Gulf War illness

Newsletter:"never use Diet Coke to cook with. Heat turns the Nutri Sweet (aspartame) into methyl alcohol . It is thought that maybe all the gulf war illness could be due to the diet coke that sat in the sun and got warm. Do not heat anything sweetened with aspartame because it metabolizes into methanol, which is poison. That's why, at first, the manufacturer refused to put out any recipes for baking and cooking. Medical studies done in the past few years have shown many, many illnesses and syndromes to be connected to aspartame, neurological disorders, brain cancer and migraines were at the top of the last list I saw. I've known a number of people who had migraines and when they quit using aspartame the migraines didn't come back. Myself I will not drink any-brand of diet soda I just don't like the after taste even my doctor told me years ago stay away from them and I have."

Prostitution Placement Debated

:"How many brothels on one street make up a red light district is under debate in the Australian state of Queensland. The issue arose when the Prostitution Licensing Authority endorsed two brothels across the road from each other in Bundall on the Gold Coast, a major tourism destination. However, that prompted the state's conservative Opposition to ally with brothel owners from the Queensland Adult Business Association to call for the government to define red-light districts in the Prostitution Act. The act requires the PLA to refuse a license if the number of brothels and adult entertainment premises in an area would substantially affect the character of the area by creating a red-light district, but does not define such a district. QABA spokesman said approving multiple licenses put localities on a slippery slope to becoming true red-light districts." Okay...Would someone comment on this and clear this up for me? Personally I don't care, what someone does with their own body as long as it don't hurt anyone, and this is what they want of their free choosing. But why is it okay to sell.. Sex for money if you pay-tax's on it....This reminds me of something that happened 15yrs. Ago. I knew this couple that were on welfare, got caught up in a (Drug-Bust)...The legal system also charged: (Frauding the Grovement & Welfare Fraud) On the grounds they were working under the table and not reporting their income, and they were found guilty...Lets see this is a 50/50 chance you'll get busted any way. Remember if your collecting State $$ Funds....Make sure you report to your Social-worker your Profit's from your... DRUG or PROSTITUTION Income, don't forget to keep records of customer buys too, you'll need it for tax-time...Or Court to bail your ASS-out...LOL

Dead end Job

Weird News:"Around the year 1500"s - Old England is and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer." And that's the truth. . . (who ever said that History was boring)?" Now how would you to have to do this job? Talk about watching the dead, I've worked in some pretty dead in jobs. But never one this bad."

Surgery Follow-up

Hello everyone... Well it's been a week since my surgery went to see the Doctor, for my follow-up. He said I would live but, won't feel like it for another 30-days because of all the repairs he had to make in my ear. I have to go back in 3-weeks to have a hearing test done and also take out some more stitches, till then I now have to put these steroid drops in every two hours or 6 times a-day, to help the healing part also the drops help clean out the packing they put in stuff, they have in my ear to protect it till its all healed also said I would not hear much of anything till all the packing is out, and the tissue has healed which is normal according to him. What they did to my ear. Doctor said: Replaced the ear bone with a dead person's bone...Yuck! Did some repairs on a nerve called ( the 5th. Carnal nerve). And scraped a lot of scar tissue damage away from everything and then took a skin Graff of my muscle tissue and flatten it and made a ear drum out of it, to sew in place of the damage one. A lot of work done to a little ear huh. Well I hope it was all worth it in the end, guess I will just have to wait and see, wait that's hear..LOL Any way, wanted to thank all of you who sent me e-mail greeting of (get well cards) meant a lot to me, never knew I had so many friends...Thanks Debi

P.S....Word of warning I got a ear ache in the middle of the summer, and look what happen to me so if you get one don't mess around get to a Ear,Nose,throat- Doctor right away. I didn't I went to a family clinic and look what happen to.

