Antidepressants and China adoption

Americans use mental health services -- counseling AND medication -- very differently from people in the countries from which most Americans adopt. In the U.S., it is common for otherwise healthy people to seek counseling and/or take medication for issues relating to infertility, job stress, relationship enhancement, and so on. In many countries overseas, however, people don't use mental health services unless and until they truly are "mentally ill" -- that is, out of touch with reality and unable to function. As a result, when Americans first begin to adopt from a particular country, the officials in that country are often shocked to receive applications from people who have seen mental health professionals or taken medication. They remind American agencies that they do not allow mentally ill persons to adopt children from their country. However, over time, they become educated, thanks to the American agencies, about how Americans use mental health services. They come to see that, in the U.S., it is viewed as a good thing to get help for protracted grief after miscarriage, for anxiety about work, for enhancement of a marital relationship, etc. They come to realize that the people who seek help for such things are not "mentally ill". China, thankfully, has now been placing children with Americans since 1992. It fully understands the difference between taking Prozac after a diagnosis of infertility, or seeing a therapist because of anxiety about speaking in public, and true mental illness. At least at present, China has no problem with a person who is treated for mild anxiety or depression, using "talk therapy" and/or medication. Many people have adopted while on anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medications. Other conditions may or may not be approvable. A lot depends on how the conditions are presented in the homestudy report and letters from physicians or therapists. In general, China doesn't want to see hospitalizations or suicide attempts, although it has occasionally overlooked an episode in the distant past. And it doesn't really want more complex psychiatric diagnoses. While a few people may have adopted with well-controlled bipolar disorder or similar condition, I suspect that it will become increasingly difficult -- given that China seems to be moving in the direction of greater strictness -- for people with such diagnoses to adopt. However, I don't see China going to the extreme of banning adoption by anyone who has a diagnosis of simple depression or anxiety, well-explained in the homestudy and medical reports. Sharon