From the Washington Times: Preschoolers are leading the growth in use of antidepressants by U.S. children, even though many questions persist about the safety and effectiveness of using these drugs on minors. A study published in the journal Psychiatric Services found that children 5 years old and younger are the fastest-growing segment of the nonadult population using antidepressants today…. Tom Delate, director of research for Express Scripts and lead author of the study, declined to provide specific numbers of children taking antidepressants in various age groups. But one table in his report suggests that nearly 30,000 children 18 and under were taking antidepressants in 1998; and that the total was 45,000 in 2002. Prevalence of use is far greater among older children. The study found that in 2002, nearly 6.4 percent of U.S. girls ages 15 to 18 years — or 640 per 10,000 — were taking antidepressants. Among boys that age, 4.2 percent — or 420 per 10,000 — were on such drugs, the study showed.
But at least they’re not smoking pot! Here’s what I’d like to know. What percentage of these children drugged into complacent zombiedom by their parents are homeschooled? Or perhaps I should say, what percentage of these chemically adjusted children are attending, or will be attending, public schools? And am I supposed to believe that parents who drug their children into socially acceptable passivity love their children just as much as normal parents too?