DSM5 - DAVE TRAXSON SAYS - CHILD PSYCHOLOGISTS IN THE U.S. AND THE U.K. SHOULD CHALLENGE THE ETHICS OF DSM5 AND ACT AS CHANGE AGENTS TO SLOW DOWN THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SCANDALOUSLY UNSCIENTIFIC DSM5 IN 2013 - WATCH THIS POWER POINT PRESENTATION GIVEN TO THE BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY DECP CONFERENCE IN 2011 AND LISTEN TO BBC's RADIO 4 WOMANS' HOUR DEBATE ON DSM5 AND OVER-PRESCRIPTION WITH DR TIM KENDALL REPRESENTING THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS WHO AGREES DSM5 MAY WELL GO TOO FAR WITH BROADENING MENTAL ILLNESS DIAGNOSES FOR ALL THE POPULATION BUT ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE CHILDREN

WE MUST ACT NOW ON THIS MAJOR SAFEGUARDING AND ETHICAL ISSUE FOR CHILDREN IN OUR SOCIETIES WHERE DRUGGING VULNERABLE YOUNGSTERS IS USED AS A FIRST COURSE OF ACTION NOT 'LAST RESORT' AS RECOMMENDED BY N.I.C.E.

Child Psychologists as Change Agents on Stimulant Over-prescription for School Aged Kids as a "systemic form of social control."

http://youtu.be/lf9saaY-Wz0 

BEFORE READING THIS STATEMENT WATCH THE SLIDE SHOW, BY CLICKING ON THE LINK ABOVE, OF MY TALK AT THE BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY DIVISION OF EDUCATIONAL AND CHILD PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE IN 2011 HIGHLIGHTING THIS KEY ISSUE.THERE IS A COMMENTARY FROM THE RADIO 4 'WOMANS HOUR' PROGRAMME I TOOK PART IN WITH DR TIM KENDALL OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS.

Following my Keynote address at the AEP Annual Course in November 2010 and my seminars at the BPS DECP Conference in January there has been a lot of media interest in my call for a national review of psychotropic drugs used to control behaviours which are sometimes within the normal range. Also I have highlighted the concern about the imminent arrival of DSM5 from the U.S. with its more inclusive spectral definitions of mental health such as, “sub-clinical, normal variation ASC, ADHD, social anxiety(shyness), and depression(sadness). Dr Tim Kendall (representing The Royal College of Psychiatrists and NICE) agreed with my level of concern on a Radio 4 ‘Woman’s Hour’ programme on the 11^th February, stating that the revised DSM5 should not be adopted  by psychiatrists, paediatricians and psychologists alike in the U.K.

Peter Kinderman chair of the Clinical Division of the BPS in this press release, which was published in the last issue of ‘The Psychologist’, stated “Clearly, it is important to understand children’s behavioural and psychological problems fully, and to invest in proper, expert, therapeutic approaches. We would be very concerned if children were being prescribed medication as a quick fix rather than accessing the full assessments and psychological therapies which take may longer and cost more, but ultimately are likely to be better value in the long run.”

  

I am naturally delighted with this statement’s full endorsement of my concerns about the safeguarding issues involved in using powerful psychotropic drugs with so many of our school children. We must act quickly prior to the release of DSM5 produced by the American Psychiatric Association. A lot of U.K. practitioners will be encouraged to use this schedule unless there is resistance from the professional bodies such as the BPS and The Royal College of Psychiatry in this country.

The time is right to expand the debate amongst educational and child practitioners of all disciplines before it is too late and we end up with the shocking  American  pattern of drugging 12% of their whole school population for attention difficulties alone and then high percentages for other conditions. Indeed the drug companies would ideally like to medicate 20%+ of all children who they claim have one mental health diagnosis or another. The eminent psychologist Dorothy Rowe concludes in the forward on the new edition of ‘Making us Crazy – DSM – the psychiatric bible and the creation of mental disorders,’ by Herb Kutchins et al. that it is reasonable to conclude that this practice is a systemic form of social control.

 I urge psychologists, medical practitioners and teacher colleagues to contemplate their own response to this crucial societal issue. It needs to be URGENTLY  considered due to the imminent arrival of the unscientific DSM5 in mid 2013. 

A YEAR TO GO TO THIS DANGEROUS DEVELOPMENT FOR CHILDREN IN THE U.K.

Dave Traxson, Chartered Educational Psychologist, West Midlands, U.K.