We've Got Issues
Children and Parents in the Age of Medication
-
-
2.6 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $5.99
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
In her provocative new book, New York Times-bestselling author Judith Warner explores the storm of debate over whether we are overdiagnosing and overmedicating our children who have "issues."
In Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, Judith Warner explained what's gone wrong with the culture of parenting, and her conclusions sparked a national debate on how women and society view motherhood. Her new book, We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication, will generate the same kind of controversy, as she tackles a subject that's just as contentious and important: Are parents and physicians too quick to prescribe medication to control our children's behavior? Are we using drugs to excuse inept parents who can't raise their children properly?
What Warner discovered from the extensive research and interviewing she did for this book is that passion on both sides of the issue "is ideological and only tangentially about real children," and she cuts through the jargon and hysteria to delve into a topic that for millions of parents involves one of the most important decisions they'll ever make for their child.
Insightful, compelling, and deeply moving, We've Got Issues is for parents, doctors, and teachers-anyone who cares about the welfare of today's children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Author (Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety) and New York Times columnist Warner turns an investigative eye to the epidemic of diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorders and widespread use of prescription psychotropic drugs to modify children's behavior. Major questions are raised: are drugs a substitute for proper parenting? Is there something more socially significant underlying the labeling and drugging of kids? Following an awkward introductory chapter about why the subject confounded and eluded her, Warner serves up more bad news than good. The book is hampered by a great deal of diverse and conflicting professional opinion and research, with references to just about every prominent expert on child psychology, from mainstream to fringe. Although readers may end up more confused than hopeful about the status of children's mental health in America, they will discover that 5% of all American kids do have psychological issues for which they receive proper medication and counseling. Not as heartfelt as The Elephant in the Playroom nor as helpful as books on individual disorders, this examination will still function as a wakeup call for lots of parents.
Customer Reviews
Important read.
This is one of the most important books about child psychiatry and should be required reading for parents, clinicians, teachers, residents, etc. It steps past the knee jerk controversy and provides real context.