The overprescription of ritalin

It’s been said that nearly one out of every thirty Americans between the ages of five and 19 has a prescription to Ritalin (Rowland 2003). Ritalin is a potentially harmful, over prescribed drug, put out as a treatment to the over diagnosed disease Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The National Institutes of Mental Health has historically had a difficult time putting together a solid definition of the psychological condition known as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. They have, however, put together a list of symptoms or indicators that can be seen before the age of seven that are supposedly very effective in identifying if a child might have ADHD. Inattentive kids, lacking concentration, that are often easily distracted may be easily branded as having this particular condition. Also, hyperactivity and impulsiveness are frequently considered sure signs of ADHD (Simon 2003). These “symptoms” are unbelievably commonplace in young children. Children naturally act hyper all the time and most have short attention spans. These are somewhat ordinary behaviors that we generally overcome with age. The behavio

A general misperception about ADHD is that it is only remedied through the use of Ritalin when in fact there are several other treatments that have far less negative side effects. Rather than over prescribing Ritalin to our children we could use less harmful more natural remedies. There are dietary solutions such as the Feingold Diet that have been implemented with high levels of success in children. Interactive Metronome (musical therapy) has also proven to be beneficial and helpful in eliminating many of the problems associated with the disorder. A new experimental process called Neurofeedback has been developed to use electronic devices to speed up or slow down brain wave activity (Simon 2003). All of these approaches can be used instead of Ritalin, but none are quite as effective as behavior therapy and counseling. Granted, therapy and counseling work best when combined with Ritalin, but they generally use much lower dosages of Ritalin. Maybe parents and children think Ritalin is the complete answer to their ADHD problem. Ritalin does not in fact cure ADHD it only neutralizes its effects. We should attempt to cure our kids by putting them in the proper counseling necessary to fully get over the condition. If we put more kids in therapy and reduced their over filled prescriptions we could possibly solve their ADHD problems permanently and greatly reduce the risk of addiction to the heavy dosages of Ritalin they were already being over prescribed.

These painful and unhealthy side effects could deter or possibly even outweigh the good effects that the drug is having on our kids.

problems. Conduct problems and anti-social behavior is a well established predictor of early substance use and abuse. Substance Use Disorder is particularly associated with early usage. By constantly giving our already substance addiction susceptible children Ritalin at ages as early as 3 to deal with their disorder we are only setting them up for trouble with dependency later in life. Methylphenidate is an Amphetamine just like cocaine. Amphetamines are generally considered to be highly habit inducing. This is the case with Ritalin. Excessive doses over long periods of time can produce addiction. You can also build up enough of a tolerance to the drug that you need larger and larger portions of the drug for it to produce its original effect.

Distinguishing between whet

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