Warning to parents causes confusion

Press, 4 August 1977, Page 6

Warning to parents causes confusion

Growing up. or going mad — it all depends on the point of view. Parents have been j alarmed, and teachers be-' mused, by the description of t several “phases” in adolescent behaviour as "abnormal disorders, symptomatic of schizophrenia.” At the heart of the debate is an advertisement in “Health" magazine, signed by the medical superinten d dent of Lake Alice Psy-j chiatric Hospital (Dr S. L.i Pugmire), a copy of which was sent to “The Press” by; a concerned parent. Dr Pugmire calls on parents to send their teen-age l child to a doctor if he or she. shows any of 14 "disorders”: I but school authorities say j most of the “disorders” are! normal behaviour in adolescents. They include truancy, a marked deterioration in schoolwork, running away | from home, purposeless infringements of discipline, > becoming silent and with-1 drawn or excessively reli- 1 gious, a change in attitude, from co-operative to "bolshie” and antagonistic to | authonty, homosexual activity, and a dramatic change in personalityOther “symptoms” — such as violent or sadistic; behaviour towards others — are generally agreed to be; serious, but of a vastly dif-;

ferent nature to the phases ■ . of adolescent adjustment. The magazine is published by the Department of Health ' and is distributed widely, often appearing in doctors’ waiting rooms. The advertisement is i , headed “Parents”, but Dr| Pugmire says that he did not! really intend it to be used as! . information for parents. i “I wrote it five or six I years ago for the benefit ofi medical students and student teachers visiting the hospital. It was not directed to parents but to teachers. "It was not intended by me to be used for parents — .they are the ones who are ' inclined to get all sorts of .wild ideas about their own 'children,” he said. I “The Department of i Health wanted to use it in 'their magazine and I agreed. Then they telephoned me one morning —when 1 was I in a rush — and asked if (they could alter it slightly, addressing it to. ‘Parents’. “I agreed, because I was fin a rush. Perhaps I should; 'have said ‘No’. , “Although it was written some years ago, the warning. I signs still apply. I consider that all these 14 points are i symptoms of abnormality ' which should be followed up immediately,” he said. Schizophrenia and depression were the most common i. ' psychiatric diseases in New; Zealand, said Dr Pugmire, i

[Schizophrenia affected 1 per cent of the population. “It is a very serious disease and early detection is vital. Most of the cases we see have progressed for two or three years before they get to us. I "No-one has ever said! iwhat to look for before. I may not have done it well, but at least I have tried i [with this list,” Dr Pugmire! said.

“I am not suggesting that a teen-ager who exhibits any of these signs is a schizophrenic. But anybody who says that any of the behaviour described by the 14 points is normal is a long way off the truth. "They are ail disorders which might lead to schizophrenic illness,” he said. Aside from parents’ assertions that the list is alarm-

ist, the main criticism of the advertisement has been that parents could best deal with the “disorders” through consultation with the teenager’s school rather than straining overworked doctors with matters outside their province.

“Anyone with a teen-ager in the house would be fortunate if only one of these signs occurred in their child —many of them are normal

behaviour at some stage with any teen-ager," according to the headmaster of Aranui High School (Mr A. Gilchrist) who is also chairman of the Christchurch Principals’ Association. | “The 14 points cover a wide range of problems and some of them are things | that should be referred to a doctor. But the school should be the first place that

;a parent should go to with problems relating to homework and the personality and attitudes of the teenager.” The headmaster of Christchurch Boys’ High School (Mr 1, Leggatt) said that he, too, could get very little sense from the article, “I really can’t understand it at all,” he said. “Parents today are certainly looking for guidance but it is questionable whether this is a helpful

form of guidance — I don’t know that it is.” “It is an interesting collection of conditions — it could be helpful in some cases, I suppose. A counsellor at the University of Canterbury, Ann Bal-j lin, said she considered the list of symptoms as signs that the teen-ager was not happy or functioning normally but she said the doctor was the wrong person to approach at first.

“The schoolteacher or the student counsellor is the first person the parents should approach for a solution,” she said.

Many of the symptoms' were normal behaviour in; most teen-agers, particularly the reactions to school and the anti-authority behaviour, she said.

It was quite common for teen-agers to go through a religious phase and here a local minister would be a 4

better person to approach than a general practitioner, she said. The Director of Mental Health (Dr S. W. Mirams) said he had had one or two inquiries about the advertisement but they had been from people who had not realised that it was aimed at general health rather than at psychiatric health.

“I really don’t see anything in it to get excited about,” he said.

The recent publicity given [to Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital was probably the only reason there had been any reaction at all. “If Dr Pugmire had not had his name on it I probably would not have had anyone asking about it.” Dr Mirams, whose own speciality is child psychology, said it was often important that a child exhibiting these signs saw a doctor simply to reassure parents that they were not of major significance.

“The parent is then more likely to cope with teen-age behaviour with a feeling of confidence.”

He did agree that the symptoms could often be found in teen-agers but said “it was just a matter of parent’s judgment.” “I’wouldn’t regard an episode of any one of these things as having any pathological significance at all,” he said.