About UsHope Renews was founded by parents of teens with severe emotional distress in residential treatment programs. Having had children in these programs we learned firsthand two things. First, that this kind of intensive intervention can be life saving. And second, we learned that it comes with a substantial price tag. It has been our belief that this kind of care should not be the exclusive province of the wealthy. So we created a foundation to specifically address financial issues – through loans and grants directly to families, through the dissemination of information of resources that might be available to help pay for treatment, and through a forum of supportive voices to connect families facing this challenge. Hope Renews has survived the critical first five years in operation. While our grant and loan program is focused on just one program, Vista Adolescent Treatment Center, the information in this website should be of use to the much broader universe of families struggling to pay for a child in treatment. More... How Much Is Treatment?There is no other way to say it: residential treatment is expensive. Parents have to navigate a maze of funding options that are confusing and frustrating. We have been through it. We hope we can make your job easier by sharing our experiences. More... How Do I Pay for It?Paying for treatment is a challenge to low- and middle-income families. But it is not impossible. It takes a parent that is educated, dedicated, and thinks outside the box. It will require planning, locating resources, talking to programs, juggling tasks, all while you are trying to take care of your family. But if you approach this fight, armed with knowledge and support, you are more likely to get your child the help he needs. More... |
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Warner's new book says the problem is all in our heads3/4/2010We all know the truth. Doctors prescribe too many drugs for our children. Big Pharma is pushing antidepressants on our kids. Our schools are fulled of overmedicated zombies. Maybe not. In her new book, "We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication," Judith Warner makes the argument that our kids don't get medicated often enough. And it's making waves. Warner intended to write a book on the perils of overmedication. But the more she ivesticated the subject, the more she became convinced that the problem was not overdiagnosis -- it was underdiagnosis and undertreatment. She writes in the Huffington Post: I learned ... as I started digging for numbers, that the statistics on mental disorder prevalence and the use of psychotropic meds didn't bear out the overmedication story: Five to 20 percent of kids in our country are believed to have mental health disorders, I discovered (the five percent being those with "extreme functional impairment," according to U.S. government statistics, the 20 percent being those with "at least minimum impairment.) Five percent of kids take psychotropic medication. Judith Warner has written a brilliant and compelling book, a must-read for any parent who has a child who is miserable and struggling. It is also a must-read for anyone who thinks he knows that childhood mental illness is over-diagnosed and over-treated. Parents who have dealt with mental illness in a child will find solace here, because someone has finally acknowledged that their child's "issues" are not the normal problems of childhood, that they struggled for years against putting their child on medication, and that their most fervent wishes are not that their child will get A's in order to get into a competitive college, but merely that he or she will be able to live outside an institution without hurting anyone.
Even the scientists who advocate some use of drugs acknowledge that they are overprescribed and badly managed. Brains are complex enough, children's developing brains are even more complex, and determining the long-term effects of drugs that alter those brains is especially difficult. Children are different from adults, often in radical ways, and many childhood problems resolve just as part of development. What do you think? Has your child had good experiences with medication, or bad? |
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Newsletter 2010The Hope Renews Newsletter for 2010 (that is, a real, hold in your hands, line your bird cage, burn after reading, made from paper document) is in the final production phases. The topic is ADVICE:
You won't want to miss it, so please send us your mailing address and we will make sure you to get a copy -- in the mail. The Editors |
Comments
SAMHSA reference
Hey, Lon. Thanks for the comment.
The figures comes from the federal government. I found them on the SAMHSA website.
http://tinyurl.com/yjjczu4
Comments
The key is understanding what a mental health disorder is.
Interesting argument by Warner, but I would want to take a close look at the statstics that say up to 20% of children have a mental health disorder. The whole system of diagnosis, based on the DSMR-IV, has been subject to debate for years. If the 5% and 20% figures are accurate and refleact reality, then her argument of undermedicated makes sense. Especially if those diagnoses are accurate.
However,several psychiatrists have told me over the years that the most common diagnosis is "mis-diagnosis." Also, many have insisted that we tend to turn behaviors that come from normal negative attitudes into some formal diagnosis. If this is happening, then that pads the percentages.
I could accept her conclusion in the context that some kids needing medication do not receive it, and other kids are being medicated needlessly.
Lon Woodbury
www.parent-empowerment-blog.com
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