According to several studies and reports, psychiatric drug prescriptions are increasing among military kids as families struggle with multiple deployments. In the Military Times, Karen Jowers offers a disturbing report in which she notes that in 2009, more than 300,000 prescriptions for psychiatric drugs were provided to children under 18 who have a parent in the military. That's up 18 percent since 2005, according to data provided to the Military Times.
And some drug categories have reportedly shown even higher rates of increase: antipsychotic drugs are up about 50 percent and anti-anxiety drugs are up about 40 percent. That mirrors a similar trend in the active-duty force, which has seen a 76 percent increase in prescriptions for psychiatric medications since the start of the war in Afghanistan.
Jowers tells the story of Daniel Radenz, who was a well-adjusted fifth-grader earning straight A's and B's in school near Fort Hood, Texas before his father deployed to Iraq. But Jowers reports that shortly after Army Lt. Col. Blaine Radenz left home in June 2008, Daniel, then 11, became withdrawn and anxious. A psychiatrist at Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center prescribed the antidepressant Celexa, but his problems grew worse. On June 9, 2009, Daniel reportedly hanged himself from a bunk bed in his home.
Daniel's mother, Tricia Radenz, an emergency room nurse, told the Military Times:
