Dear FRONTLINE,

To the parents: My daughter was diagnosed at an early age of 4 with ODD & Bi-Polar. We tried all the medicines that were mentioned in the story on Frontline. As the parent I was frustrated and hopeless for my daughter. We as parents need to remember that there are no real studies on the druge being prescribed. Now at 10 she is over weight and a potential diabetic. Currently she only takes Buprprion which has calmed her and stabilized her mood swings. I also want to strongly recommend that therapy and counseling for your children is extremely helpful. I had to teach my child how to overcome and handle the day to day stress caused by her anxiety. also, finding ways to release energy from her body helps her cope with the day. Look for enviromental sources such as family, social, and peer stress. Educate yourselves by reading and parent classes. I am very proud of my daughter and her successes thus far. Things will improve as my child ages and she will be better prepared for life. Thank you Frontline for this story, like most parents, information like this is very valuable.

Stratham, NH

Dear FRONTLINE,

I would like to share a little bit of my story. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18. At the time I was under a tremendous amount of stress. I was also dieting. I believe that many doctors fail to look at what children are eating or lacking in their diets. For example, caffeine can cause a child to loose sleep. How much chocalate or caffeine related products does the child consume on a daily basis? Also, how much sugar intake are these children consuming? As we all know sugar does have a tendency to make kids hyper. I was put on several different medications and treated with talk therapy. When my circumstances changed and I learned how to deal with stress, eat appropriately, and was overall happier I was taken off medications.I also read in a pschyiatric book that vitamin B 12, which is known to help the nervous system is equivalent to lithium. Lithium was one of the medications I was prescribed as well as an antidepressant. My daughter started loosing sleep and showing signs of irritability and mood swings at the same time she changed her eating habits, she is a vegetarian. Vegetarians are being recommended to take vitamin B 12. For sleep she takes melatonin. She seems to be more stabilized in her moods and the irribility has lessend. She liked to drink coffee and eat sweets.

I really hope by my writing this post that a doctor will seriously look into some of my personal thoughts on the subject of bipolar illness. I am not a doctor. I am a concerned mom and a person who has had personal experience with this illness. Today, I sleep well, I exercise 3 TO 5 times a week for stress and I take vitamin B complex along with a multivitamin. I urge all doctors to please, please look into a childs eating habits. It may help.

fairfield, connecticut

Dear FRONTLINE,

This is one of the saddest shows I have watched. Several thoughts ran through my head...Do parents/adults have unrealistic expectations of kids these days? I think we don't know anymore what it means to be a child...with an undeveloped brain, emotional system, undeveloped tool box for dealing with various situations...We want them well behaved, compliant, to obey, sleep well, get along with others, etc etc. We want them to behave better than a lot of adults do.I frankly think we are labeling normal child behavior at times and parents don't have the tools nor community to cope with the difficulties of parenting.If indeed there is a 4000% REAL rise in the incidence of childhood bipolar (not just in the diagnosis)...shouldn't we be asking why, and not just how to treat? I have to say I watched the overweight mother of a young child on several medications saying that her child just wanted to eat, and he was getting Gatorade, Corn Dogs, cookies and goldfish. Is this a healthy diet for a child. Could diet be a factor inhis behaviour? I don't want to take away from the real mental illness which exists, but I think we are labeling and medicating children way too much, and the lines are quite blurred between "normal" (which can be broadly defined) behavior in a 2, 3 or 4yr old, and true mental illness. And we are giving potent medications to developing brains....with no knowledge of the irreversible effects.

Framingham , Massachusetts

Dear FRONTLINE,

Like most parents who DO not want to medicate their children, it is hard to decipher even in your interview what is the RIGHT thing to do. We love our children so much so that we do NOT want them to feel abnormal yet it seems impossible without ADHD or BIPOLAR taking medications.

I JUST WANT TO POINT out that a child taking 8 meds at one time is absolutely frightening that parents would allow that. I wouldn't take 3 medications at once.As parents to 2 ADHD children of both sexes. We were told that they are also different from each other. Therefore we treat the child not the disease. Listening to Dr Cheng was enlightening for us. In his interview he spoke about Bipolar and treating it before it reached a level where it was in "bloom" in adulthood. We were told the exact thing from our Psychologist.

I am not a fan of medicating my children. I am also not in favor of watching my children feel abnormal to themselves or their peers. I think from now on with a healthy balance of therapy low dose meds and yoga we can help our children live a healthy lifestyle. I will continue to look into this and the results of my children to see what is the BEST way to go forward. I wanted to know if it is safe to just take children OFF of meds completely I think in your interview you should have told people the results or harms in doing so without a doctor's permission. It is a frightening situation to be in for both child and parent.

Dolores F.
Hamilton, NJ

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have worked in the field for many years with children who have psychiatric diagnoses. Unfortunately, most of my children are misdiagnosed. The doctors in charge of making the diagnosis do not follow through with observations of the children in all of their environments, nor do they talk to teachers, other caregivers, and other involved people. When I have voiced my observations of my kids - the 'doctors' disregard my concerns, disregard the parents' concerns, and other reports. These medicating doctors are with these kids at most an hour or two per month - when other professionals are with them up to 40 or more hours per week.

Something needs to change.

My opinion is never to medicate a child for a psychiatric disorder unless it is absolutely your last resort. Try other interventions - therapy, parenting classes, behavioral modification, diet changes, etc. before ever putting anti-psychotic medications in their small, child bodies.

Also see several physicians, counselors, psychologists for second or third opinions.

Pittsburgh, PA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I wanted to correct a statement to the effect that clonidine is a "sedative". Clonidine falls into the class of central alpha agonists. It is typically used to lower blood pressure and is also used in ADHD. However, is should not be considered a "tranquilizer" like the similarly named Klonopin.

Daniel Polowetzky
New York, New York

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

The viewer is right that Clonidine is used primarily to treat hypertension. But, because it acts on receptors involved in maintaining alertness, the use of Clonidine can also cause sedation. This has led some doctors to prescribe Clonidine to agitated kids specifically to take advantage of its calming effect. ADHD kids often have trouble settling down at night and Clonidine is frequently used as a sleep aid.

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a 25 year old male; I was diagnosed with anxiety at 14. I was given Paxil and Ativan from a psychiatrist who only met me for about 45 minutes and subsequently was treated only by a psychiatric nurse. I still take these medications and am addicted to Ativan, I was never told that Ativan is an extremely addictive medication, and I have not been able to find any help for going off the drug--only more psychiatrists willing to add on more medications and continuing to up the dose. At 23, I was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome, which I believe is what caused much of my anxiety all along. I don't know if the psychiatric medication caused my vocal tics--but the tics made me have extreme anxiety and have to drop out of college. I was chastised by teachers and severely ridiculed by other students because of my tics. In short, psychiatry hasn't helped me, and has left me addicted to Ativan and taking two other drugs for reasons I don't understand. At least where I live psychiatrists don't seem to know much and prescribe drugs at whim.

Williamsburg, Virginia

Dear FRONTLINE,

I can not believe that there is even a category of mental illness called pediatric bipolar disorder. And that these children are medicated as young as 5. What was even more astounding is that the M.D. who were prescribing and upping the medication thought, nor offered, once behavioral therapy. How is this ethically possible? Obviously they are not counselors they are M.D.s who prescribe medicine. It just breaks my heart to watch parents unquestioningly go along with medicine with when no other alternative is offered to them. Much like watching Jesus Camp it makes me wonder what these children will be like in when they can reflect upon their experience as children and being medicated.

Bronx, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

I find it grossly negligent that none of these "doctor's" even mention to importance or role of dietary or environmental factors in emotional/psychiatric signs and symptoms.I fully understand and believe the neurobiochemical aspects of mental illness and imbalance, as well as the genetic components associated with it; however, to completely disregard the influence of food allergies, chemical sensitivities, and nutritionally deficient (as well as hormone and pesticide laden) "food" on an individual's emotional and psychological development is horrifically astounding to me. It is time we start viewing symptoms from a holistic perspective. Simply scanning a child's brain and deciding to place them on what can be deadly medications without considering the role of diet and ability to manage stress is ridiculous! I am not disputing that there are children that require medication. But, parents need to realize there are alternatives and adjunct therapies that can be used in place of, or in conjunction with, psychotropic medications. And so called doctor's need to be willing to research and recommend what-have-been-labeled "alternative" treatments for all their patients...especially children. Parents---educate and empower yourselves!! Do it for your children and for their well being. Do not simply buy into the rhetoric of the physician's and drug companies. ~Aundrea Lagoda, LPN; B.A. Psychology/Sociology; Aromatherapist

greensburg, PA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I was struck that there was no mention of family therapy to help both the children and the family to cope with behaviors the children were experiencing. To treat a child without treating the family seems to me to be almost malpractice. The doctor from Stanford who was attached to almost every drug company did not seem credible to me particularily when he talked about treating children before they were diagnosed as a way of preventing the disease. Some behaviors in children are being medicated rather than teaching the chilren and the parents how to manage these problems

Mary Hattemer
Cincinnati, Ohio

Dear FRONTLINE,

I can not believe that a teacher would tell a parent that a 4 yr old has no impulse control...OMG they are 4!!!!!! Our son was told that he needed medication for Adhd then bi-polar disorder at the age of 5 we took him off his meds and got a caring health care professional and our own dedication and taught him concequences for his actions and how to cope with the feelings he was experiences. He is a very well adjusted 20 yr old young man now and I thank God that my wife and I took the opprotunity given us by this professional to help our son learn coping skills instead of how to swallow a pill.

whitehouse, tn