To Medicate or Not to Medicate Your Child for Mental Illness?

The decision to medicate your child for a mental illness is often an agonizing one. Many parents that I work with struggle to find the balance between dealing with their child's behaviors themselves and letting someone help them. Medicating a child is not the easiest decision to make for some parents while for others it is the easiest thing to do.

As a parent who does choose to medicate my child, I have to say that medication in and of itself, does not resolve behavior issues. Yes, medication does help, but I believe it to be a last resort option. Below are descriptions of some of the parents I've worked with. So would you choose to medicate or not to medicate your child for a mental illness?

Parents On the Fence About Medicating Their Child

Most parents I meet are those who are stuck in the middle. They are neither for or against medication for their special needs child. In my opinion, these are the easiest parents to deal with. Along with the psychiatrist, I provide information about how medication along with therapy can help. These parents tend to be a little worried about what medication can do, but they also think about how their child's emotional and behavioral symptoms can be.

Parents Who Think Medicating Their Child Is the Only Solution

Other parents I've come across are those who are pro-medication, though, almost to the extreme. For them, medication is not just a solution to their child's problems, but it is the solution.

For some parents, it is difficult to invest in long-lasting changes at home for the benefit of their special needs children. I often find myself educating these parents on behavior techniques and coping skills to use to manage emotional and behavioral symptoms. Part of my work as a therapist is to educate parents on how medication, while helpful, isn't a cure but only one part of treatment. These parents struggle with seeing themselves as part of the solution, if not the solution.

Pro-medication parents are not the most challenging ones. There is one more type of parent dealing with the choice to medicate or not to medicate their mentally ill child.

Anti-Medication Parents

These parents are some of the most challenging ones. In my experience, they are rare. For them, the choice to medicate or not is very simple - they simply refuse medication. Some parents feel that medication will hurt rather than help.

I went through it with Bob. Even being a professional in the field, I struggled with the choice to medicate and saw it as a last resort.

I tried everything - punishments, rewards, behavior charts, etc. to change Bob's symptoms for the better. But, nothing helped. ADHD, depending on severity, doesn't always respond to changes at home or at school. For me, the choice to medicate was about me learning to understand that it was a good addition to the changes I made at home.

To Medicate or Not to Medicate Your Child for a Mental Illness

To medicate or not medicate your special needs child is one of the most difficult decisions to undertake. But, when you look at the big picture of how it would benefit your child, the decision can be easier. For me as a parent, I looked at how much Bob had suffered already and would continue to suffer if I didn't make that choice.

Parents, how did you choose to medicate or not to medicate?

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