Roman stone Legendary-says Pope will live

MSNBC:" Does a stone carving in one of Rome’s biggest cathedrals know whether Pope John Paul II will survive his latest health crisis? The monument to Pope Sylvester II, who ruled the Catholic Church 1,000 years ago, is said to moisten when the death of a pontiff is imminent. On Friday, a priest touched the carving in Rome’s Basilica of Saint John Lateran and confirmed it was dry and good news for the pope, who had windpipe surgery Thursday after being rushed to the hospital with breathing problems. The pontiff is also battling Parkinson’s disease and crippling arthritis. In the sacristy of Saint John Lateran, the pope’s “second cathedral” for his role as bishop of Rome, two elderly Italian nuns in gray habits said the monument’s prophesying power was well documented. “It sweats when the death of a pope is approaching,” one of them said. They did not give their names. “The stone cries. It’s true, it has happened. There are people who have seen it,” the other nun added. Both said they did not know anyone who had witnessed the phenomenon. Peeping out from their empty confessionals under the gaze of gigantic white statues of saints, several priests said they had been unaware of the legend. Father Edoardo was at first skeptical when told about the carving, framed by two yellow marble columns. “The stone feels cold,” he said on touching the carving and columns. “But dry.” Breaking into a smile, he added, “So the pope will live.” Forgive me for saying something bad about this as I have good friends who are catholic, and mean no dis-respect to them or anyone else, that may be also catholic. But I don't know, if its a blessing, to know when someone is going to die...To me it seems all most sad as I wouldn't want a rock laying around my house, that one day said....Oh! Your mom's going to die today. I feel that would just make then hurt more when I'm gone. I accept the fact their is a stone people believe in, but why does it have to be connected to death? Why not something nicer like a New Pope will take his seat over the people, that seems more pleasant to think about right?... Least to me anyway"

Hand Of Friendship

Sent to me: "Hello...Did Anyone Ever Tell You, just How Special You Are. The Light that You emit might even Light a star. Did Anyone Ever Tell You How Important You. Make Others Feel Somebody out here is Smiling About Love that is so Real. Did Anyone Ever Tell You Many Times, When They were Sad Your E-mail made Them Smile a bit.. In Fact It made Them Glad For the Time You Spend Sending Things And Sharing whatever You Find There are No Words to Thank You But Somebody, Thinks You're Fine. Did Anyone Ever Tell You Just How Much They Like You Well, My Dearest "Online " Friend Today I am Telling You....I believe that without a friend you are missing out on a lot!!! Don't be confused by friends and acquaintances, there is a difference! Because I care about you, It's National Friend-Care Week . . .. And you get to send messages to all your friends telling them that you care about them and make them feel good about themselves and if they write back . (just once) then that means that they care about you too. Have a nice day, and I'm glad we are friends!!!

A very nice friend from Colo. Sent this to me,we have never met but we talk on the phone and she e-mails me. She must of known I was feeling down because I opened up my mail this morning and saw this...Thank-you Gwen ...I wanted to post it, for all of you. To let you know you have a friend just turn around, and they will help you - I'm your friend Debi..."

Soldier-Message of love

MSNBC: "With premonition he wouldn't survive in Iraq, a GI left a video for his wife. In- Fort Benning Ga. - Before deploying earlier this year, Sergeant First Class David Salie was certain of two things: Serving in Iraq was the right thing to do and he wouldn't survive his tour. He shared that premonition with his wife weeks before he left. "He rolled over and looked at me and he said, 'D, I'm not coming back,'" recalls Deanna Salie. Sadly, David Salie's prediction came true. He was killed in a roadside bombing on Valentine's Day, just four days into his Iraq tour. His children and wife are now mourning a terrible loss. "I am a little mad at him for leaving me, because I don't know how to live without David," says Deanna. But Sgt. Salie knew one more thing, that he should tell his family how much he loved them, in a way they could never forget. "If you're seeing this, then I'm not coming home," begins a videotape Sgt. Salie made the night before he left. He secretly recorded messages for them with instructions to view the video only if he didn't return. "You're without a daddy, in person but I'm always with you. You're without a husband in person, but I'm always with you," says David on the tape. It's an eternal message of love from a husband and father to his family. There are other recordings for future milestones, like graduations and weddings I won't be there to share. But there was a bigger message for the present. "The price was worth it, in my heart," says David on the video. "What I have done was the right thing to do." Because everyone who loved David Salie knew that he believed in America and was willing to give his life fighting for Iraqi's to share American freedom. Deanna believes that too. "He sent word to a lot of the single soldiers' families," she says. "He said, 'Don't worry about your son, I'll stand in front of him.' There are a lot of little girls and little boys who are without their parents. And we're making those sacrifices to make their lives better." David's father, Jim, agrees. "My son died doing what he loved," he says. "He knew what the consequences were." There were no words for the family's sorrow, but they know David doesn't regret his sacrifice, because he said so." I had to post this and I hope you agree after reading this, yes this is a sad day for his family and wife. But he said it all in his last words...He has gone and done what he could for the future of freedom ! For all American people....He gave his life..... May he never be forgotten.............

