Interview with Foster Children- Aisha

Although i have watched a half dozen interviews with former foster care children, I have chosen to blog about two specific cases. The first was Andrew's interview, where he tells the story of his addiction to psychiatric drugs. My most recent post is an interview with a girl named Aisha, who goes more in-depth about her interactions with psychologists and her opinions and personal experiences regarding the widespread use of drugs in the foster care system. I chose these specific interviews because each focuses on different issues within my topic.

Aisha was placed into a foster home that had 13 kids living in it, all of whom were taking large doses of medication. Aisha was the only child who was not on drugs when she moved in, but soon after, she was prescribed 200 mg of Prozac, an anti-depressant, as well as a 200 mg of Seroquel, a drug for bi-polar disorder. She was prescribed the pills the first time she went to the psychiatrist he told her that she was depressed because didn't interact much with other children in the home. In order to make make her "fit in" she was prescribed the anti-depressant and the Seroquel was used to regulate her sleep within the house. She claims that the Seroquel would knock her out within minutes. The side effects of these pills were evident to her when she couldn't stay awake at school.

The most intriguing part of Aisha's story comes when she talks about her experience with psychologists throughout foster care. She dreaded her regular meetings with the doctor because she claimed that he places too much of an emphasis on drugs. The first and last thing that the doctor mentioned at her meetings was "how are the drugs?" and "are the drugs working." It was obvious to Aisha by the doctors attitude that the drugs were the most important thing to the doctor. She didn't know how to answer the questions and the fear that she would receive a higher dosage forced her to keep her negative feelings about the drugs to herself. According to Aisha, the fear of a higher dosage arose when she saw the way the other foster kids in the home were acting on the drugs, she never wanted to be like that. She was helpless because she was placed into a system in which she has no choice but to take the pills. There was no alternative for her because she felt that the doctors relied on the drugs to fix any problems and believed a higher dosage or new drug could solve anything. As i mentioned previously, only 3% of mental health professionals are trained to deal with the issues that foster children have, so in an effort to save time and resources, foster children are predetermined to have mental health issues and are prescribed drugs that will mask the problem in the short term while proving to be detrimental in the long term.

Aisha eventually sought counseling, and she claims that ,in just a short period, it has helped her more than any drug ever did. Both foster parents and doctors are looking for a quick fix and these drugs provide that fore both groups. When only considering that fact that all 13 of the children in Aisha's home were on psychiatric drugs, it is obvious that the foster care system is far too reliant on drugs.