To the Editor: As child and adolescent psychiatrists, we read with concern the letter written on 8/25/18 by Lance McCormack in the Providence Journal in which he demonizes the role of medication in treating children's psychiatric disorders. We all hope,
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To the Editor:
As child and adolescent psychiatrists, we read with concern the letter written on 8/25/18 by Lance McCormack in the Providence Journal in which he demonizes the role of medication in treating children’s psychiatric disorders. We all hope, parents and doctors, that children will be healthy, but when they suffer from medical illnesses, whether the diagnosis is diabetes or depression, we should treat them appropriately.
We advocate for access to a comprehensive assessment process and treatment plan for our patients that incorporates all available resources and tools supported by scientific evidence. For some children, changes in lifestyle and talk therapy make the critical difference. Other children benefit, dramatically, from medication prescribed after thorough evaluation by trained physicians. Insulin doesn’t change who you are – and neither do psychiatric medications.
While working to make the world they live in accepting to all, we must also give our children access to life-saving medications to allow them to participate in it.
Elizabeth Lowenhaupt MD,
President of the RI Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Daisy Bassen MD,
Vice President of the RI Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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