Priest - Protestant and A Rabbi

: "It was a small town and the Catholic Priest, the Protestant Minister and the Jewish Rabbi were very good friends. Of course, there was a lot of kidding and joking between them all year long. To their surprise one year, the Priest and the Minister received a Christmas card from the Rabbi. It read: Roses are reddish, Violets are bluish When the Messiah really comes You'll wish you were Jewish." Sorry folks saw this and thought it was cute! Just a little humor. To cheer me up, and maybe you too...So if you got one better write it in the comments so we can all see it...

Scorpion

Okay...Your thinking, why did I post this? Well... I'm a Scorpion (water birth sign) and I'm always doing things in my life just because they are my character, don't make it right. But I always seem to do it...

cleanlaughs:"A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on his back across a river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown." "My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?" "You're right!" cried the turtle. "Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said: "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there'd be no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion sadly replied. "It's just my character."

Recipe For Every Day Of The Year

Total Time: -1 min

Makes: - How ever many you want

Ingredients:

1- Cup of friendly words

1 - Heaping cup of understandings

1 - Heaping tsp. of time and patience.

1 - Pinch of warm personality

1- Dash of humor

Measure words carefully. Add heaping cups of understanding. Use generous amounts of time and patience.Keep temperature low - do not boil. Add a dash of humor and a pinch of warm personality. Season to taste with moods.....This recipe is guaranteed never to fail!"

Just a little something for my Blog-Friends, to let you know you'll be on my mind while I go in to surgery tomorrow, and hope I get well fast so I can see all your comments, so leave me lotz.."

Operation For Me

Just thought I would let you all know I may not be posting on my Blog for a few days, as I will be going in for surgery on ear, - Wed. Feb., 23rd. Some of you that are long time readers you may remember last year in July, when I {blew my ear drum } out really bad and lost 60% of my hearing and it hurt really bad. Well I have spent the last 7-8 months trying to get it to heal, and I did get most of my hearing back but the ear never healed and I keep getting infections, and now I have a twitch in my eye from a nerve they say that runs thru the ear drum to the eye. And are going to try and repair that too! Wish me luck and, as soon as I feel better and am up and moving I will write you all and tell you how it went...Pray for me, because I am scared my last surgery didn't go to good a year ago, so I am on edge about everything till this is over....Bye For now - Coffee Talk"

Sex may be boring for - Men

:"Study indicates sex may be boring for some. A survey says 48 percent of men admit falling asleep during sex and 11 percent of women admit nodding off. Some 10,000 adults participated in the survey by Dr.Neil Stanley, director of sleep at the University of Surrey, said there's a scientific reason why men in particular are prone to the more common practice of falling asleep soon after sex. "The blood rush after climax depletes the muscles of energy-producing glycogen, leaving men feeling physically drained. Was found in the survey to have the highest number of men who fall asleep after sex, with men managing to stay awake for just three to four minutes. Men claimed to take up to 20 minutes before falling asleep. Stanley said women can avoid their partner having a nod-off by planning sex away from the bed, playing upbeat music, or videotaping the lovemaking to review afterward." Okay just to let you all know my mate of 3-4 years & I, broke-up this week-end and it was a nasty hurtful finish for me, so I am really down on men and trust so excuse me if I'm a bit bitter on my comments okay. I understand this to some length, but what if they don't like most of the stuff they suggested you do, and the bedroom is the only safe place to do the deed, because you have older-children? Anyone want to comment on this?" mine claimed he couldn't even get any there, my feelings was maybe he should of tried harder and he could of..."

Allergic To Girlfriend

:"A British man has been told by doctors he's allergic to his girlfriend's hormones and must stay away from her four days a month. The mystery began several months ago when Mr.Blaines,26 & Ms. Height,24 moved in together in Manchester. A kiss or hug would result in Blaines breaking out in a red, itchy rash or welts. After unsuccessfully trying various soaps and lotions, the pair visited Blaines doctor, who explained it was heights hormones Blaines was allergic to, and followed her 28-day cycle. The couple has reportedly adapted well to the regime, Height said it had strengthened their 18-month-old romance. Dr. Chris Lovell, Association of dermatologist, said it was "an extremely rare case, but not completely unknown. "This is rare and it is also much more common for the woman to be allergic to the man during certain times of the month,though it is also possible for the male to develop an allergy to high levels of hormones," he said." Okay I love this one because now you guys, all of you out their have a new excuse if you want to break it off with one of us women for one reason or another...I can hear the LIES NOW! I really like you but you see I went to the doctor because I had this rash since the last time we were together, and......My doctor said I am ALLERGIC to you, so for my health I can't see you anymore....LOL.....Hey wait maybe us ladies can use that line too, Honey I really care about you but your rashing my ass!!

