The Hit and Miss of Magic Bullets: A Guide to Psychotropic Medication for Young People with Intellectual Handicap

Psychotropic medication has a discrete but valuable role in the treatment of psychiatric problems of young people with intellectual handicap. This review argues in favour of the responsible use of psychotropic medication in the management of these problems and describes some of the complexities of p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical child psychology and psychiatry 1997-01, Vol.2 (1), p.65-93
Main Author: Dossetor, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative approaches
Biopsychosocial aspects
Clinical assessment
Learning disabled children
Medical diagnosis
Mental disorders
Pharmacology
Prescribing
Psychiatric disorders
Psychotropic drugs
Treatment
Uncertainty
Youth
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Summary:Psychotropic medication has a discrete but valuable role in the treatment of psychiatric problems of young people with intellectual handicap. This review argues in favour of the responsible use of psychotropic medication in the management of these problems and describes some of the complexities of psychiatric assessment in this population. Two clinical cases are presented. The first illustrates how helpful psychotropic medication can be. The second illustrates some of the difficulties in diagnosis. This review considers the complexity of biopsychosocial assessment, the limitations of diagnoses and some guidelines for treatment and prescribing. A brief overview of drug groups is provided. The result is a guide to a contentious subject which addresses issues of uncertainty in assessment, diagnosis, causal mechanisms, pharmacology, consent and evaluation in the context of alternative approaches.
ISSN:1359-1045
1461-7021
DOI:10.1177/1359104597021006