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Many parents ask, Why isn't talking therapy enough? "Because it just isn't," says Harvard's Wilens flatly. While psychotherapy can be an invaluable adjunct to medication, doctors like Wilens and Koplewicz believe that these illnesses are brain disorders that must be treated pharmaceutically, like epilepsy. Therapy alone is usually most helpful for mild to moderate depression. While some mental problems may improve with age--autism and ADHD, for example--others persist. "Nobody wants to put his or her child on medication," says Wilens. "But it's like anything else. You don't want to put your kid on an antibiotic for an ear infection, but you know that's probably the appropriate treatment for that condition."
While there are a number of different medications, some tend to be prescribed for particular disorders. Ritalin and other stimulants are given for ADHD; Prozac and other antidepressants are given for depression, anxiety disorder and OCD; and Lithium is given for bipolar disorder (manic-depression). As long as your child takes properly prescribed medication, the treatment should be safe. Be vigilant in watching for any side effects, and report them to the doctor. A new book, The Bipolar Child: The Definitive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder (Broadway), reports that some bipolar children are mistakenly given stimulants and antidepressants, worsening their condition.
Experts caution that not treating a disorder can be the greatest risk of all. One Midwestern mother recalls that her daughter has had wild tantrums and rages from the time she was a baby. At 10 years of age, the girl tried to commit suicide. Now she is in junior high, taking Lithium. While she is experiencing some dry skin, her mother says, her daughter wouldn't trade the treatment for the world. "She's doing just beautifully," her mother reports. "She takes her meds every day, and she's happy to do it."