Deciding to Medicate Your Children (Or Yourself) with Psychotropic Medications

Deciding to medicate your child is a serious and often stressful choice for any parent. When you’re considering medication for mental health, PTSD, behavioral issues, or ADHD, it’s essential to approach the decision with careful thought and thorough research. When your child is suffering, you will do anything to relieve them. In my experience, parents don’t decide to medicate children under 18 lightly. You have probably tried many things and contacted friends and professionals for advice. You have diligently researched options and opinions to make the best plan going forward. If you are in this process, here are three helpful questions to consider when deciding to use psychotropic medicines.

Three essential questions to ask when deciding to medicate your children.

1. What are the alternatives?
2. What are the potential benefits?
3. Are there any risks?

1. What Are the Alternatives?

Medication doesn’t have to be the first or only solution. Before deciding to medicate, it’s helpful to explore all possible alternatives. There may be effective non-pharmaceutical approaches that can help them (and you) feel better.

Seek professional help from a counselor or therapist before or while you are trying medication. Spend more time doing natural healing activities and exercises, like hiking, swimming, and climbing. This helps them get their energy out and learn to self-regulate their emotions. Our brains know how to heal if they have the space. Remove them from any environment causing the problem, set more calming routines at home, improve their nutritional intake, cuddle more, and prioritize sleep hygiene. You can also teach them to meditate, address any issues that you may have, or get them involved in something they are interested in.

Ask your child’s healthcare provider about these alternatives. What other treatments have been tried, and with what results? Are there lifestyle changes, such as increased physical activity or dietary modifications, that could help? Understanding all your options ensures that you’re making an informed decision.

2. What Are the Potential Benefits?

If medication is being considered, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the potential benefits. What improvements in your child’s condition can be expected? How will the medication help them in their daily life, at school, or in social situations? For many parents, the goal of medication is to improve their child’s quality of life. Whether it’s enabling them to focus better in class, manage their emotions, or reduce physical pain, the potential benefits need to be weighed against the status quo.

Discuss with your doctor what specific outcomes you should look for. Will the medication help your child reach developmental milestones more easily? Will it make a significant difference in their ability to function day-to-day? Knowing the expected benefits will help you determine if medication is the right path for your child.

It’s helpful to think of medication as a tool in one’s toolbox. It can help people manage enough to do other essential therapeutic healing work. It could also help them get involved in activities again that can build connectedness and confidence.

3. Are There Any Risks?

Every medication has potential risks and side effects. Understanding these is key to making an informed decision. Ask about both short-term and long-term side effects and how they might impact your child. Do your own research on this, too.

For instance, some medications might cause drowsiness, appetite changes, or mood swings, which can be challenging to manage. Various tolerate them differently. In some cases, there could be more serious risks, such as dependency or long-term health implications. It’s also important to consider how the medication might interact with any other treatments or conditions your child has.

Ask your healthcare provider to explain the likelihood and severity of these risks. Are there ways to monitor and manage side effects? What should you do if your child experiences any adverse reactions? Understanding the risks involved allows you to make a balanced decision.

The percentage of psychotropic medication prescribed to young people has doubled globally in the last twenty years. On the one hand, it means more young people have access to these life-saving medicines. On the other, it reflects a growing problem of increased mental health concerns among our youth and the eagerness to solve it with pills instead of teaching kids and adolescents skills for sustaining emotional wellness.

Final Thoughts on Deciding to Medication your Children with Psychotropic Medication

These risks and benefits are all relative to what a family is going through. They may seem helpful sometimes and other times less helpful, depending on how much their experience, behavior, and emotions are affecting their life. Therefore, there is also a risk of not medicating, especially if the intensity or severity of the problem is dangerous or disruptive.

Deciding whether to medicate your child is a deeply personal and complex process. By asking these three essential questions—What are the alternatives? What are the potential benefits? Are there any risks?—you’ll be better equipped to make an informed choice that prioritizes your child’s health and well-being.

Always consult with a trusted healthcare provider and don’t hesitate to seek a second opinion if you’re unsure. Your child’s health is paramount, and making the right decision requires thorough consideration of all factors involved.

If you decide to medicate your children, watch for side effects and keep track of how they are doing. Make sure you are committed to holistic healing and continue building their confidence and connectedness with other activities as well. Embrace the decision with gratitude rather than second-guess yourself.

Some other things to note about psychotropic medication and the brain

Psychotropic medication is considered medically low-risk, which makes some doctors quick to prescribe them, regardless of the context of that behavior or emotions. Stressful situations happen everywhere and affect us. Even medical procedures, separating parents, a conflict in a friendship, the loss of a grandparent, and more are contexts for anxiety and depression to flourish. Kids’ emotions and behavioral issues come from these contexts, even if the context is invisible, not from an inherent way their brain is wired.

Pharmaceuticals are invested in the general population, thinking of psychotropic medicine as definitively necessary. Often touting: “If you have diabetes, you need insulin. Depressed people need SSRIs.” This is used in an attempt to dispel stigma, but that is only a mask for its being useful in marketing medications. (Also, believing your emotions are inherent illnesses instead of regular human responses to the contexts of life makes stigma worse.)

The “chemical imbalanced” discourse often told by medical professionals and drug commercials has been debunked. Our brain “chemicals” (AKA hormones) are in constant flux, changing moment by moment. It is ridiculous to say anyone is “imbalanced,” as we are always in various states of hormone release throughout the day. (When we are sad, our hypothalamus releases “sad” peptides.)

Remember, medicine is a tool, a full toolbox of other things. It is an essential tool that saves lives. However, it is important to remember that there are many ways to heal, and you can choose what avenue to take for you and your family.

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