Drugging Children To Keep Them Quiet(Mercola)mercola,com
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Drugging Children to Keep Them Quiet
This stunning news report finds that children, even toddlers as young
as 2, are being given powerful psychotropic drugs in order to manage
their behavior. Are these children being drugged because it is cheaper
and easier than providing real care -- and because the practice is
very lucrative for the pharmaceutical companies?
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Dr. Mercola's Comments:
This video is proof of just how outrageous things have become in
conventional medicine. Drugging 2 and 3-year-olds? Two out of three
foster kids in Texas on medication, sometimes several of them?
This is just reprehensibly irresponsible.
Allegations of babies as young as 2 and 3 being given mind-altering
drugs exist against foster care systems across the United States,
including Texas, California, Ohio and Florida.
I don’t even advocate giving children cough syrup, Tylenol or
antibiotics, as these alone can be very harmful. But when you’re
talking about powerful psychotropic, mind-altering drugs, you’re
entering an entirely different ballgame.
The number of prescriptions for psychotropic drugs for children has
more than doubled between 1995 and 2000. And psychotropic drugs, by
definition, alter your mind, your emotions and your behavior.
These drugs, many of which are not even approved for kids, act on your
central nervous system, reduce your mobility and, as Gwen Olsen, the
former pharmaceutical rep in the video told CBS News, “are sort of
like a chemical straightjacket.”
Even when prescribed properly, the various side effects of drugs like
Prozac, Paxil, Ritalin, Zyprexa, Depakote and others are dizzying:
Anxiety, depression, impulsivity and obsession
Anger, compulsion, temper tantrums and mood instability (this one,
ironically, from a mood stabilizer drug)
Social awkwardness, withdrawal, tics
Sleep disturbances
Separation anxiety
Behavior problems
Inattention and distractability
But give them to toddlers, whose brains and bodies are not fully
developed, and combine them in hefty doses of two, three or more
different meds, and the side effects are anybody’s guess.
There may even be a chance that as these kids get older, the mind-
altering drugs could lead to violent “hostility events” like those
that occurred at Virginia Tech and Columbine High School.
Drugs Are Not the Answer to Children’s Behavioral Problems
Imagine being a 5-year-old entering the foster care system. Who
wouldn’t display some signs of mental upset at a time like that? Yet,
what these kids need is some love and tending to their emotions, along
with replacing all their toxic processed junk foods with life-giving,
vital, healthy food -- not medications.
Sadly, foster care systems are not only overloaded, they’re controlled
by the government and their biggest supporter, the drug companies.
For parents out there, I realize that many decide to put their
children on a psychotropic drug because they believe it will help them
and they have no choice. However, I have treated many hundreds of
children with these types of disorders and have consistently seen them
improve once the underlying toxicities and food changes were
addressed, so parents let me assure you that there is hope!
You can view my interview with the late pediatric expert Dr. Lendon
Smith on this topic.
There can also be extreme pressure to give your kids prescription
drugs, with some public schools even accusing parents of child abuse
when they resist giving their kids drugs such as Ritalin.
In fact, parents who try to resist this insanity in their own homes
can even have their children taken away. In one such case, a 6-year-
old mildly autistic boy was taken into state custody after his mother
refused medications for him.
Without the presence of a single doctor, the court decided to put the
child on five powerful anti-psychotic drugs, even though none of the
drugs have been approved for use in children.
So it’s highly unlikely that kids entering the government-controlled
foster system will be given the care they really need. Maybe one day
down the road, but sadly, not today.
Correcting Behavioral Problems Without Drugs
Behavioral problems in children are very frequently related to
improper diet, emotional upset and exposure to toxins. To address
these underlying toxins in your own child, without resorting to drugs:
1. Give your child plenty of high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats
like krill oil.
2. Balance your child’s intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats (from
vegetables oils), by limiting their intake of vegetable oils.
3. Avoid giving your child ANY processed foods, especially those
containing artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.
4. Replace soft drinks, fruit juices, and pasteurized milk in your
child’s diet with pure water. This is HUGE since high fructose corn
syrup is the NUMBER ONE source of calories in children -- remember
this includes fruit juices!
5. Reduce or eliminate grains and sugars from your child’s diet -- yes
even healthy organic whole grains can cause problems. Try eliminating
them first for 1-2 weeks and see if you don’t notice a radical and
amazing improvement in your child’s behavior.
6. Make sure your child gets plenty of exercise and outdoor playtime
in the sunshine.
7. Give your child a way to deal with his or her emotions. Even
children can benefit from the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which
you or an EFT practitioner can teach them how to use.
Related Articles:
Psychiatric Drug Use In Toddlers Soars
Now They Want to Give Antipsychotic Drugs to "Disruptive" Kids
The Tragic Consequences of Drugging Our Children
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