The following was written with Peninsula Village in Blount County TN in mind, however the fundamentals of this post apply to ALL troubled teen programs.
I think there should be a thread for people (parent's and alumni) to speak regarding the dosage and frequency of medications. I recall some VERY shady medication issues when I was a patient. Obscenely high dose, changing meds every week or so, etc. My issue is that rapid change of psychiatric medications, esp in adolescents, can cause real damage....in addition to being non-effective in treating the symptoms that are causing the primary behavioral health concern. In order to accurately report, anyone that has obtained their treatment records from PV can simply look at the medication logs. Recounting of what was seen from parent and client perspective would be useful as well.
I recall hearing someone state that PV had them on 120 mg of Abilify per day, and I seem to recall hearing about 800+ mg of Seroquel. This correlates to the time period in which parents have reported rapid or extreme weight gain in their kids. Both of these meds are known to have significant side effects if over prescribed. Hell, the biggest red flag of anti-psychotic over prescription is weight gain.
As a point of reference for the previously mentioned medications. 800+ mg of seroquel is approved for the treatment of highly psychotic schizophrenic or (in rare cases schizo affective) ADULT patient. I don't think 120 mg Abilify is approved in any population. Adolescents do not metabolize the same way that adults do, and thus have far different needs in regards to therapeutic medication doses.
Anyway, you get the point. Thanks in advance.
P.S. If you are the parent of a child that is being prescribed psych meds, PLEASE do some research on the history and side effects of the med in question. Being an informed parent is the first step in being a responsible parent. Don't take it on faith that "the doctor knows best". It is also a good idea to know what psychiatric terms such as "schizoid, psychotic, disorder, therapeutic, etc" really mean. Many times these terms are used improperly, or for effect. The end result of this is that misinformed parents are frightened or bullied such that they give in to the demands or recommendations of less than ethical "professional" staff. If you want what is best for your child, you need to understand the most basic aspects of adolescent psychiatry.