Adultery-16-year-old girl to be flogged for crime

"Something for all you church going folks...Okay People Didn't this type of unspeakable CRAP!! go out way back before the great flood? ( you all remember the one in the bible) This is insane that in these counrties women are still considered (Nobodys) holding less worth then the pet dog, wait I think they feel the dog is higher then women...And to think. We women are the reason men are on this earth!!"

Sudan;"The sentence of 100 lashes, passed on a 16-year-old school girl in the Sudan for the "crime" of adultery, to be commuted immediately. Amnesty International is also asking people all over the world to write to the Sudanese authorities asking them to stop the punishment going ahead. Intisar Bakri Abdulgader gave birth to a male child after becoming pregnant outside marriage. She was convicted of adultery and sentenced by a local court she was seven months pregnant. The alleged father of the child has reportedly not been charged but will have a blood test to establish paternity. Intisar is now caring for her four-month-old son, Dori. She is said to be very frightened at the prospect of the punishment and is reportedly eating and sleeping very little. Under article 146 of Sudan’s Penal Code, adultery is punishable by execution by stoning if the offender is married, or by one hundred lashes if the offender is not married. Adultery is defined as sexual intercourse with a man without being lawfully bound to him. Scores of people were sentenced to amputation or flogging in Sudan last year. Flogging is frequently carried out immediately after sentencing leaving no chance for appeal, even when there are concerns about whether a fair trial has been held."

World's Tallest Woman

about: "The tallest woman in the world is from Holland. She is over 7 1/2 feet tall, and weighs 320 pounds. Wonder where she gets her clothes? Poor thing must have a hard time finding clothing at the mall, and I thought I had it bad! Somebody needs to sign this girl to a Basketball contract, who cares if she can play she can learn!! Okay guys... Bet ya wonder how big everything else is huh...LOL"

Japanese kids think death's temporary

gophercentral:As a testament to the power of video games and movies, some Japanese children do not believe death is permanent, the Kyodo news agency said Tuesday. The Nagasaki prefectural Board of Education ordered a survey of children's attitudes on death and dying in November and December after an 11-year-old girl was convicted of murdering a fellow student. Of 3,600 fourth, six and eighth graders in public schools, 15.4 percent said they believe dead people can be resurrected based on what they had seen on television, movies and video games. In the case of the 11-year-old convicted of murder, a family court statement said the girl had only a "vague notion" of death. On releasing the survey results, a school board official called for parents to ensure their children learn the real, and not virtual, meaning of life.I too have to agree with them on this issues as I said in the next acrticle below this one. Read on to next post and you'll see my feelings on Video game-players and our children"

Video games Change us?

: " Students at the University of Sioux Falls, S.D., enrolled in the class Sociology of Video Games are required to play video games two hours a day. The university had offered courses that examine the impact of violence and sex in movies, so William Lugo, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, thought video games were a logical extension. "What a great opportunity to teach from a sociology perspective," Lugo told the Sioux Falls Argus. "Games are more interactive than movies, too -- you're the main character." Lugo said he has two goals for students: to understand the effect games have on them and to become aware that games tell us a lot about ourselves. For example, in the video game "Halo 2," its main character, Master Chief, portrays masculinity, with his voice and the way he acts. "He's portrayed like a godlike, masculine figure every boy wants to grow up as," said, a male-student who took the course." What are your thoughts on this video game class? I know for a fact that when my son had his PS-2 up and running, he would spend hours glued to it... And at times would become very angry and throw fits it he didn't win or was killed in a game or if it became to much stress for him. As he would yell and blame others because (if we even took a breath of air it made him lose, he said! ) So ...Yes I do feel that Video games change the levels in the brain after long periods of playing them. He would even go thru with-draw like signs if he couldn't play it for a time when I took it away. But I also feel that computer games are just as bad they are just TV-gameboys...( By the way I broke his machine- was not on purpose but now glad I did, as I find he has calm down abit more but it took about a-month to see the change)"

