I really enjoyed "The Medicated Child" and how it thoroughly explored different experiences and perspectives on medication, rather than making an all-or-nothing argument about it. As some of the parents and doctors discussed, the for-profit healthcare system and pharmaceutical companies make it very difficult for people to trust because they do not always have children's health as their main interest. That being said, scientific research around medication has shown that there are benefits when used appropriately. As one of the doctors stated, if a solution seems too simple, it probably is. I think medication can be extremely effective when accompanied with therapy and when careful thought goes into it from providers. The problem is when pharmaceutical companies influence providers to quickly prescribe medication without doing a thorough assessment of the issue or when they minimize the need for therapy/additional interventions.
I found the Atlantic article about psychopathic children to be very interesting but I wish it would the "way forward" would have been clearer. I heard bits and pieces of hope, like the scientific information that children with these brains respond more to reward than to empathy but I didn't see a lot of that translate into the cases provided. I was eager to read about clear interventions formed from those discoveries but the way Carl and Amanda's cases were described seemed vague in terms of what worked for them and wasn't totally connected to the rewards system in their brains. I read that they both built relationships with others over time but it wasn't clear to me how that happened. I would like to learn more about research and early intervention (as well as adult intervention) with people whose brains show psychopathic potential.