When Psychiatric Drugs Replace Real Care for Children A recent article in The New York Times told the story of a young woman who had been prescribed ten different psychiatric drugs by the time she graduated from high school. Sadly, she is not an outlier—she is part of a rapidly growing population of American children medicated for emotional and behavioral struggles. In fourth grade, Renae Smith began having difficulty in school and was prescribed Focalin for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). By her freshman year of high school, she reported severe anxiety and depression and was prescribed Prozac. When its effects waned, Effexor was added. Additional medications followed to stabilize mood—and still more to counteract side effects of the existing drugs. By the time she graduated high school, Renae was taking five different psychiatric medications simultaneously and had been prescribed ten psychiatric drugs total—none of which addressed the underlying caus…

Spending time in the natural world can normalize our inner “body clock” also known as our circadian rhythm. Attuned to environmental cues like sunlight, temperature, and seasonal changes, our circadian rhythm regulates many physiological processes, including when to sleep and when to eat. Artificial light and electronic devices like computers and televisions give our bodies false cues that have nothing to do with the natural order of things and disrupt our circadian rhythm, which a growing body of research has linked to many mental and physical health problems. Sleep issues are an obvious casualty, as is false hunger leading to overweight and obesity. Circadian rhythm disruption has also been implicated in high blood pressure and heart disease, cognitive dysfunction, neurological problems like Parkinson’s disease, asthma, autoimmune illness, and mental health issues like depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and bipolar disorder. A recent University of Colorado study w…