Bryna comes into contact with child and youth psychiatry in Västerbotten to receive a neuropsychiatric examination. She receives an ADHD diagnosis, but she also has clear autistic traits and is put on a waiting list for further investigation. Her mother Jennie notices that Bryna is getting worse and worse and that it has become increasingly difficult for her to go to school.
Increase in SSRI preparations for children and young people
One day, Bryna cuts her face eleven times with a piece of glass. Bryna and mother Jennie can now attend an emergency doctor’s appointment at BUP. In the journal it says:
“A lot of anxiety in the patient, especially connected to school and unpredictable situations. Some depressive symptoms in the picture. It is deemed reasonable to introduce SSRI preparations.”
Prescriptions of SSRIs for children and young people are increasing. They are mainly used for severe problems with anxiety or depression. For both conditions, the Swedish Medical Products Agency recommends, among other things always talk with children and parents. But the only therapeutic intervention used for Bryna is medicine.
– It felt like a quick fix that you… put a Band-Aid on something, but you never really check the damage underneath, says Bryna’s mother Jennie.
BUP Västerbotten answers
Håkan Jarbin has developed guidelines for the treatment of children and young people with depression and anxiety and has been an advisor to the Swedish Medical Products Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare regarding their guidelines and recommendations.
– You should never just give medicine. And especially not in this complex situation with this girl who has committed such serious acts of self-harm.
– These are completely inadequate, so that it is clear from the papers how bad her condition is and how high the risk is, says Håkan Jarbin.
Mamma Jennie has reported Bryna’s care to the Inspectorate for Care and Care, IVO, which criticizes the BUP in Region Västerbotten on several points, including for not offering any telephone contact. BUP has also established this themselves and notified themselves according to lex Maria. However, Kerstin Eliasson, head of BUP Västerbotten, says she cannot answer the question why it happened like this.
– I can only state that there have been mistakes that we also really have to learn from so that we do everything we can to avoid it happening again.
This is Ekot’s review of psychiatry after Bryna’s suicide and the criticism of how the medication of children and young people is managed today.
If you feel unwell yourself, you can, for example, contact the suicide hotline on telephone number 90101. As a relative, you can get help at SPES.se
Source: ICELAND NEWS