MEDICATING THEM OUT OF OUR MISERY:

Bipolar labels for children stir concern: Hull case highlights debate on diagnosis (Carey Goldberg, February 15, 2007, Boston Globe)

The case of Rebecca Riley highlights a hot debate in psychiatric circles over the growing number of children who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder -- a battle centered largely in Boston but affecting the treatment of young patients nationwide.

Riley, the Hull 4-year-old who died of an overdose of psychiatric medications, was exceptionally young when she was diagnosed, just 2 1/2. But among somewhat older children, the bipolar label has proliferated to the point that some psychiatrists now suspect the diagnosis may be sometimes misused, placing some children at unnecessary risk from the serious medications that usually follow.

Some? It's revealing that stories like this are followed several months later by similar ones about how pet owners are doing likewise to their dogs.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 15, 2007 7:28 AM