school-basedprogrammes were emphasized, drawing upon the observationthat common mental disorders often manifest for the firsttime during childhood.

l. In one study, lessthan 40% of the participants who reported having received anymental health treatment for a serious mental illness were ratedas having received minimally adequate treatment 75.

Althoughthe short-term mental health impact of these events on spe-cific population groups or specific outcomes has been stud-ied 47-49, their overall and long-term impact on the prevalenceof mental disorders and psychological distress is not clear.

There was little change in primary care physician contactfor a psychological problem over the period from 1993 to2007 27. However, the receipt of antidepressants increased sig-nificantly, nearly trebling between 1993 and 2000 28

As side eects emerge, they areoften treated by other drugs, and many patients end up on a cocktail ofpsychoactive drugs prescribed for a cocktail of diagnoses. Theepisodes of mania caused by antidepressants may lead to a newdiagnosis of “bipolar disorder”

The symptoms produced bywithdrawing psychoactive drugs are often confused with relapses ofthe original disorder, which can lead psychiatrists to resume drugtreatment, perhaps at higher doses

He sugests that the reason antidepressants appear towork better in relieving severe depression than in less severe cases isthat patients with severe symptoms are likely to be on higher dosesand therefore experience more side eects

Yet because the positive studies wereextensively publicized, while the negative ones were hidden, the publicand the medical profession came to believe that these drugs werehighly eective antidepressants

providing placements designed to bridge the gap between a child coming out of a hospital and going into a home,

There are currently about 40 children in the program, but plans to expand have faltered because of DCFS turnover, trouble recruiting and retaining staff,

Such homes offer support beyond traditional foster homes for families caring for children with intense mental health needs.

those children spent an average of at least 50 days unnecessarily hospitalized at a cost of $6.3 million to taxpayers

our reporting showed leaves them feeling isolated and alone, falling behind in school

but they sit empty because the services the facilities offer don’t match the needs of the children waiting.

DCFS simply does not have the money to pay facilities enough to hire specialized staff to adequately care for children with such serious needs

Less than a month after his arrival, workers noted a sharp drop in the number of times he was physically aggressive, destroyed property or tried to run away.

Around that time, as White felt she could no longer safely care for Martin and her nieces, she gave up custody of Martin to DCFS.

“I was fighting everybody because they wouldn’t let me go home,”

“If we hurry kids into a placement that can’t meet their needs and they have another episode, they’ll have a new diagnosis and a new hospitalization.”

their extended stays are apparently taken as a sign that the children are particularly difficult to treat.

If they receive timely treatment before they have to be hospitalized — though those services are scarce as well — that could lead to fewer cases of children being held beyond medical necessity.

the state had failed to provide home or community services to children with serious mental- and emotional-health disorders who were covered by Medicaid.

Time in residential treatment facilities and foster homes is less expensive — and less detrimental to children — than an unnecessary hospital stay.

While confined to a psychiatric hospital, some children received just an hour or two of educational instruction a day, if that.