Overview

This book deftly navigates the thorny subject of whether and when to give prescription psychiatric medication to children and adolescents. A perfect overview for parents looking for an accessible guide, this book takes readers through the basics of diagnosis and treatment in children and adolescents. Your Child in the Balance is chock full of a wide variety of clinical scenarios, each demonstrating the challenges faced by parents and professionals who are considering the use of medication. The book teaches the reader how to analyze the risks and benefits that characterize all medicines and that underlie the decision to medicate. The principles discussed in Your Child in the Balance will resonate with parents and professionals whether they are considering Ritalin and Adderall or Prozac and Zoloft. The use of antipsychotics, like Abilify and Risperdal, and even holistic sleep medicines, like melatonin, are put into an even-handed perspective, as is the question of whether psychiatric medicines are over or under prescribed to children. Your Child in the Balance culminates with an extended story of parents who struggle with whether to medicate their daughter, Rosie. Every parent will identify with the emotions experienced by Rosie’s parents as they wrestle with this important decision. The book concludes with a guide to help all parents navigate this vexing, but crucial, choice.

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9780393706604

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Reviews

Kalikow 's book provides the helping hand that most parents need . . . Your Child in the Balance is a thoughtful overview . . . The warmth and readability of this book makes Dr. Kalikow 's wisdom easy to absorb. --Judith Rapoport, MD, author of The Boy Who Couldn t Stop Washing and Chief, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health

...The best resource I've run across on the use of psychiatric medications in the children and adolescents...sophisticated enough for clinicians but was written for parents; encourage parents to read it...

Dr. Kalikow has written a 'must read' book for parents, teachers, and the therapists who work with children. Unlike the usual 'cookbook' or 'one size fits all' approach, he assumes that thoughtful, intelligent parents can use the numerous illustrative vignettes he provides to decide for themselves when psychiatric medication is the treatment of choice...I plan to use [Your Child in the Balance] in teaching psychiatric residents and medical students and shall offer a copy to every parent who wonders whether his child is a candidate for medicine. --Clarice J. Kestenbaum, MD, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeaons, Past President of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Author Information

Kevin T. Kalikow, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who has been in private practice for 25 years. After attending Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Dr. Kalikow trained in General Psychiatry at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division and in Child Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is currently Clinical Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry at New York Medical College. He also lectures on child psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Kalikow has been interviewed and quoted in numerous publications, such as The New York Times and Ladies Home Journal . He has been interviewed on radio and television, including National Public Radio’s The Diane Rehm Show.

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