A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids - by Alexander Kolevzon & Pilar Trelles & Robert Jaffe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A straightforward and helpful guidebook, cowritten by three top medical doctors, to answer the questions parents and caregivers have about medications and mental health

Whether you are considering medications for ADHD, anxiety, depression, or autism, this guide empowers you to ask your provider all the tough questions to ensure you are comfortable and confident in your journey of exploring psychiatric medications for your child.

For parents and caregivers, considering psychiatric medications for your child can be scary and overwhelming as you weigh the risks and benefits. A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids boils down the process of evaluating children and deciding whether to use medication, and then explores different classes of medications in detail, from the side effects to ongoing monitoring.

Three child psychiatrists from New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Alexander Kolevzon, MD; Robert Jaffe, MD; and Pilar Trelles, MD, combine their years of research and experience to deliver this straightforward, accessible Q&A guidebook for parents and caregivers.

Review Quotes

"As the parent of a profoundly autistic son with a history of very aggressive and self-injurious behavior, I know firsthand the challenges of finding the right psychiatric care. A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids is the guide I wish I had--offering practical, compassionate, and evidence-based advice to help families navigate tough decisions with confidence and hope."--Amy S. F. Lutz, PhD, Vice President, National Council on Severe Autism

"Bravo! I love the question-and-answer format because it sounds like a conversation in my office. As a parent and a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I have tried to navigate the careful terrain of supporting parents and children in decisions about whether to treat psychiatric conditions with medication--Drs. Kolevzon, Jaffe, and Trelles have done a marvelous job in achieving this goal. A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids will be an important resource."--Victor Fornari, MD, Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

"Finally!! This is the book I wish I had when we first considered medication for my daughter with autism. Parents shouldn't need a medical degree to understand their child's medical options. And now they don't!"--Alison Singer, President, Autism Science Foundation

"Parents, adolescents, curious children, pediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and trainees from many medical disciplines: when you open A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids, you will probably feel relief and excitement that this book exists. You will also realize how essential it is to be a highly informed parent or an ideal prescriber. This guide is an engaging resource filled with clear answers to questions that parents often wish their providers addressed systematically, even when time is limited. It also specifically addresses medication, which is a crucial aspect of child and adolescent psychiatry treatment that is often the most distressing and the least understood by families. It is a beautifully practical approach to the very real possibility of fear and stigma overshadowing reality when it comes to this topic. This accomplishment is particularly significant given the urgent need for solutions to common challenges in delivering care as we navigate the current epidemic of child mental health needs."--Anne L. Glowinski, MD, MPE, Robert Porter Distinguished Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco

"Taking a no-nonsense approach, A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids answers parents' most common and anxiety-provoking questions about treating their children with psychiatric medications in an evidence-based, gentle, and often humorous manner. Reading this book feels a lot like sitting around the dinner table with these kindhearted and compassionate authors, whose fine book I will certainly recommend to families."--Jess P. Shatkin, MD, MPH, Vice Chair for Education & Professor, Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

"This highly portable paperback edition of A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids: Start Low and Go Slow is thoroughly 'parent friendly' in organization and presentation. Especially and unreservedly recommended as essential reading for a parent who has psychiatric medication of any kind prescribed for their children, A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids: Start Low and Go Slow is a critically important addition to family, community, and college/university library Child Mental Health Diagnosis Treatment collections for children with a diagnosis of autism, ADHD, or other emotional/mental conditions requiring treatment."--Midwest Book Review

"When looking for trustworthy information on psychiatric medications for their children, parents often have to wade through stigmatized views, advice from well-wishers, and direct-to-consumer advertising. Bucking this trend, A Parent's Guide to Starting Psychiatric Medications for Kids provides a new resource that is as approachable as it is comprehensive, as compassionate as it is evidence-based--in short, a book full of light, in a space so often consumed by heat."--Andrés Martin, MD, PhD, Riva Ariella Ritvo Professor, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine

Psychiatrists Kolevzon (Psychiatry History Taking), Jaffe, and Trelles employ a qa format to explore the considerations of starting children on psychiatric drugs in this useful manual. Bullish on drugs' utility, the authors contend that "the long-term benefits of successfully treating emotional and behavioral health disorders profoundly outweigh the risks" and instill confidence in medications' safety by detailing the FDA approval process for new drugs. The guidance focuses on treatments for ADHD, mood disorders, and psychosis, covering how various drugs work, factors to consider before starting them, and their side effects. For instance, Kolevzon, Jaffe, and Trelles explain that stimulants prescribed for ADHD regulate dopamine levels in the brain by blocking reuptake of the neurotransmitter, that children with heart problems should undergo testing before starting stimulants because of the drugs' tendency to increase heart rate and blood pressure, and that some patients may become more withdrawn or anxious while taking stimulants. The succinct, jargon-free wisdom will help parents decide what's right for their kid, though Kolevzon's disclosure of extensive ties with some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry raises questions about his neutrality. Still, this informative resource is worth a look.--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Alex Kolevzon, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than 20 years of clinical and research experience. He is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York where he serves as the Clinical Director of the Seaver Autism for Research and Treatment. His research is focused on developing new treatments for people with neurodevelopmental disorders, which include behavioral interventions, medications, and gene therapy. He is also the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for the Mount Sinai Health System. In this role, Alex is dedicated to ensuring children, adolescents, and families across New York City receive the best possible care from experts at Mount Sinai, advancing science across childhood psychiatric disorders, and training the next generation of clinicians specializing in children's mental health. Alex is also passionate about education; he is a frequently invited speaker nationally and internationally and has won numerous awards as an active teacher, mentor, and clinical supervisor.Robbie Jaffe, MD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he is the Training Director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Robbie teaches the psychiatrists of tomorrow as the Program Director for Mount Sinai's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship. Robbie runs a teaching clinic working with a team of fellows, psychologists, and social workers to help kids and teens with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and tics and Tourette's disorder. He is also the Director of the Tourette Association of America's Center of Excellence at Mount Sinai, where he researches novel treatments for Tourette's disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He has written chapters and given invited lectures on tic disorders and how they interact with anxiety, OCD, and ADHD. Pilar Trelles, MD, is a native Peruvian but spent 20 years in the New York City area where she completed her postgraduate training in general psychiatry at New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, and child and adolescent psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After child psychiatry training, she pursued an additional specialized fellowship in neurodevelopmental disorders, also at Mount Sinai, where she focused on using genetics to advance therapeutics in the field. She is currently faculty at Harvard Medical School and works at Boston Children Hospital, where she leads psychiatric care for children with autism spectrum disorder and efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in psychiatric clinical trials more broadly. Pilar is passionate about working with caregivers and other stakeholders to bridge advances in the field of child psychiatry to community care and has participated in multiple research projects and educational initiatives with this goal in mind.