Hey everybody. I just received a call from my brother telling me my niece is back in the mental hospital. She is 14 years old and has been on various anti-depressants and mood stabilizers for as long as I can recall. She has also been placed into institutions many times. They put her on these meds because she often has tantrums. Not regular kid tantrums, but ultra violent, demonic possession type tantrums. This has my family extremely concerned. She is at the age now where she is physically bigger and stronger than her mother and she can also legally be put away, possibly forever if this keeps happening. For a little background, my brother is not her bioligical father. He legally adopted her when he married her mother. The biogical father struggled with heroin addiction and I think was using at the time of conception. I wonder if this has affected my niece, or is this real mental illness? Or have the meds exacerbated or even caused the illness to begin with? When I first heard she was put on lithium it broke my heart. I know adults who have been on lithium that are no longer the same people. It is such a heavy duty drug..a friggin metal actually! Should CHILDREN be on it??? I posted this because we have an interest in psychoactives and I would love to hear some opinions. My family is typical American, believe every doctor...because hey...they're doctors they must be right???? Wrong! My niece is a good kid but I feel we're losing her. Any thoughts or questions?