish us parents that are going throught this that there were more answers for us.

Thank you for airing that story Frontlien. It was very informative!!! There is more to my story, but it is a lot to write about without getting teary eyed!!!

Tara Gray
Penn Yan, New York

Dear FRONTLINE,

I understand that the focus of the program was on the use of medication for behavioral problems. But because you touched upon the controversy behind the bipolar diagnose I think it would of been helpful to cover the process of diagnosing a child with behavioral problems and how doctors come to the conclusion that they should use off-label medications for these children. In my time as a moderator for the message boards for the Child-Adolescent Bipolar Foundation I have often encouraged parents whose children are having "bipolar like" symptoms to pursue testing to rule out things like Fragile-X syndrome, Seizure disorders, Polycystic Ovarian disease, Allergeries, genetic metabolic disorders, heavy metal poisoning and more. It is extremely sad to hear the stories of parents whose children have have been mistreated with psychiatric medications for many years and only after many years of pain and suffering do they discover that their child has some other condition which may have been made worse by the psychiatric medications they were giving their child.

There is a shortage of qualified child-adolescent psychiatrists across the country and many poorly trained doctors do not have the benefit of working for a large research institution are therefore at the mercy of the insurance companies who discourage the doctors from doing the extensive amount of testing and evaluation that is needed before pulling out the script pad and writing a script for an off label medication.

Lexington, MA

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a child I was diagnosed with ADHD and a variety of behavioral disorders and much like the children seen here I was treated with a variety of different medications in an effort to bring my symptoms under control. I believe that it did help me and I still take medications to this day to help with adult ADHD and depression.

However, some things are striking to me about the children in this documentary. When I was treated almost 20 years ago I recall that I might have been on one or two medications at a time. Additionally, I had some strong side effects to some of the medications prescribed. I find it puzzling to see these children on so many medications and shutter at the thought of what it would be like to be on so many medications at the same time. As an added thought, people should keep in mind that children do not understand what is being put in their bodies and I learned the importance of this when at the age of 13 I was taken to the ER in an ambulance for extra pyramidal symptoms which were extremely frightening after having been prescribed an anti-psychotic medication.

Another thing that I'm not sure I understand is the lack of behavioral therapy for some of these children. While a prescription for Tegretal and Imipramine helped me a good deal, weekly sessions with an excellent therapist and support from teachers at my school were extremely important to helping me learn to deal with my emotions and grow up.

To the parents of these children I wish to encourage them to not lose hope. I myself am finishing my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Southern California and despite being diagnosed with a learning disability I have published several papers in peer reviewed journals. So, adversity of this type can be overcome.

Terrell Mundhenk
Los Angeles, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Your thought provoking program could provide some answers toour recent tragic loss of our son. He was a 19 yr old HarvardSophmore who was as far as we know at present on medication fordepression. He was a gifted and talented child/adult who alwaysoverachieved. He always got A's even at Harvard but he wasa socially insecure person. Never though would I have thoughthe would commit suicide just six weeks ago. We are all in shock and disbelief as he worked all his life for Harvard and wasjust awarded a grant for research and I know he would not have left his sister or any of us if he had not had some overwhelming urge which maybe the medication caused. We do not know yet but his sister is also a straight A student who has ceased communication with me to a great extent for now and I pray she is not headed the same way. You can be sure I will do a lot of research after this show

LESLEY edwards
milford, nh

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

FRONTLINE interviewed for this report Dr. David Shaffer, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. He has specialized over the years in depressive illness in youth. You can read his extended interview in the "Interviews" section of this Web site.

Dear FRONTLINE,

Is it children who have changed, or childhood itself? During my childhood, children were not prescribed Ritalin, let alone the new anti-psychotic drugs. I don't remember there being a lot of terrible behavior problems, but maybe the children who had them were sent somewhere outside the neighborhood schools.

What I do remember, however, is that children had a lot more freedom, and adults had a lot more leisure. Our neighborhood was perceived as safe. We walked to and from school. We may have had restrictions about crossing particularly busy streets, but we were trusted to obey. We could run, skate or bicycle up and down our streets. Our intellectual development was unhurried. We took kindergarten just to get used to being in school. The first half of first grade was devoted to "reading readiness" before we tackled actual reading. We didn't get homework until seventh grade. We had time to be spontaneous!

Most of us were at home with our mothers until kindergarten. My mother took me to a pre-school which opened up. When I showed separation anxiety, I was said to be "not ready." If this happened today, when pre-school or day care is a necessity, perhaps I would have been diagnosed as having an "anxiety disorder," and given medication. By the time I entered kindergarten, I was ready, and I have fond memories of it.

That's why I wonder whether children are expected to show too much self-control and social maturity too early, and required to develop intellectually at too rapid a pace. Having a bad year should not handicap a child for life. The child should have the opportunity to catch up when he can.

