Across the last decade, the number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has increased more than fourfold. Alarmingly, most of the children diagnosed - some still in their infancy - are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, often in combination with anticonvulsants. These classes of drugs have dangerous side effects, including a doubling of mortality rates, shortened lifespan, extreme weight gain and Type II diabetes. In this book a psychologist leads a team of experts who examine the astonishing rise in diagnosis of paediatric bipolar disorder, particularly in the absence of any compelling evidence for either the validity of the criteria being used to diagnose it, and the lack of safety and effectiveness in drugs being used to treat it."When a child is unnecessarily prescribed antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs, his or her mental and physical health may be irrecoverably compromised," writes the editor. "With as many as two and a half million children from across the socioeconomic spectrum now taking antipsychotics, we have set the stage for widescale child abuse." The contributors to this revealing and disturbing volume include psychiatrist David Healy, one of the world's leading authorities on psychotropic drugs; paediatrician Philip Landrigan, an internationally renowned health researcher; and Robert Whitaker, an award winning medical journalist. The contributors identify and explain complex and interrelated factors that have set the stage for the paediatric bipolar "epidemic," and they recommend practice and policy changes to stem the tide of misdiagnosis and dangerous drug prescriptions.