Health, it is obvious this is a very sore point and hot-button issue with you, though I am not sure why. Are you a psychiatrist? I disagree with you on virtually all counts, and that is my prerogative. You have your own agenda regarding the issue of drugging people, and sorry, but I am not convinced that what you say is any more correct than what I have to say. I did not make blanket statements. I made statements based on personal experience that a well-known and respected doctor prescribed dangerous meds to a patient, my mom O”H, who had absolutely no need for them, because he did not look for a physical cause FIRST.
I have talked to many parents in my neighborhood or its environs, and virtually ALL of them either have kids on anti-anxiety medication or something to treat bi-polar disorder/depression, or know family members’ or friends’ kids who are taking these drugs. It simply cannot be that all those kids need to be medicated. Bury your head in the sand if you like, but the fact that you disagree does not necessarily mean I am wrong.
I am not looking at the total amount of people in this country who actually suffer from Clinical Depression. My interest is in Jewish children and adults who are irresponsibly given powerful drugs, and are not fully informed as to what can happen as a result of their long-term use. BTW, 20% is one out of five – not so hard to do the math. And who else would be likely to think to be concerned about a problem, except for someone who has already been burned?