| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (1 hr.) ; 355809740 bytes |
| Summary |
An increasing number of children are being diagnosed with all sorts of psychiatric disorders. But how easy is it to distinguish between a distinctive personality and a diagnosable condition? Louis Theroux visits the University of Pittsburgh Psychiatric clinic to find out. Louis checks in with the parents of some of the 4000 children who are on the books of the University of Pittsburgh psychiatric Clinic. Some are labelled ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), some OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and some are now being told they are bipolar, a condition characterised by dramatic mood swings. For many, these diagnoses mean daily treatment with psychoactive drugs. Louis meets Kaylee, who tries to spend her first day for some months without taking her regular prescription of Adderall, six-year-old Jack, who has been prescribed antidepressants to help him deal with his OCD, and 10-year-old Hugh, who has been diagnosed with a range of conditions including Asperger's and bipolar. Over the course of a fortnight, Louis spends time with these children and their families at home, and he tries to work out just how difficult these children are. He observes them in acts of sulky defiance and overexcited emotional states, but it's not always clear whether the kids are mentally ill or whether they are just behaving badly. As parents who clearly love their children come seeking diagnosis, treatment and help, Louis tries to fathom how much of the current trend for psychiatric treatment is a function of genuine disorder and how much of it is a response to unchecked parental anxiety. He asks whether we have become so addicted to prescriptions that we are now treating with drugs behaviour that would once have been considered normal |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-06-15 at 20:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: M |
| Subject |
Medical ethics -- Research.
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Medication abuse -- Complications.
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Mental illness -- Diagnosis.
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Obsessive-compulsive disorder in children.
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Psychiatric hospital care -- Social aspects.
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Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Horan, Danny, director
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Theroux, Louis, host
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