Comments On Blog's

Please forgive me if these seems like a whinny baby complaint, but I feel really bummed when I spend so much time trying to put my blog together and people just read, but don't bother to leave a comment, this is why I stopped writing for awhile it seemed nobody cared so why post so I stopped but I missed it and I'm trying again. Or we get the ones that are looking for something but never take the time to stop and see what your Blog has to say. Maybe I just expect the same out of ours that I give to them, if I end up in someone's blog page I always try to leave a comment about one of their posts, if nothing else I feel to let them know someone does care if they post and what they post. So I guess what I am saying not only for me but also for other fellow bloggers if you trip into our blogs. Please give us a moment of your time and stop and read what we wrote and leave us a comment, don't be rude and leave nasty comments, at least be nice to the person that wrote the Blog page you are in. Then we"LOL know their are people out in Cyber -World of Blog-sites...Thank-you
Just me at - Coffee Talk

Leg substituted for dead man's effects

Coffeebreak: "Police on Long Island, N.Y., were trying to determine how a grieving family was given a bag containing a human leg instead of the dead man's effects. Police received a frantic call from Mr. Runyan, 35, who made the gruesome discovery. His 77-year-old father, Paul, had died at Central Suffolk Hospital barely a week after learning he had cancer. A blue tag hanging from the toe bore the name of another man and was dated Jan. 13. Detectives learned a hospital worker had turned over the plastic bag to an employee at a funeral home, which immediately denied any involvement in the mix-up. The investigation is continuing, although it appears to be non-criminal, said Detective Best. The hospital launched its own investigation as well, their spokeswoman said. God knows how that can be confused with a bag of clothing," Runyan said. Okay you tell me...Did anyone bother to look in the bag before they handed it over to the family? This is creepy guess everyone better check out our bag, just like we do at the fast-food drive-thru before we leave to make sure we don't have the wrong bag...LOL"

Bipolar - Does Your Child Have it

" I know this is a very long article to read...Heck I cut it down it was 5-pages long. But I wanted to post this to let people out their know, and also because I also have two-children that 10-years ago was told had 3rd.genertion Bi-polar on their dad's side, I also did not know their father had this because he was adopted, his parents thought he was just a un-rule kids and sent him to live else where till he was grown. Guess what I am saying is. It's really hard to live with kids that have these problems and others don't understand! Explicitly those people that never had to raise a child like these kids. Because as their parent you try to do everything you can to give them a good life and make sure their happy, but at the same time it seems like someone is always un-happy no matter what you try to do. And people and the legal system think we are bad parents because our kids are out of control. People don't begin to know the hell we go thru...From a mothers view, be wait nine months to hold our child and when their born they are the best gift anyone could give us, then the hell begins, maybe not as soon for soon like some but it comes. Mine was when my son entered kinder-garden. I know the stares the rude remarks from outsiders, and all the people that feel if you took one million parenting classes you would be a better parent. Well let me tell you and their is proof out their. But the courts and schools don't want to listen, And doctors they don't seem to know much more then the rest of us...God help the world! But- they just want to blame someone, so it's us the parent. I feel that we as parents are doing every thing we can to help and love our child but the legal system and the schools, don't do enough, these people are not trained nor are payed enough to deal with these type of children so, why should they.. they feel right! Wrong these people want to take our rights as parents away and say we don't know what going on...Well I sure wish they would show us how to fix it...Instead of always telling us how. Sure would help some days....Well I feel better now...LOL Got that out of my system- Sort of. I just get so angry because I am trying so hard to be a good parent and some days I just want to walk away, and give up. As I"m a single mom, their dads visits, but he don't want to deal with it...Great huh!"

