Being Poor is not a Mental Health Problem

I want to know one thing:
Are the Medicaid-receiving parents of children on anti-psychotic medication threatened with censure if they refuse to put their children on drugs?

Or do they, perhaps, not know that it is okay to refute a drug-treating mental health worker’s diagnosis?

It’s stunning to read that four times more children of the poor are being treated with medication for possible psychiatric disorders than their middle class counterparts. Being poor is not a mental health problem. The stresses involved with the possible surrounding chaos of a dysfunctional environment (not exactly read: poor) may render a child more prone to depression or acting-out behavior. But there’s no way that this jump in percentages reflects anything but an easy payday or workday for psychiatrists who treat children living in economic disadvantage.

We need a study, now, that provides a statistical model of mental health professionals who over-prescribe to these children.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html