Global Mentalist News Round Up

Not such a great deal to report this fortnight – but there’s always something….

This episode features some early intervention – and, firstly, this item from The Australian reveals just what evil things some parents have been putting their children through:

BABIES transported in forward-facing strollers could end up “emotionally impoverished” due to lack of face-to-face contact with the parent pushing them, a British study has suggested.

Bastards.

But not to worry – everyone knows we can cure these emotionally impoverished children with those panacea anti-psychotics, I mean, why all the fuss from the FDA about a little ‘off-label’ prescribing? EmaxHealth tells us:

Risperdal, a second generation, or newer antipsychotic was used to treat schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder was prescribed to 389,000 children and teenagers last year. Over half were younger than age twelve. Off-label prescriptions included treatment for attention deficit disorder (ADD); a condition not approved for treatment is Risperdal. As a result, thirty-one children died, and 1207 experienced serious side effects. Other antipsychotic drugs under scrutiny include Seroquel, Geodon and Abilify.

In an obscure article in The Milford Daily News of Massachusetts, a refreshing honesty from Paediatrician Dr David Keller:

“The real question is, ‘Do you need a diagnosis to provide help?”‘ said Keller. “The lesson found in early intervention is that the answer to the question is ‘no’.”

Keller said early intervention centers – a statewide service available to families of children with developmental and behavioral issues – place more value on helping the child than diagnosing problems.

Excellent! Early intervention!! No diagnosis needed and values helping the child rather than curing the condition. So how early is early intervention?

While children 3 or younger are sent to early intervention, kids between 3 and 5 years old are left with no place to go, he said.

“I hate it when I find a problem with a 3 to 5 year old,” said Keller. “These kids are in a no man’s land.”

Ok, someone help me here. Under 3′s are getting early intervention for psychological and behavioural problems?! What are the parents thinking?

“Parents don’t want their kids labeled, but sometimes for the kids to get the help they need they need a label or diagnosis,” said Kathy Segalla, coordinator of the Milford Community Partnership for Children.

I see.

It’s for “the help they need”

- before they reach 3 years old.

Honestly, is parenting really this pathetic nowadays?

Finally in this brief episode – a conference on Happiness was recently held in San Fransisco.

Planned before the current crises, the first American “Happiness and Its Causes” conference was equal parts Aristotle and Oprah. It brought together heavy hitters like Paul Ekman, the psychologist known for deciphering facial “microexpressions” that reveal feelings, and Robert Sapolsky, the Stanford biologist. They considered topics like “Compassion and the Pursuit of Happiness” and “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.”

And what sort of people benefited from this conference?

The audience, composed largely of the helping professions, also included a senior vice president of a large mortgage company, who would not give her name. She said she had laid off more than 500 people in the last six months, and was there to learn how to boost the morale of employees working weekends and holidays and making do with bonuses cut in half.

“What truly makes people happy is a higher calling,” she said

Yes, quite. Good luck with that.