Accessing medication to treat mental illness can be lifesaving for some people, but overmedicating can be life-threatening.
Overmedication in the spotlight more now because it's the defense that Duxbury mother Lindsay Clancy is using after she was charged with murdering her three children in an alleged episode of postpartum psychosis.
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Judge Carol Erskine, former first justice on the Worcester Juvenile Court, said on Greater Boston that she has often seen cases of over-prescription of mental health medication in children.
"There are just countless children in state custody who are on medications, multiple medications," Erskine said, noting children would often be put on anti-psychotic drugs instead of first trying services such as therapy.
Erskine said the side effects to these anti-psychotic medications are "absolutely stunning" and could include significant weight gain, problems standing or walking and involuntary movements.
Lisa Cosgrove, professor of counseling and school psychology at UMass Boston, said there is a "magic bullet mentality" when it comes to psychotropics, which is why many providers automatically pivot to medication first.
"Unfortunately, this leads to what I would refer to as irrational polypharmacy, that is when one agent is added, another agent is added because you are focused on treating individual symptoms rather than looking at the patient holistically," she said.
Watch: Over-prescribing mental health drugs can be dangerous, even deadly. It's happening in Massachusetts
