DAVE TRAXSON - KEY POINTS and QUESTIONS RE: OVER-PRESCRIPTION OF PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS FOR CHILDREN. - LET'S STOP THE MEDICALISATION BY STEALTH OF CHILDHOOD AND CHALLENGE THE POWER OF BIG PHARMA TO DRUG OUR CHILDREN IN THE U.K.



THE STRESS BUCKET METAPHOR (Traxson 1993) - Accumulating stress and anxiety is, in my experience, often the trigger for behavioural difficulties for children at school and home and should be considered before the dramatic step to medicate a child. The basic principle is:                                     

Reduce the level of stress, by for example'repunctuating ' their day, along with boosting a child's self-esteem and the behaviours often automatically reduce in intensity, severity, duration and impact thus allowing the child to succeed again and gain back more control over their life.





SAFEGUARDING IS PARAMOUNT TO ALL PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH CHILDREN.WE AS PROFESSIONALS HAVE THE 'ETHICAL LEGITIMACY' TO CHALLENGE PRACTICE FROM OTHERS THAT CONCERNS US DEEPLY.



Adventure Therapy can channel aggression as can many acceptable physical outlets reducing behavioural difficulties and diagnosis.





Learn self-discipline with martial arts training to deal positively with feelings and again reduces the need for medication.



Letting off steam in fun ways is a good way to control your emotions BUT these young people could be diagnosed with a condition as they may appear to be impulsive which is the core diagnostic criteria for ADHD in the DSM Manuals.Who ensures that the definition of impulsive is not SUBJECTIVE.





Get your highs from normal activities not prescribed stimulants.That will reduce negative emotions and pain and give you a sense of empowerment to cope with challenges.



Use music to let your emotions flow and channel them positively!





YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE MANY WAYS TO REDIRECT THEIR NEGATIVE FEELINGS INTO ACCEPTABLE OUTLETS.



TOXICITY TO A CHILDS DEVELOPING BRAIN IS THE GREATEST RISK.THERE IS NO BENIGN PART TO A DRUG TREATMENT.ALL DRUGS WORK BECAUSE OF THEIR TOXICITY AND BY POISONING PARTICULAR BIOCHEMICAL OR NEUROLOGICAL PATHWAYS-THAT IS HOW DRUGS WORK!WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE RISK:BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL CASE.



More and more young people are trapped in a cycle of drug dependancy,legally prescribed stimulants or illegally obtained.



Prescription amphetamine drugs and central nervous system stimulants including Ritalin are the most abused prescription drugs being often sold on illegally and can cause significant harm to recipients. Is this level of misuse recorded and evaluated?

Each R tab has a street value of £5 in the U.K.($10 in U.S.) and is widely sold as a substitute for "speed"(known as 'kiddy speed') with some YP / parents sometimes profitting from this abuse. Amphetamines are also the most abused illegal street drug.

So either way amphetamines and 'amphetamine like' drugs ( C.N.S. stimulants) should be closely monitored and controlled.




Prescription rates vary like a post code lottery in England. There is a 23 fold variance across the U.K. 
So this proves it can not be a "medical epidemic,"otherwise it would have a more uniform distribution. It is therefore a 'social construct' created by the society / community in which we live.

Why would there be an epidemic focussed on the Wirral which is one of the most wealthy areas in the U.K. where highest number of children are diagnosed and not in Stoke on Trent a very deprived area with the lowest occurence rate?
Why might that be as social deprivation is proven to increase the risk of behavioural difficulties by 200%(Sutton Trust Research October 2010)




Exponential growth of amphetamines / methylphenidate prescriptions in Holland.(1998-2008)
Is this pattern consistent across Europe?      
No, as Denmark has much lower levels of diagnosis ( a sixth) and uses more progressive approaches such as Social Pedagogy.This is an intensive 1:1 care/life-coaching approach based on well established psychological principles such as Attatchment Theory. It achieves 6 out of 10 children going to university as against 6 out of 1,000 in the U.K. for Looked After Children.
Denmark has a hugely lower rate of adult hospitalisation for mental health difficulties and incarcaration compared to the U.K. and the U.S. in particular.

