Climbing Ladders, Scaling Mountains

I'm afraid of heights. I feel the fear in every bone of my body. But today I climbed a ladder outside in my backyard. And I've gone hiking in the mountains for many years. Indeed I even climbed "The Precipice" in Maine, and that hike was the closest I've ever come to rock climbing.

Why do I persist to engage in activities that frighten me? I think that - in equal measure to my fear - I'm very curious as to how my escapade will end. Will I succeed or not? And I want to be there to find out.

Because the alternative to being at the finish line is to not even enter the race. And, worse than failing as far as I'm concerned, is not trying at all.

So I fight my fears and doubts and forge ahead.

I climbed to the second-most top rung of the ladder today. I reached up to the tree branch and grabbed the apple before it fell. It was delicious.

Humpty Dumpty was Not a Parent

Afraid of making a mistake? You have the Humpty Dumpty Syndrome.

Sometimes we are so afraid of doing the wrong thing - lest the pieces can't be put back together again - that we don't do anything at all. And the longer we wait, the worse the situation becomes.

Then we are left feeling overwhelmed and as helpless as a cracked egg.

It is far better to try making a change and learn from your failure, then not to try. Don't worry about making a mistake. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, you will have many opportunities to make mistakes. Then one day your children will look up at you, as you stand on top of that wall without falling down.

Discussing Medication

With the recent approval by the FDA for physicians to prescribe the antipsychotic drug, risperdal, to adolescents, I once again question the widespread use of medications to treat mental health problems.

Now that this medication is approved, other pharmaceutical companies are competing for their formulations to pass through the process as quickly as possible. Hence more drugs will become available for younger and younger children.

We have already encountered this problem in the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (AD/HD). Children as young as three or four years old are given medication. As one physician reports , "The latest research from the National Institute of Mental Health shows that, at the appropriate dosage, stimulants are safe and effective even for preschoolers." (www.additudemag.com/q&a/ask_the_add_medical_expert/1721.html)

A study by the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities further reports that "approximately 2.5 million children are being medicated for ADHD."
(health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/1585/0).

Given these numbers, isn't it time to rethink the way drugs are prescribed?

Admittedly, my views on this subject have changed over the past two decades. I used to be adamantly opposed to the use of medication (see Listening to Prozac, by Peter Kramer). But I have since witnessed how medication can be an essential adjunct to psychotherapy and, therefore, have at times recommended a psychiatric evaluation to explore its usefulness in particular instances for short periods of time.

But when medication is prescribed to children by a physician as the primary or only course of treatment, the risk is great that the problem is not being properly dealt with.

More in future blogs.