THE USE OF AMPHETAMINE SULFATE (BENZEDRINE) IN CHILD PSYCHIATRY
LAURETTA BENDER M. D.1, and
FRANCES COTTINGTON M. D.1
1 The Psychiatric Division of Bellevue Hospital and the New York University Medical School.
It is our impression from a review of these cases that benzedrine is a useful adjunct to treatment of the neurotic child, in that it gives him a feeling of well-being, and temporarily allows him to feel secure and loved. In this frame of mind he can face his difficulties, express his aggressive impulses without overwhelming fear of consequences, and obtain relief from inner tension and anxiety. The art productions and other means of expressing the fantasy life of these children reflect these processes as they take place. Benzedrine alone does not lead to any but a temporary solution of the child's problems, and must always be combined with a personal therapeutic approach.
In the more severely neurotic child, benzedrine acts only as an expedient to help the child adjust in an environment where he can later find help for his deeper conflicts, and leads to an evasion of these problems during the period of administration. Here, too, the art and fantasy production show an inhibition which parallels the evasion noted in the personal therapeutic approach during medication.
Benzedrine is of great benefit in stimulating interest and drive in learning in the child with a learning disability, providing the original impulse has been obscured through the operation of neurotic mechanisms.
Fear, depression and sexual tension in the child are often completely relieved during the period of benzedrine administration, as is hyperkinesis occurring on a neurotic basis. Activity is frequently integrated and made more productive, and the relationship to the group is thus facilitated.
In the group studied, benzedrine had no appreciable effect upon the behavior of children with developmental brain defects or with schizophrenia and its effect upon the psychopathic personality was in all respects unfavorable. Consequently its use in a controlled ward set-up may be an aid in the differential diagnosis of some obscure problems. It has also clarified our concepts in regard to the classification of behavior problems in children as they are here described. However, it is worth emphasizing again that the successful use of this drug in the behavior problems of children depends on a clear understanding of the causes of the child's problems, the proper choice of children to receive the drug, and the use of the drug only as an adjunct to adequate personal psychotherapy, tutoring and social adjustments.
