Nine Year Old Boy Stabbed To Death By Twelve Year Old In Michigan....

[Safetyhit]

I see one or two of these kids each week. Their parent(s) - usually just mom, brings them to the hospital because they can't control them anymore. The vast majority come from less than ideal households. Most are already on meds - some combination of Ritalin, Depakote, and Risperdal seems to be the cocktail de jour. The presenting chief complaint is often listed as "medication adjustment" as if there is a red pill for dad and a blue pill for mom. They typically spend a day or two in the ED while we look for yet another psychiatric facility that will wear house them until the current crisis cools off.

Part of the problem is that society is viewing these kids as suffering from a disease; it is treated as a mental illness if you will. My suspicion is that this is the wrong approach. My gut tells me that the evidence behind this approach is lacking, but the alternative (kill them or throw away the key) is so abhorrent that we will continue to grasp at straws.

I don't have the answer but I have an opinion. Ironically, my opinion would likely cost me some career points if it became public at work.

What I think you really meant to write was that you wish parents would step up and do their jobs effectively, and also that when they don't doctors will refrain from exploiting their failures for financial gain.

[Denali]

I wasn't talking about the crime itself but the circumstance leading up to it. My money is on his mind having been warped into oblivion by an unusually harsh circumstance or possibly due to negligent medical care. Or maybe even both.

Got it, I knew I had misread it...