Dr. David Palmiter's Blog for Hectic Parents

According to a story this week in the North Platte Telegraph, a mother in Nebraska was arrested for intent to deliver a controlled substance after she gave Xanax to her 15 year-old daughter (the story indicates that daughter later gave it to a friend). I know no more about this story than what is contained in the above link. But I find myself wondering how much each of the following factors contributed to this unfortunate arrest:

√ The pharmaceutical industry markets directly to the public. The marketing budget of this industry far exceeds the public education budget of any mental health association that tries to teach the public about how psychological pain can be understood and relieved.

√ Studies vary but between one in ten and one in four youth suffer from an anxiety disorder (e.g., this graph, from the National Institute of Mental Health, demonstrates the high rates in teenagers).

√ Between 2/3rds and 90% of these kids receive no care. And, even when they do receive care they’ve often been suffering for years first and/or the care is truncated (my blog post discussing some of these issues regarding teens can be found here).

√ Many people, including primary care physicians and teachers, do not know what cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is or that it is the number one researched talking therapy for relieving anxiety in children and teenagers.

This author knows of not one authoritative association or legitimately published researcher who recommends that anxiety disorders be treated by medication alone, in any human, at least when the afflicted person is able and willing to take part in talking therapy. Moreover, many kids successfully treated with CBT do not need medication to help manage their anxiety-based symptoms.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a time-limited intervention, involves learning a collection of strategies for manipulating emotions and thoughts. Some of these strategies involve recognizing and adjusting thoughts (i.e., the “cognitive” part of the term), while others involve adjusting behaviors (the “behavioral” part of the term). In the case of anxiety treatments there are often two phases. In the first phase the child or teen learns the cognitive and behavioral strategies for defeating anxiety. (In my practice I’ll teach anywhere between five and ten strategies depending on the youth’s problems and situation.) In the second phase the youth then deliberately puts herself or himself into those developmentally appropriate situations that tend to evoke anxiety (e.g., getting on a school bus instead of being transported to school) and uses the techniques to conquer the anxiety. The work is finished once the youth is able to defeat all such fears. Often at termination both the youth and her or his parent(s) cannot believe how far she or he has improved in a relatively short period of time.

These treatments can be delivered to a child by himself or herself (with intermittent parent sessions so that the parent(s) are in a position to coach the strategies once the treatment is over), in groups of youth or together with family members. To identify a mental health professional who might be available to deliver this treatment in your area, click here. Below I have also listed links to three related blog entries.

• Affording Mental Health Care

• Signs that a Kid Needs Mental Health Services

• Seven Common Myths About Counseling