“ When the children are bad, how to help them? This is the title, in the form of a question, of the new edifying report of the High Council for the Family, Childhood and Age (HCFEA), on the mental health of children and adolescents (Source 1). He reveals that thousands of children are victims of over-medicalization to help them overcome their mental and psychological difficulties.

“ The HCFEA study of health databases between 2014 and 2021 shows that the consumption of psychotropic drugs in children and adolescents increased by

• +48.54% for antipsychotics ;
• +62.58% for antidepressants ;
• +78.07% for psychostimulants ;
• +27.7% for anticholinergics ;
• +9.48% for dopaminergic ;
• +155.48% for hypnotics And sedatives “.

This is what the HCFEA retains in the summary of its report. The High Council also reports an increase in the prevalence of these same drugs between 2010 and 2021.” For 2021 alone, the increase is +16% for anxiolytics; +224% for hypnotics; +23% for antidepressants, and +7.5% for antipsychotics “, still laments the institution.

Emphasizing that these levels of increase are “ out of proportion » with those observed in the general population, the HCFEA adds that such an increase does not take place abroad, where the effects of palliating or even a reduction in the medication of the youngest are observed.

The HCFEA reports a “ scissor effect between two factors, which are the increase in the demand for aid and the chronic deficit in the supply of care in the field of mental health. This results in an increase in drug practices, even though psychotropic drugs may have significant side effects in children, and that they should only be usedin second intention“ in support of the psychological, educational and social support of the child and his family “.

The High Council for the Family, Childhood and Aging admits to fearing that the psychotherapeutic, educational and social aids recommended are substituted by the use of psychotropic drugs. The HCFEA concludes that there is an urgent need to put in place “ sufficient means » dedicated to non-drug approaches to care for children and adolescents with mental disorders.