-A 2004 study published in the 'Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine' periodical revealed that between 1996 and 2001 the proportion of Tennessee children who were being placed on antipsychotic medications increased from 6.8% in 1996 to 96% by 2001.
-Last month, again in the United States it was reported that the use of atypical antipsychotics by people 19 and younger increased by a staggering 80% between 2001 and 2004.
-Another U.S.-based research survey showed that between 1995 and 2002 atypical antipsychotic prescriptions for kids ages 2 to 18 increased from just under half a million to about 2.5 million.
-Overall, 73% more children and teens are now being prescribed atypical antipsychotics, many for conditions other than schizophrenia and psychotic disorders.
The above statistics represent merely the tip of the proverbial antipsychotic iceberg. It is to say the least, disturbing to realize that the newest class of antipsychotic medications known as the 'atypicals' are not only being prescibed in children for the illness in which they were originally developed - schizophrenia - but are now being prescribed to kids who have been diagnosed with other brain disorders including but not limited to depression, conduct disorder, bipolar disorder, ADHD, aggression and even mood swings.
Some of the newer atypical antipsychotics include:
- Clozapine - brand name, Clozaril
- Olanzapine - brand name, Zyprexa
- Risperidone - brand name, Risperdal
- Ziprasidone - brand name, Geodon
- Quetiapine - brand name, Seroquel
None of the above medications are approved for use in children but physicians have the option of prescribing these medications to children and teens as "off-label" drugs. Off-label is defined as use of a prescription drug to treat a disease or condition for which the drug has not been approved. All antipsychotic medications can be prescribed by one's primary care physician which can in itself be extremely dangerous especially if a definitive diagnosis has not been determined. Arriving at a definitive diagnosis in a child for any of the major mental illnesses is arguably close to impossible simply because a child's brain is still in developmental stages.
So what exactly is an atypical antipsychotic? In general terms, atypical antipsychotics are second generation medications used to treat schizophrenia. The atypical classification means that the newer generation of antipsychotic medications place patients at a lesser risk of developing the serious side effects experienced by patients who were prescribed the older antipsychotics such as Haloperidol (Haldol).
The atypicals however are far from being side effect-free. While the risk of developing serious side effects may be diminished in the atypicals, they are by no means risk-free. Some of the more serious side effects include:
-Extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) - extreme restlessness, muscle spasms of neck, involuntary eye rolling and/or tongue and jaw movements, muscle stiffness, stuttering, shuffling gait, drooling, hand tremors. The most serious EPS is a condition called tardive dyskinesia which involves a more pronounced and sometimes irreversible set of symptoms including a series of repetitive and involuntary movements - grimacing, blinking, lip smacking, arm, leg and trunk jerks and spasms, repetitive finger motions, tongue protrussion and drooling.
-Weight gain - it is not uncommon for a patient to experience rapid weight gain in excess of 100 pounds.
-Pronounced sedation - some patients sleep their lives away and when awake display extreme somnolence.
-Brain fog and memory loss - some patients complain of not being able to process their thoughts. Some artistic types complain of losing their ability to create, write, paint, etc.
The complete list of possible side effects for all typical and atypical antipsychotics is extensive. Everyone prescribed one of these medications will experience at least some of them and a few will experience several of them.
And we're giving them to our children.
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a small news blurb on the Internet that mentioned a research study being sponsored by the Massachusetts General Hospital. The title of the study was "Quetiapine for Mania In Preschool Children 4 to 6 Years of Age With Bipolar Disorder". Researchers were seeking volunteer children ages 4 to 6 who have been diagnosed with bipolar I, bipolar II disorder or bipolar spectrum disorder.
In other words the Massachusetts General Hospital were seeking preschool aged children to take part in an 8-week study during which time they would be placed on an atypical antipsychotic in an effort for researchers to determine the effectiveness of this particular drug on very young children. They were seeking 4 year-old human guinea pigs. clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00181883?order=1
After reading this article thus far, would any parent even remotely consider volunteering their 4 year-old to act as a guinea pig for the above research program? For those who may still be wavering....
Meet Erin.
Erin is a real person who lives somewhere in the Halifax Regional Municipality. She is now 22 years old. Today, Erin is a mostly well adjusted normal young woman who is living on her own and still seeking her life's path. But if not for Erin's own powerful resolve and two determined parent advocates, she could very well be institutionalized today and suffering with the lingering effects of tardive dyskinesia.
Erin was misdiagnosed as having the severest form of schizophrenia when she was twelve years old. The journey in which Erin and her family embarked evolved over the next five years - Erin was in and out of the IWK hospital in Halifax during that time and each time she was placed on yet another antipsychotic. Altogether she was prescribed six different antipsychotics but none were effective in treating her symptoms.
During Erin's last hospitalization, the unthinkable occurred proving to her and her family that they had indeed arrived in Hell. They found themselves imprisoned there for the next six months. The attending IWK psychiatrists placed Erin on a "trial" as they referred to it, of Quetiapine more commonly known now as Seroquel which at the time was considered a new atypical antipsychotic.
Despite Erin's parents' growing concerns and objections to continuing this particular drug, the doctors persisted and insisted that they "complete the trial" for a period of six weeks in regularly increased dosages.
Seroquel, according to her parents caused Erin to become insane. She remained that way for 6 weeks. Every time the dosage was increased, Erin developed a new and terrifying symptom. Each time her parents witnessed a newly emerging symptom they would plead with the doctors to end the trial but it was becoming clear that the doctors were not interested in negotiations with the parents. Erin's mother had been making copious notes describing in vivid and tragic detail as her daughter slipped further and further into drug-induced insanity.
"I was watching my baby literally going insane but the more I and my husband demanded that the doctors end the trial, the more obstinate they became until that day when we were informed that Erin had been declared a 'formal patient' by her primary IWK physician", wrote Erin's Mom in her journal. "We were despondent to learn that our daughter had been for all intents and purpose, ripped from us and placed in the hands of the very people who were hurting her."
From the mother's journal as she recorded events following each dosage increase during the six-week Seroquel trial. It is important to note that everything described below were experienced by Erin for the first time after being given Seroquel:
- Erin is throwing chairs at nurses
- Erin believes that Hitler is stalking her and is always just outside her door
- Erin has constructed a line on the floor of her room and refuses to walk beyond that line
- Erin is "talking" to an invisible boy she calls "Timmy"
- Erin has taken to writing very tiny numbers on the walls of her room - the numbers circulate around the entire room.
- Erin is having moments of extreme fear - she crawls into a corner and huddles fearfully, crying
- Erin is throwing objects at nurses - they dragged her kicking and screaming to the "Quiet Room"
- Erin is experiencing symptoms of extrapyramidal side effects - her eyes roll back in her head..her entire neck contracts painfully to the point that her head is extended close to snapping - the docs deny it's a side effect. They say she's developed an "anxiety disorder". They put her on more meds.
- Erin literally falls into her food face first while trying to eat.
I am told at this point that Erin and her mother cannot continue. It is obvious that this family has been so terribly traumatized by what happened that it just becomes too painful for them. The good news is that Erin was finally taken off Seroquel after the 6 week trial period. Within 24 hours Erin reverted back to her pre-Seroquel self. All those distressing side effects disappeared within the next seven days. They have never returned. Erin today requires no medications. Erin's doctors are still in practice.
But despite what happened to Erin and her family, Seroquel is one of many atypical antipsychotics being prescribed to children and teens at an increasingly alarming rate.
How many will end up in institutions? How many children and their families have to be destroyed before the medical community wakes up? When will we declare that inappropriately drugging our children is unacceptable if not downright criminal?
How many more Erins are out there?
D.L. McCracken can be reached via email at
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