Our last Sunday's parochial paper ran an article revealing an increase in psychiatric evaluations on babies and children up to the age of four years old with feeding, sleeping or other "behavioural problems".
It cited statistics revealing that, of 200 national referrals in the 2007-08 financial year 43 were from Victoria, which increased to 180 between July 2008 - April 2009.
Apparently psychiatrists said they are helping to improve the relationship between parents and children and that issues in parent-child relationships must be resolved quickly as in any other relationship. A leading child mental health professional says it's not so much that the kids are mentally ill, but that parents are really struggling with sleep and behaviours.
There is a concern in the community and in community groups however, that normal childhood behaviours are being misunderstood and over-diagnosed and this practice is leading to increase in medication.
Where was ADD and ADHD when I was a child 25 years ago? Why are these "disorders" so prevalent today? It's such an emotive topic and a large one with no absolute answers as all children and families are different.
But I can't help feeling that western society has been totally slung off on a tangent thanks to "modern psychology", from the likes of Spock and Freud among many others. These people touted their theories many decades ago, but their questionable legacies live on into our times. Where to from here?
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