Depolarizing the debates about pediatric mental health diagnosis and treatment
Pediatric mental health care may benefit by getting clear on where there is fundamental agreement and reasonable disagreement
Pediatric mental health care may benefit by getting clear on where there is fundamental agreement and reasonable disagreement
(Garrison, NY) Decisions about whether and how to diagnose children with emotional and behavioral disturbances, and whether and how to treat them, are sometimes not clear-cut. When decisions lie within a "zone of ambiguity," people who emphasize different value commitments can reach different but equally respectable conclusions. We need to tolerate these reasonable disagreements, according to a special report.However, one of the report's disturbing conclusions is that many children with patently problematic moods and behaviors fail to receive the care recommended by experts. Systemic and cultural pressures compromise the diagnostic process and constrain the treatment choices of clinicians and parents, making it increasingly likely that medication is the only treatment children receive, even if the combination of medication and psychosocial treatment is recommended by experts.
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