Laurie Perlowin
Los Angeles, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

Dear Frontline,The point made in your show about childhood bipolar disorder being a syndrome was a very good one. Accurate diagnoses and treatment is very difficult. It is very much a shame that mental illness in children has not gotten the kind of attention and internetworking between doctors as childhood cancer especially how deeply impacting the illness is for the rest of their lives. My 11 year old son has been diagnosed with many disorders first at age 3 1/2... ADHD. 4 yrs. ... OCD. 5yrs. PDD-NOS rule out Asperger's and bipolar disorder then bipolar disorder with psychoses, then rule out schizoaffective disorder, finally at 11 yrs. schizophrenia.

This show really brought tears to my eyes because we are in the heartwrenching process of deciding whether to medicate our 4 yr. old son who is being evaluated for a mood disorder. My 11 yr. old should have been in research studies with his first diagnoses at 4 and so should my 4 yr. old. It would allow for eventually treating and/or medicating children having more consistency and safety and less of an experiment from one doctor to the next.

I have tried multiple approaches to helping my boys with occupational and developmental therapy, special schooling, Christian and secular parenting classes, vitamin therapy, 14 mos. of a gluten, casein, preservative, dye free and organic diet. When I had medication withdrawn from our then 10 yr. old to see what his baseline was he became unable to sleep and then catatonic(which can happen in manic children not just schizophrenics). He has been hallucinating at least since the age of 7 yrs. These are severe mental illnesses and the public does not understand the terrible decision parents are thrust into. Not to medicate would mean institutionalization for some of these children. He is stable now on Lithium and two antipsychotics. He is happy much of the time now and has a quality of life that he would not have without meds.One thing that the show was lacking was a hidden video camera to tape some of these children in their rages to give the public a better understanding of what actually occurs.Also the Rebecca Riley case was a poor example especially with the conflicting evidence around that case.I do appreciate the attention given to the crises of mentally ill children.

Sarah Kohl
Plainfield, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have an 11 year old bi-polar child. It was a long journey toward diagnosis. As parents, we did not want to medicate, but he could not function without medication. We do limit the number of meds he can take at any one time (to two) because the complex interactions that can take place during a medication cocktail are even less understood than the long term impacts of medication in the first place. This is frustrating for the doctors. BUT,

The one thing we have learned is that we must be the advocates for our child. This is with the docters, therapists, teachers, neighbors, even family. Mental illness is not understood, and is definately a stigma. My saying to those I finally get the courage to share our story with is "if he were in a wheelchair you could understand better and he would get sympathy". As it is, he looks like a "brat" and a "troubled child". I like to say he has special needs.

This leads to the schools. They spend all of their effort keeping you from the money to educate your child. Getting information on how to execute a "free and appropriate public eduction (FAPE)" is next to impossible. For good reason. With the tax system every dollar spent on the one child cannot be spent on the many children. Teachears are not educated on mainstreaming techniques and as a result the special needs child falls behind. This is not to say we haven't experienced bright points via really good adminstrators and teachers. Just that the tone within the schools matches that in the broader population, unempathetic shame.

Unfortunately, I do not believe my son will ever outgrow his illness. I am encouraged by legistlation to designate his illness as medical - which will help the tone in our culture over time. In the meantime, we use the medication to reduce the severity and duration of his symptoms. While we also keep in mind anything strong enough to help is strong enough to hurt.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Dear FRONTLINE,

I found this program to be very informative. I work as the Director of Student Services for a small rural school district and see many children and parents in the same situation as the families in the program. What struck me as most disturbing is the fact that we are not gathering and using the data to solve or improve the problem. I do not recall the doctor that made the comparison to the childhood cancer improvements made by sharing data but this seems to be the best move forward. I encourage a national data base on medications and their effects that doctors and parents have access to. thank you

Tim Sullivan
Rushville , Illinois

Dear FRONTLINE,

My son was diagnosed at the age of 5 (he's now almost 7) with ADHD and when therapies (med and behavioral) did not seem to work he was labeled as bipolar. I was a firm believer that ADHD was a 'made-up' excuse for poor parenting but through research and my own experience I see that its not. We have been fortunate enough to have found a med and behavioral therapy that is working. I also have a stepfather who has bipolar and we are able to talk with him to learn how 'normal' his behaviors are for a child with bipolar. A few words of advice to all parents struggling with mental illness is RESEARCH - learn all you can about the diagnosis. Another is communicate with your child's doctor - if you feel he/she is not communicating back - find another one. There is nothing that says you have to stick to one doctor (unless your insurance says so). I have many times gone to or called my son's doctor and said this isn't working please change this med. The comparison I can think of is its like buying a car - you don't just go to the dealership and pick the first car. You research, shop around and find the one that is right for you. You should do the same for your child. I strongly feel my son deserves to life a happy, fulfilling life and I will do everything in my power to assure that happens.

Kristy Stanaway
Virginia, Minnesota

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

FRONTLINE has an update on its 2001 report on ADHD, "Medicating Kids." It offers an interesting update on ADHD - what's been learned over the past 7 years through studies and following kids over time. It also includes update on the stories of the kids we profiled back in 2001 who had been diagnosed with ADHD. (The direct link to this ADHD report is also found near the bottom of the homepage of this site for "The Medicated Child")

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have worked in the schools for over 16 years and have 3 children so I was not surpised to see that everyone wants the easy way out which is pop a pill. How sad for our children.

No one did a cat scan and then changed the diet or exercise routine and did another cat scan to see if it improveded. Oh no that would be work. Pop a pill.

No one talked about parenting skills. Setting limits and rewards and seeing if that worked. No no pop a pill. No one talked about discipline and self respect. How about respect for others.

If we want to know whats wrong with our kids today, look at what use to be right and what worked. Children living with biological parents, one staying home, teaching respect and discipline in the home. Adults showing respect and discipline in thier social, personal and private life.

One thing is for sure, the drugs have not helped. Spend some time at school. Listen to what happens outside of school.

"The fastest way to destroy a culture is to destroy it's youth"

We're doing a good job.

mary jo Zolner
iron mt., mi

Dear FRONTLINE,

After watching The Medicated Child, I would also like to stress the benefits of these medications for children with bipolar disorder. Our family would be so different without them.

My 13 year old son undisputedly meets the criteria for bipolar I with psychotic features, and has been "heavily" medicated since age 6. Without a mood stabilizer and 2 atypical antipsychotics, he would not be able to safely live at home. The medications let us see moments of his sweet and caring personality, and give him a fighting change to experience a normal life.

Greenwood Village, CO

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have taught Special Education for 15 years and am married to an RN who over her career has specialized in Pediatric and Adolescent Mental Health. The program was riveting and accurately showed a part of our world often ignored by "normal families"

While I taught in Colorado for six years some of my families used the brain imaging products in an attempt to confront the IEP process with essential medical information from the imagry.

What struck me was the astounding amount of money ($1Billion)involved in the PHARMA supported changes to legislation which did not result in any more $$$ going to the places where most children are - schools.

When I received an advanced degree in Special Education 15 years ago we expected to see a prevalence of from 1- 4 % of children. The DSM changed, MD's changed, but the funding for Special Education inflation adjusted has not.

Here is another Frontline story. My case load in a Secondary school includes nearly 40% of the students in one High School.In Colorado Exceptional Children were over 20% in one school where I worked.

There are so many levels to this epidemic I hope Frontline will continue to bring incisive "reality" to your viewers.

John Buck
Apex, NC

Dear FRONTLINE,

My son was diagonosed when he was 5 years old with ADHD, then I was told it was OCD, then Asperger's, he's now 17 and I'm told he has Bipolar Disorder. To anyone who wrote in that the child just needs a good slap on the butt, they have never known what it was like to parent these children. It breaks your heart everyday because they will never be "OK", you always have to worry what you'll be dealing with today.

I never wanted to medicate my child and if I could of found even one resource to guide me and help my son I would of gone with it. But there hasn't been, the only thing that is recommended is medication. In all these years I never found any kind of resources besides more medication. And I worry everyday what effect it had on my baby's developing brain, but there was no alternative offered. Everytime I tried to wean him off medication it mad his life worse. Maybe that's the problem here, where are the alternatives for all of us parents that have to watch their children suffer on meds or off?

wappingers falls, ny

Dear FRONTLINE,

I'd like to know more about the evironmental causes some experts suspect in the startling rise not only in mental illnesses like Bipolar Disorder, but also the rise in autism spectrum disorders, ADD and ADHD, etc. It seems to me that since WWII we have created a toxic neurological soup for children in utero and as they grow.

I would love to see more research that investigates CAUSES--I think we're going to find that they're all linked--it's no accident that as the use of all sorts of chemicals in our environment have increased, so have neurological problems of all sorts.

Chris S,
Nerstrand, MN

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a mother of three special needs children I am appalled that there is such a close minded opinion on mental illness. My oldest child has Asperger's syndrome (a form of Autism), my middle child is diagnosed Bipolar, and my youngest is PDD-NOS (also on the Autism spectrum). I wonder if any of the viewers who believe the behavior is all bad parenting has ever had to be a good parent while knowing that your child is mentally killing you. And with a bipolar child they can picture it, and believe it. The parents of bipolar children, that I know, are some of the best parents I have met. It is truly impossible to understand the decisions that we make as parents without understand what we go through everyday. When we are not fighting with our kids we are fighting for our kids.

I applaud your show for showing the big slant in the medical/psychiatric profession towards using medication as the only means for treatment. My Bipolar daughter is currently on medication. She is also in behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, and has a modified diet. However, none of this is enough. What we need as parents is support from the community as well as continuity and research from the medical community. For everyone who claims that this neurological condition is all bad parenting - I wonder if you would say that if my child had cancer or diabetes.

Mindy Kasper
Colorado Springs, CO