The increased rates of both diagnosis and pharmacological treatment for ADHD and other psychiatric illnesses in children have led to intense debates about whether those increases are appropriate: whether healthy children are being mislabeled as sick and inappropriately given medications to alter their moods and behaviors. These debates can present dilemmas for families. Diagnosing behavioral and emotional symptoms and illnesses raises different issues than diagnosing broken bones or detecting viral diseases do, in part because the parameters for what is normal and what is not are less clear.

Key Questions

• Why is it so hard to draw the line between normal behavior and psychiatric disorder?
• If I medicate my child, am I taking the easy way out?
• What is the current thinking about the causes of depression in children and adolescents?
• What does it mean when my daughter says she doesn't "fell like herself" when she takes her medication?
• Is taking a drug for ADHD, like Ritalin, to help during tests wrong? Is it cheating if everyone is doing it?

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