tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post6537001965408658420..comments2024-03-28T09:59:51.779-05:00Comments on Family Dysfunction and Mental Health Blog: The Protection RacketDavid M. Allen M.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06280912088483192599noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-17962219054611568882010-06-26T13:46:22.267-05:002010-06-26T13:46:22.267-05:00"Where’s the middle ground on keeping childre..."Where’s the middle ground on keeping children safe? It seems to have disappeared."<br /><br />It's hard to determine the middle ground when one has to deal with a world of extremes. I went overboard trying to protect my daughter from herself, to no avail. Meanwhile, in the background, were people who reinforced and validated her bad choices. In the end, I just became weary of the continuous power struggle between her and me, so I see your point. However, even therapists can be confused over what might be typical adolescent peccadilloes and what constitutes truly risky behavior. And, with mental health issues lurking, things become even more complicated, which resulted in a series of diagnoses (all drug-centered, of course). Each time, we bought into the idea that this was "the fix". Each time, we were disappointed. Today, my daughter does as well without psychotropic drugs as she did with them. I'm not sure, but I believe she mistrusts psychiatry more than I do. <br />But, back to overprotection: in my case, it was a natural inclination of an alarmed parent. I now see the point that it might have led to escalation on my daughter's part, and definitely led to an angry tug-of-war. But there are many alarmed parents out there who are looking at a world of such extremes that have become rather commomplace: bad behavior, langugage, sexual mores, drug use, these were no-nos in my generation, and if one did engage in these things, one did not flaunt them. Perhaps a touch of generation gap here?Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10445351015081407295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-85498292570603154952010-06-24T02:26:49.216-05:002010-06-24T02:26:49.216-05:00Apropos of parental over-vigilance re drug testing...Apropos of parental over-vigilance re drug testing their children, I'm sure you've seen this one. Finding a live one means thrusting drugs on them, sort of the opposite of parents wanting to test FOR drugs. Mixed signals or what?<br /><br />"On June 1, an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) mental health task force called for pediatricians to perform mental health screenings for children at each doctor visit. The AAP also underscored a need for more child psychiatrists and mental health professionals in communities—to overcome critical shortages. <br /><br />NAMI maintains a Child & Adolescent Action Center that focuses on child and adolescent mental health..<br /><br />The 2010 NAMI Convention full schedule offers many symposia and presentations, including:<br /><br />Friday, July 2 <br /><br />• Financing and Expanding Children’s Mental Health Services (10:45 a.m.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06700295858497275586noreply@blogger.com