Louis Theroux explores psychiatric medication for children on BBC Knowledge's Louis Theroux: America's Medicated Kids documentary tonight.
"A number of US children are being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. Some are labelled Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and some are being told they are bipolar, which is a condition characterised by dramatic mood swings. For many, these diagnoses mean daily treatment with psychoactive drugs," says Theroux.
Faced with their kids' challenging behaviour, more and more American parents are giving them psychoactive medication to help them cope, even though the drugs remain controversial.
Theroux visits one of the leading children's psychiatric treatment centres in the US, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to get to know the diagnosed children and try to understand what drives parents to put their children on drugs.
He meets Hugh, a 10-year-old who has been diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder.
He moves in with the boy's family and explores his controversial diagnosis. While learning about the family, he discovers that "even the dog is on meds", he says.
He also meets Jack, six, who has been excluded from school for his explosive behaviour and who now takes antidepressants for his anxiety.
When Kaylee, 15, diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder, takes a day off her medication, Theroux gets a glimpse of what life is like without the drugs.
Theroux attempts to find the line between ordinary bad behaviour and pathology .
- 'Louis Theroux - America's Medicated Kids' airs at 9.30pm on BBC Knowledge (channel 251)
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