CHOICES ?




Exponential growth of prison population in U.S. in the same  time period as the rapid growth in childhood prescribing of Amphetamines.
Is there possibly a statistical relationship with the exponential rise in prescribing of psychotropic drugs for children and the rapid increases in adult hospitalisation for Mental Health  Problems and incaceration rates?Is this due to the failure of the mass medication regime in the U.S.?
(The U.S. has 5% of the world population and yet has 20%plus  of the world's prison population. Some states are known as "Prison States," with prisons being the largest employers manufacturing military uniforms etc. at very competitive low rates of pay.    Clearly these policies are far from effective and should  be avoided in Europe.




Social trends suggest a possible relationship between prescription rates for children of amphetamines, adult mental health diagnosis rates and adult incarceration rates.
Should research be done into this to establish the nature of any inter-relationships?
The whole panel of the ' QI ' show were gobsmacked recently by Stephen Fry,the presenter, sharing these statistics and his view that prisoners being used as a source of cheap labour.

Does U.K. want to follow this regressive approach?

Might the proposed privatisation of our prisons be a step in the wrong direction where prisoners are used to generate profits for multim national corporations?



Could prescription of amphetamines lead to later addiction in adulthood to all stimulants? Several International  studies from California,Australia and the U.K. are pointing towards this conclusion

A seminal book for this generation.

THE ONLY CONCLUSION ONE CAN COME TO WHEN READING ALL THE LITERATURE IS THAT DRUGGING SO MANY CHILDREN IS PART OF A VERY PROFITABLE 'BUSINESS PLAN' DRIVEN BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND ITS 'CONVERTS' IN PSYCHIATRY.

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Capitalism / corporate business thrives on societal crises and international disasters manipulating even disasters for the profit of shareholders.Hence the term,'Disaster Capitalism.'

Is business a driver for presciption rates for drugs for children and cashing in on societal / parental concerns / trends?

Read Melanie Klein's,"The Shock Doctrine."a Pulitzer Prizewinnining journalist (NY Times) who exposes the truth behind the worrying and developing economic / academic discipline of 'Disaster Captalism.'




Drug companies "cherry pick" supportive studies, that support their claims for the efficacy off their products.

Is this scientifically acceptable?



Financial Inducements are a factor in long-term medication of Y.P. e.g. Disabled Living Allowance(DLA) This can sustain the child on long term medication and have life-long effects.




Parents are encouraged to give drugs by D.L.A. incentives.(£300 or £600 per month per child)

Is this a conflict of interest or seductive coercion? 



ALL STRATEGIES MUST AIM TO REDUCE THE STRESSORS GOING INTO THE CHILD'S 'STRESS BUCKET' IN ORDER TO HELP THE CHILD MAKE PROGRESS AND IMPROVE THEIR EMOTIONAL WELLBEING.





What meaning do we construe as a society by treating so many children in this way?



Families,often unwittingly are part of an experimental programme for their child that is not heavily regulated.
How should  they / we feel about this?



Social Pedagogy is a progressive socially democratic approach that respects young people and doesn't see them as 'commodities' or 'market opportunities' for sales of medication  and reduces reliance on drugs for social control by the state.



Family meetings are a very successful way of addressing issues with some children.

They are more likely to listen to ideas from some of the other family members rather than from their parents.








Education is a conversation between generations.

What conversation do we want to have with Young People?

What message do we want to send to the future about the way we have chosen to treat our children today?

Lets follow the northern Europeans with their academic discipline of 'Social pedagogy," which is based on sound child psychology such as the theory of Attachment and Emotional Resilience etc.

See post of that name.As per tree illustration above.

Contact: THEMPRA UK for more info.