Skip to main content

You make this possible. Support our independent, nonprofit newsroom today.

Give Now

Medicating Children

Untitled
Enlarge Icon
Flickr

Kids and drugs don't mix, unless you're talking about antipsychotic medication. Then they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

From 2001 to 2007, the number of preschool-age kids on such drugs increased by almost half. Between 1996 and 2005, school-age kids using anti-depressants increased even more. Experts disagree on whether we're overmedicating our youth.

So what's a parent to think? Concerned parents may be left wondering if their children suffer from genuine medical conditions, or if they're just normal, moody kids. Ross puts these questions to psychiatrist Dr. Robert Hilt from Seattle Children's Hospital.

Also in this segment, blogger Kelly Wickham describes the tricky process of diagnosing and medicating her son.

Why you can trust KUOW