the bribe blinds
Posted by Mingobird on May 10, 2007
One thing I have learned in the past two years is that mental health is most definitely not an exact science. I have deep concerns, especially for these kids in therapeutic foster care. Too many are aging out of the system and have been kept reasonably compliant on a potent cocktail of psychotropic medication. When they are 18, or 21 if DHS can convince them to stay in the system, they are cut a check and told to have a nice life. With no family, no support system, no marketable skills, no safety net & in most cases the same problems they’ve had since they entered DHS custody, it shouldn’t be surprising to find, that again, too many ["any" would be too many] end up on the streets.
Ideally, as one psychologist described it, some may need medication to under gird them while they undergo therapy. In reality, with the medication controlling their pain, too many choose not to face their problems, not to take the steps necessary to become whole. They become adepts at denial, deception & avoidance. And this is just looking at the problem from a physical/psychological aspect. In truth, these children are the targets of a much greater evil; a thief who comes to kill, steal & destroy — who, like any predator, naturally prefers the weak, the wounded & the young. Unfortunately too many caretakers are putting their faith in the psychiatrist’s ability to medicate without questioning where this might be leading or what motivation might be behind the particular drugs being chosen.
When God was laying out his blueprint for society, one command was to not accept a bribe because ” a bribe blinds those who see and twist the words of the righteous.” [Exodus 23:8]. I think the definitive word here is “blinds” — it creates a blind spot and those who are accepting the bribe cannot recognize how it twists their judgment.
Another psychiatric blind spot is unrecognized trends in diagnosing. One foster-daughter’s therapist had me attend a seminar with him on Borderline Personality Disorder. A point was made that there are fads in psychiatry and the current one is seeing everything as bi-polar disorder. I’m sure that can vary from doctor to doctor but considering, the powerful medications involved, as a blind-spot it is worrisome. The article below also mentions this increasingly common bi-polar diagnosis.
Disclaimer: Am I anti-medication? Absolutely not! But….and this is a big but….medication isn’t solving the problem, it is simply making the child manageable. It is pruning back the branches, not putting ax to the root of the tree. Without medication, some of these kids would do themselves and/or others serious harm or would be so intractable as to be beyond endurance. But those who are putting their faith in chemicals need to be aware of how little some of these medications are understood, how they are possibly being misused, how pharmaceutical companies may be blinding the eye of the physician and how all of this may be endangering the very children we are trying to save.
From the NYT:
