Among the most covert and damaging methods employed by the child protection system is the widespread use of psychotropic drugs, a tactic that serves not to heal or protect, but to subdue and control. This is not a case of seeking to address genuine mental health issues; rather, it is a strategy to maintain dominance over vulnerable children, making it increasingly difficult for them to escape the system’s grasp. By medicating children with powerful drugs that alter their mental state, the system ensures that they remain passive, obedient, and incapable of questioning their circumstances or desiring to return to their families.
The Use of Drugs as a Tool of Control
The administration of psychiatric drugs in care settings is not a one-off event—it is a systemic practice designed to keep children compliant. Medications such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, and mood stabilizers are often prescribed in vast quantities, with little consideration of the long-term consequences or the child’s true mental health needs. The drugs are presented as necessary treatments, but in reality, they are tools of suppression, dulling the child’s emotional responses and forcing them into a state of emotional numbness. This makes children more pliable and less likely to rebel against the system, even as it destroys their family bonds and stifles their natural development.
These drugs are often administered without proper understanding or explanation, leaving children unaware of the true effects on their minds and bodies. They are given these substances under the guise of helping them cope with the stress and trauma of being removed from their homes, yet in reality, they are being chemically altered to accept their captivity. These drugs stifle their ability to think critically about their circumstances or long for the family and life they once knew. Instead, they become detached from their emotions, unable to form strong attachments, and increasingly unable to even imagine a future outside the system that holds them captive.
Suppressing the Desire to Return Home
The effect of psychotropic drugs is most damaging in the way they suppress a child’s desire to reunite with their family. Children in care often express a longing to return home, to be with their parents and siblings. These natural desires are viewed as problematic by the system, and the drugs are a tool to dull or eliminate those longings. By sedating children emotionally and psychologically, the system makes it easier to prevent them from even thinking about their real home.
For many children, the trauma of being removed from their family is profound, and their yearning to return is an instinctive part of their emotional development. However, under the influence of psychiatric drugs, this longing is not only suppressed but replaced by a fog of indifference. Children become more compliant with the idea that their current life in care is “normal” and that their family is no longer a place worth returning to. This is the heart of the manipulation—by controlling children’s emotions and thoughts with drugs, the system ensures that they become more and more disconnected from the idea of family, replacing that connection with an emotional void that makes it easier for the system to continue its control.
The Damage to Identity and Independence
The long-term effects of psychotropic drugs are not merely emotional. These substances physically alter the brain’s chemistry, affecting cognitive function and development. For children who are still growing and developing, the impact is especially dangerous. The drugs prevent children from forming a strong sense of self, from developing their own beliefs and values, and from building the resilience they need to navigate the world outside of the system. Their ability to think independently is hindered, and their capacity to form healthy, lasting relationships is severely compromised.
In essence, these children are not simply being kept in care—they are being chemically imprisoned. The drugs prevent them from developing the skills they need to lead independent, self-sufficient lives. They become dependent on the very system that is suppressing their natural growth, unable to envision a future outside the state’s control. The system becomes the only reality they know, and any attempt to break free from that reality is stifled by the drugs that suppress their will.
A Cycle of Dependency
The introduction of psychotropic drugs to children in care creates a vicious cycle of dependency. The more the drugs are administered, the less children are able to think critically about their lives, their families, or their futures. They become increasingly reliant on the system that provides their medication and sustains their emotional numbness. This cycle prevents them from seeking out their true homes and growing into independent, capable individuals.
Moreover, the drugs themselves can have severe side effects that further undermine the children’s ability to thrive. Weight gain, fatigue, mood swings, and cognitive impairment are common side effects, all of which contribute to the children’s overall sense of helplessness and isolation. These side effects only add to the children’s sense of being broken, as they struggle with the physical and emotional toll of being medicated.
Obstacles to Reunification
The use of psychiatric drugs also serves to create obstacles to reunification with families. In many cases, the drugs themselves are used as a justification for keeping children in care. If a child is medicated and showing signs of sedation or compliance, social workers may argue that the child is “settling in” or that they are “not ready” to return to their family due to ongoing emotional issues. The drugs create a false picture of a child’s progress, obscuring the real harm being done. The more children are medicated, the more difficult it becomes to separate their true needs from the needs of the system.
Family reunification is often delayed or denied entirely, as social workers argue that the child is not emotionally stable enough to return home. The drugs make it harder for the child to regain their independence and make decisions about their own life. This can result in children remaining in care for years, trapped in a cycle of emotional numbness and dependency, while their parents fight for their rights to have their children returned to them.
The True Agenda: Control and Subjugation
At the heart of the use of psychotropic drugs is a desire for control and subjugation. It is not about healing the children; it is about ensuring that they remain under the control of the system for as long as possible. The drugs dull their minds, suppress their emotions, and break their spirit, leaving them powerless to resist the system that holds them captive.
The long-term impact of this medical manipulation is profound. Children who have been subjected to psychotropic drugs are less likely to develop the independence and critical thinking skills necessary to resist the control of the system. They are made to feel helpless, dependent, and broken—qualities that make it easier for the system to continue its exploitation.
A Call to Action
The use of psychiatric drugs in the child protection system is one of the most insidious forms of control. It must be exposed and eradicated. Children should never be subjected to drugs that suppress their natural emotions and prevent them from developing into independent, capable individuals. The medical profession must stop collaborating with the child protection system to perpetuate this cycle of harm.
It is time for families, advocates, and policymakers to demand an end to the use of psychotropic drugs as a means of control. Children’s mental and emotional well-being must be protected, and their right to grow up in a healthy, loving family environment must be prioritized over the financial incentives of the child protection system. Only then can we begin to heal the generations that have been damaged by this pervasive and harmful practice.