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Mom? What's a difficult child?
If any of you get/read BiPolar (BP) magazine this is a letter in response to the October feature "Parent's and the Waiting Game"...
"BiPolar (BP) Magazine misquotes CABF regarding overdiagnosis in article 'The Waiting Game'" , Letter to Editor, BiPolar (BP) Magazine, Oct. 3, 2007, by Susan Resko, CABF Executive Director
October 2, 2007
Dear Editor, BiPolar (BP) Magazine:
Our organization must recurrently confront the disturbing trend that depicts pediatric bipolar disorder as a diagnostic fad, merely a catch-all category to describe difficult children whose parents look for quick fixes for behavioral problems. But we are truly surprised and disheartened to see a misattribution in the Fall BiPolar (BP) Magazine that would indicate that our Executive Director, Susan Resko, shares these views.
It was inaccurate and disturbing for the article to report that Ms. Resko questions whether pediatric bipolar disorder is currently over-diagnosed and that she has concerns that pediatric bipolar disorder may be over-diagnosed. There was nothing in what Susan stated that could have been interpreted this way.
The Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, which advocates for families whose children have, or are at risk for, bipolar disorder and related conditions, hears daily from distraught parents recoiling from the media backlash while struggling to cope with their children's illness. It is certainly not our experience in eight years of existence that the acceptance of pediatric bipolar disorder in the medical community and the public has transitioned as radically as is suggested, from disbelief and skepticism that the disorder could even exist in youngsters to the claimed current situation where the diagnosis is given and received at the drop of a hat.
It is our hope that with promising advances in neuroimaging, genomics, and other areas of brain research, the medical community will soon develop more precise diagnostic tools and treatments, enabling our children to thrive and mature with stability and hope.
Sincerely,
Susan Resko
Sheila McDonald, J.D.
Executive Director
President
"BiPolar (BP) Magazine misquotes CABF regarding overdiagnosis in article 'The Waiting Game'" , Letter to Editor, BiPolar (BP) Magazine, Oct. 3, 2007, by Susan Resko, CABF Executive Director
October 2, 2007
Dear Editor, BiPolar (BP) Magazine:
Our organization must recurrently confront the disturbing trend that depicts pediatric bipolar disorder as a diagnostic fad, merely a catch-all category to describe difficult children whose parents look for quick fixes for behavioral problems. But we are truly surprised and disheartened to see a misattribution in the Fall BiPolar (BP) Magazine that would indicate that our Executive Director, Susan Resko, shares these views.
It was inaccurate and disturbing for the article to report that Ms. Resko questions whether pediatric bipolar disorder is currently over-diagnosed and that she has concerns that pediatric bipolar disorder may be over-diagnosed. There was nothing in what Susan stated that could have been interpreted this way.
The Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, which advocates for families whose children have, or are at risk for, bipolar disorder and related conditions, hears daily from distraught parents recoiling from the media backlash while struggling to cope with their children's illness. It is certainly not our experience in eight years of existence that the acceptance of pediatric bipolar disorder in the medical community and the public has transitioned as radically as is suggested, from disbelief and skepticism that the disorder could even exist in youngsters to the claimed current situation where the diagnosis is given and received at the drop of a hat.
It is our hope that with promising advances in neuroimaging, genomics, and other areas of brain research, the medical community will soon develop more precise diagnostic tools and treatments, enabling our children to thrive and mature with stability and hope.
Sincerely,
Susan Resko
Sheila McDonald, J.D.
Executive Director
President
