--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That is where we stand as a nation today…" description: "\"“That is where we stand as a nation today. Twenty years ago, our society began regularly prescribing psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents, and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-whitaker-27072_children_that-is-where-we-stand-as-a-nation-today_1707205.jpg" --- # That is where we stand as a nation today. Twenty years… ![“That is where we stand as a nation today. Twenty years ago, our society began regularly prescribing psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents, and now one out of every fifteen Americans enters adulthood with a "serious mental illness." That is proof of the most tragic sort that our drug-based…” quote by Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-whitaker-27072_children_that-is-where-we-stand-as-a-nation-today_1707205.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-whitaker-27072_children_that-is-where-we-stand-as-a-nation-today_1707205.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/15e/robert-whitaker-27072_children_that-is-where-we-stand-as-a-nation-today_1707205.jpg) > ““That is where we stand as a nation today. Twenty years ago, our society began regularly prescribing psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents, and now one out of every fifteen Americans enters adulthood with a "serious mental illness." That is proof of the most tragic sort that our drug-based paradigm of care is doing a great deal more harm than good. The medicating of children and youth became commonplace only a short time ago, and already it has put millions onto a path of lifelong illness.”” [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that widespread psychiatric drug use in youth has contributed to a rise in serious mental illness, suggesting the current medical model may cause more harm than benefit. **In simple terms:** Kids on meds may face lifelong illness. Key Takeaway Rethink pediatric psychiatric treatment. Themes mental health pharmaceuticals societal impact Mood concerned critical Type social policy When to use this quote - school counseling - family decisions - healthcare reform Key Concepts public health policy ethics Questions to Reflect On - What non‑pharmacological interventions could be expanded? - How can we better assess long‑term drug effects? A Different Perspective Evidence is mixed; alternative therapies also have limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-illness/) ## Related quotes > [There is nothing worse that you can do to a human being in America today than give them a mental illness kind of label…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-breggin/there-is-nothing-worse-that-you-can-do-to-a-human-being-in-america/) [Peter Breggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-breggin/) > [Advocates of psychiatric drugs often claim that the medications improve learning and the ability to benefit from psychotherapy, but the contrary is true. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-breggin/advocates-of-psychiatric-drugs-often-claim-that-the-medications/) [Peter Breggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-breggin/) > [People go for help, but their lives don't get better because of those psychiatric drugs. They get worse. They feel numb and they're told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-cruise/people-go-for-help-but-their-lives-don-t-get-better-because-of-those/) [Tom Cruise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-cruise/) > [The dumping of the mentally ill, full of these new psychiatric drugs, into the streets is a scandal. It's been carried furthest in New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-rexroth/the-dumping-of-the-mentally-ill-full-of-these-new-psychiatric-drugs/) [Kenneth Rexroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-rexroth/) > [ \[Psychiatric\] drugs have so many side effects because using them to treat a complex psychiatric disorder is a bit like trying to change your… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suman-rai/psychiatric-drugs-have-so-many-side-effects-because-using-them-to/) [Suman Rai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suman-rai/) > [“If you expand the boundaries of mental illness, which is clealry what has happened in this country during the past twenty-five years, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/if-you-expand-the-boundaries-of-mental-illness-which-is-clealry-what/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“It goes without saying that all mental illnesses are neurologically instantiated, but this says nothing about their causation. If it is true, for instance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-fisher/it-goes-without-saying-that-all-mental-illnesses-are-neurologically/) [Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-fisher/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mauro-ranallo/there-are-people-with-much-bigger-profiles-than-mine-who-are-talking/) [Mauro Ranallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mauro-ranallo/) > [Having an eating disorder doesn't show ‘strength.’ Strength is when are able to overcome your demons after being sick and tired for so long.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/having-an-eating-disorder-doesn-t-show-strength-strength-is-when-are/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [“Today, our view of genuine reality is increasingly clouded by professionals whose technical expertise often introduces a superficial and soulless model of the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/today-our-view-of-genuine-reality-is-increasingly-clouded-by/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/this-tendency-to-avoid-problems-and-the-emotional-suffering-inherent/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [“I swear that I will never cause trouble for anybody, as long as I live!! So please! Nobody cause any trouble for me, either!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minoru-furuya/i-swear-that-i-will-never-cause-trouble-for-anybody-as-long-as-i-live/) Minoru Furuya ## More by Robert Whitaker > [“The history of psychiatry and its treatments can be a contentious issue in our society, so much so that when you write about it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/the-history-of-psychiatry-and-its-treatments-can-be-a-contentious/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“The off-drug patients also suffered less from depression, blunted emotions, and retarded movements. Indeed, they told Carpenter and McGlashan that they had found it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/the-off-drug-patients-also-suffered-less-from-depression-blunted/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“I have always been told that a person has to accept that the illness is chronic," she says, at the end of our interview.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/i-have-always-been-told-that-a-person-has-to-accept-that-the-illness/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“Rather than fix chemical imbalances in the brain, the drugs creat them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/rather-than-fix-chemical-imbalances-in-the-brain-the-drugs-creat-them/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“When it comes to dead bodies in current psychotropic trials, there are a greater number of them in the active treatment groups than in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/when-it-comes-to-dead-bodies-in-current-psychotropic-trials-there-are/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“If you expand the boundaries of mental illness, which is clealry what has happened in this country during the past twenty-five years, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/if-you-expand-the-boundaries-of-mental-illness-which-is-clealry-what/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“...and she no longer is having her emotional responses to...stress numbed by medication. 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One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/the-cocktail-she-took-usually-included-a-mood-stabilizer-an/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“In the United States, people with depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia are losing twelve to twenty years in life expectancy compared to people not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/in-the-united-states-people-with-depression-bipolar-and-schizophrenia/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“Prior to being medicated, a depressed person has no known chemical imbalance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/prior-to-being-medicated-a-depressed-person-has-no-known-chemical/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“The prescribing of stimulants to ADHD youth began to take off in the 1980s, and today, thirty years later, studies have failed to show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/the-prescribing-of-stimulants-to-adhd-youth-began-to-take-off-in-the/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“...all I could think about was how both sets of parents had needed to make their decision, on whether to medicate their child, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/all-i-could-think-about-was-how-both-sets-of-parents-had-needed-to/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“When it comes to dead bodies in current psychotropic trials, there are a greater number of them in the active treatment groups than in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/when-it-comes-to-dead-bodies-in-current-psychotropic-trials-there-are-2/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“Psychosis does not live in the head. It lives in the in-between of family members, and in the in-between of people," Salo explained. "It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/psychosis-does-not-live-in-the-head-it-lives-in-the-in-between-of/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) > [“Klonopin ruined my lie. It takes away your drive, and in the morning, you don't want to get out of bed, because you feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whitaker/klonopin-ruined-my-lie-it-takes-away-your-drive-and-in-the-morning/) [Robert Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) [Explore all 21 Robert Whitaker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whitaker/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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