There is No Magic Bullet

It's no secret that I hate meds.  With a passion.

I hate the fact that there is little to no research available for children.

I hate that my kids are used as human guinea pigs and that the long-term affects to them and their developing brains is still unknown.

I hate that many doctors prescribe many potent meds without much thought -- that they gloss over the possible side effects.


I hate the side effects themselves.  How they cognitively dull, tire, nauseate and worse.

And I hate the fact that finding the right medication or combination is anything but an exact science.  It's more like shooting in the dark.

So you may be surprised to learn that both my kids are on one or more medications right now.

Now before you go and judge me (didn't we just cover this in my last post?), here me out.

The fact of the matter is when it comes to kids and behavioral issues, the science, the diagnosis and the treatments are still in their infancy stages.  Even if the diagnoses may fade (At one point, my daughter's seem to change like the days of the week), the issues are real.  Very, very real.

I know there are those out there suggesting that kids are being over-diagnosed left and right and that America is producing a whole generation of zombie-like children whose behavior issues are the result of bad or overindulgent parenting.

I'm here to tell you that if these families exist, I've yet to meet one. (and I know a lot of families with special needs kids.)  Instead, the people I know have agonized over this decision.  They've spent countless hours weighing the pros and cons of all the options and are trying to make the best choices given the information at hand. 

For our situation, meds are a necessary evil.  They offer no magic bullet, but give us a little backup.  They help to delay my kids' overtaxed systems going from 0 to 100 in a millisecond.  With medications on board, we buy a little time.  That may not sound like a great benefit, but when dealing extreme behaviors that can threaten everyone's safety, it's an invaluable tool.

I know medications aren't for everyone.  Believe me, I wish they weren't for us.  My only advice to others considering medications for their children is to do your homework.  Don't rely on the doctors to tell you everything.  Instead ask questions, talk to other parents and Google, Google, Google.

Most importantly, don't let the critics get you down.  If you decide to go this route, throw the guilt out the window.  In some cases and for some conditions, medications are key to a successful treatment plan.  But just like so many interventions for our kids, we don't know if it will work until we try.   And at the end of the day, it's your willingness to do whatever is necessary for your kids that is important.


This post was written for the S-O-S Research Blog's Best of the Best.  Check out Edition 12 of the series here after November 15.