washingtonpost:"From the time her son was born, this mother suspected something was wrong. As an infant he cried inconsolably and slept mostly in hour-long snatches. At 3, he was always irritable and had prolonged tantrums triggered by the slightest change in his routine. A therapist told his mother he was emotionally disturbed. A year later a child psychiatrist made the diagnosis: the 4 1/2 -year-old was manic-depressive. A few months later, when his even-tempered sister grew moody and volatile, she took her to the same psychiatrist. They sat down with DeWeese's well-thumbed book about bipolar children and went through its symptom checklist. Based largely on those results and the family's history she learned that the children's father had been diagnosed as bipolar in high school psychiatrist told her 5 1/2-year-old daughter was bipolar,too. Now 6 and 8, this mother's son and daughter exemplify a trend that is roiling mental heath: the burgeoning number of children diagnosed with bipolar illness, also known as manic depression, which affects about 2.3 million Americans. As a result, some preschoolers barely out of diapers are being treated for bipolar disorder with powerful drugs, few of which have been tested in children. But some experts say the surge in diagnoses is a dangerous fad one critic called it "psychiatrist flavor of the month" a decision too often based on skimpy evidence, cursory evaluations and incorrect assumptions about genetic risk. These children are troubled,but most don't meet psychiatrist official diagnostic criteria for the lifelong psychotic disorder. Labeling severe tantrums in toddlers as a major mental illness lacks validity and undermines credibility in our profession. Studies have found that bipolar children are severely agitated and aggressive, grandiose(they tell the teacher how to run the class or think they have the same authority as a parent),hypersexual,imitate sexy rock stars,silliness, separation anxiety, night terrors, carbohydrate cravings, fidgeting, extreme bossiness, bed-wetting, lying, social anxiety and difficulty getting up in the morning, or use explicit language and experience very rapid mood swings, sometimes several times an hour, during which they can become explosively angry. They are also suggestive of a host of other problems: depression, anxiety, abuse, ADHD or a behavioral problem such as conduct, explosive or oppositional defiant disorder. Desperate parents search Web sites. It has been found, famous people were bipolar, Abraham Lincoln, Ludwig van Beethoven and Teddy Roosevelt. With systems of rapid cycling mood swings that occur as often as every few minutes throughout the day. Some desperate parents, who have struggled for years with their children's problems and an acute shortage of mental health feel so helpless.Until recently, many doctors were reluctant to prescribe the powerful mood-stabilizing drugs adults take for bipolar disorder to young children, whose central nervous systems are still developing. Most of these drugs, which can have serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects, including diabetes, significant weight gain, hormonal problems that can cause infertility, and fatal blood disorders have not been tested in children. Some are epilepsy drugs used to control seizures and not approved to treat psychiatric disorders, which are widely used anyway because some doctors think they are effective. These medications doctors say, are the cornerstone of treatment, even for very young children. The youngest patient heard of is an 18-month-old girl who was diagnosed as bipolar largely because she screamed incessantly and had a bipolar mother. The baby was medicated with lithium. Most children take at least three drugs simultaneously or more to control their moods and alleviate depression. Some try dozens of combinations and doses. One 8-year old, who has tried more than half a dozen drugs, some of which made her act like "a raging maniac," currently takes Abilify, an antipsychotic primarily used to treat schizophrenia in adults. The dose had to be cut after she started drooling and one side of her face drooped. Parents are often asked how they can give these drugs to their children. "We don't have any choice," comparing them to lifesaving chemotherapy. "Most of us are grateful these medications exist. In earlier days our children would have been institutionalized. These drugs can cause the very symptoms they have been given to treat: hyperactivity, insomnia and even psychosis. There's a lot of throwing medications at people without thinking about what the problem is. Once somebody has a label, it is highly unlikely that label will be questioned. And by the time your child has been on 20 different drugs, you can no longer figure out what's wrong. One 13-year-old had taken more than a dozen drugs since her diagnosis several years ago. If one doesn't work, the doctors' answer is to just keep adding more and more medications or increasing the doses, the rise in pediatric diagnosis of bipolar illness. Don't Blame the Parents, many parents say that a bipolar diagnosis meant they were no longer blamed for their children's behavior. At first he only had meltdowns in front of me, recalled a Navy scientist whose son was diagnosed last year at 5. Everyone told me it was me, that I was just not handling him well. It was the most horrible thing to sit there every day and have people telling you that. It is not a parenting issue, she said she finds it hard to ignore the stares when her 6-year-old son, diagnosed at 3, has a meltdown in Wal-Mart. We can't stop this from happening. It is nothing we can control or the child can control Such evaluations can take four hours or more and includes interviews and observations of the parents and child, psychological testing, a physical exam, detailed family history and information from teachers, coaches, day care staffers and others who know the child. A psychiatrist can make two or three times as much from an hour of medication checks than from an hour of therapy.Although it's not discussed much, misdiagnosis can have a profound impact. One woman, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that her name not be published to protect her daughter's privacy, said that when the girl was 14, she was handed a prescription for lithium after a single visit to a psychiatrist. Four years later, doctors discovered that her severe depression and mood swings were the result of an undiagnosed pituitary tumor. She's really angry at the doctors and at me because I accepted the diagnosis too fast, the woman said. Her daughter, she said, "barely got through high school" and had side effects from the lithium, which made her hair fall out. Now 19, she said, her daughter is caught in a Catch-22: Because the family was open about her diagnosis, she feels the need to tell everyone she's not bipolar. And the reaction she's encountered is not what she thought. It's, Oh sure- (people say)- the bipolar doesn't think she's bipolar-right...Tell her to up her meads."