"It is a schedule two narcotic, along with heroin and cocaine. That's an official designation.....And there is some evidence to suggest that it causes atrophy of the brain."
..[if !supportLists]-->- ..[endif]-->Interview with Dr Peter Breggin on Ritalin (http://www.whale.to/a/ritalin_q.html)
In today's society we lead busy lives, pay bills, run around getting errands done, go to work and, or school. The children of this country may not have as many responsibilities but they are no strangers to stress which may or may not cause them their own mental disorders or confusion. Now that taken into consideration, where is the line drawn when it comes to deciding which child is just a little energetic or well, stressed and which one truly has a mental disorder? Do we even know? Or are we really just raising Generation Rx? This overuse of psychotropic medications on children with little to no research available is quickly becoming an American epidemic.
The use of mood altering drugs among children under four is on the rise. For Example between the years 1991 and 1995 Ritalin nearly tripled in use (Turner, http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street_Journal/vol24/24GSJ28d.html) and at least 500,000 children and teens were taking Antidepressants as of 2000. (McManamy, http://www.suite101.com/print_article.cfm/depression/32180) These Numbers are catastrophic in proportions. Could this really be the number of kids who are truly afflicted with these disorders? The pharmaceutical and medical industries may be a little diagnosis crazy. Many of these medications are basically stimulants and within the 90's to 2000 the use of such stimulants on children with behavioral or emotional disorders has increased drastically. (Zito http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/283/8/1025?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORM
AT=&fulltext=kids+and+medication&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT)
) Kids 5 to 14 have been some of the highest age groups medicated for ADHD.
Many Side effects arise from the use of some of these psychotropic drugs. Clonidine research has shown that this drug is known to possibly produce adverse cardiovascular effects including bradycardia, a slow heart rate, usually of less than 60 beats per minute. Clonidine has an unusually high risk for poisoning and the extreme use of this medication for ADHD. (Zito http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/283/8/1025?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=kids+and+medication&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT) We could be altering normal human behaviors with these medicines. Lexapro being a popular anti-depression drug in fact manipulates (artificially) the chemicals of the brain that control thought and feeling. Adderall, yet another famous ADHD drug is known to cause insomnia, and extensive weight loss. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html) Data from Pfitzer, a pharmaceutical company, regarding tests on children with some SSRI medications created a dose-dependant agitation in pre-teens and teen kids which occasionally amounted to suicidality. (Healy , MD
Overall there has been an obscene lack of testing on how these drug treatments will effect a child in the long run. When it comes to how drug therapies work on preschoolers based on population, the study is fundamentally absent. There is very little information on the effects these studies may also have on the brain. (Turner, http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street_Journal/vol24/24GSJ28d.html)
Grade school or high school kids do little benefiting from side effects such as weight gain, jitteriness, or a flat-lined personality. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html)
Minimal amounts of testing that has been done is mostly far from agreeable. Some anatomical differences have been discovered though MRI in the brains of children
whom where medicated. Doctors are not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It is also very difficult to acquire volunteer kids for study. Kids are easily bored and by the time any good results could be found they would be grown and off to do their own things as well as possibly off to college. Not to mention the daunting task of getting parental permission to have such studies commence in the first place. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html)
Many of these drugs were developed and tested exclusively for treating adults. These medications effect children differently than adults. Evermore interesting to note is the fact that these mood altering drugs are not approved by the FDA for children at all and are being prescribed "off label" to treat mental problems they may not even have been intended for. (Park, http://time.blogs.com/daily_rx/2005/08/psychotropic_dr.html)
There is a shortage on adequately trained child psychologists and specialists on child behavior. A large percentage of all prescriptions being written and administered is done by doctors who have little knowledge or training in child behavior or the nature of these mental disorders in kids. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html) A child used to be carefully evaluated by trained multi-disciplinary teams before the decision was made to put a child on medication. (Turner,
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street_Journal/vol24/24GSJ28d.html) There are a mere 6,000 child psychiatrists in the entire United States . Pediatricians whom
are ill trained in mental health end up picking up the slack for the low amount of child specialists. (McManamy, http://www.suite101.com/print_article.cfm/depression/32180)
When it comes to the case for medicating children ailed by mental disorder there are some points to consider. Is it safe to wait though possibly long running therapy when a child is suffering or possibly even suicidal? Depression when gone untreated has a 15% suicide rate as well as instances that involve self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Dropping out of school as well as trouble with the law may also result from lack of treatment such as gangs, violent acts, or a lifestyle endangering to themselves and others. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html)
While some kids may need medication when all other options may seem obsolete, others may just be eccentric or the meds given unnecessarily make them worse off. Giving kids the idea that drugs can fix their problems even if they never had any is hardly a good lesson to teach a growing child. One example of medications gone awry is Monica. Monica was given a combination of Ritalin and Prozac for bi-polar which switched her depressed and manic behavior into a single mode with "sad and wild features." Two years after beginning drug treatment her behavior was so out of control her school wanted her expelled. Kids with otherwise eccentric or slightly hyperactive personalities also get medicated when its not required. Some of these kids grow to become very interesting personalities and may use these traits to their advantage. Who are we to say this is bad? Children cannot just be dosed to the point of some idealistic golden mean. (Kluger, http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,526331,00.html)
Young undeveloped minds are still growing and chemicals can harm that development. Theories of neurodevelopment view the brain as plastic and moldable depending on environment including any medications. The frontal lobe does not fully
develop until the age of 30, this giving drugs plenty of time to mess around with the cerebral workings. It is suggested to avoid making a child's behavior as simple as a medical issue.
There are many other forms of therapy available to thwart and avoid drugs, at least initially. Child therapists can sit down with a child and the parents together as well as separately to find the root of any problem the child might be having if any. Psychologists even will go deeper into issues than a prescription happy psychiatrist. What needs to be looked into and discovered is the child's environment including but not limited to home life and school to better access why the child may be having difficulty or trouble.
In essence another problem in this matter is that health care will more readily pay for medications than proper on going therapies. The cost of therapy may be more initially than that of a simple prescription fix-it-all but what it all comes down to is whether or not the children whom are this nation's future are worth that extra amount of money. Really being thrifty when it comes to the health and well being of these kids seems a bit sadistic and odd. In the long run working with a kid to keep them healthy and only turning to drug therapy as a last resort could save money in the long run if that is the case.
In the end the populous needs to learn to get to know the kids we are raising and stop trying to slap a mental illness on them until we know something is truly wrong. Mental problems are not the only way to explain why children behave the way they do or
someone's difficulty reaching and connecting with them. Occasionally medication is necessary but its not always the only way.
Works Cited
1. Healy, David, MD. "Testing Psychotropic Drugs in Children". Alliance .
2. Kluger, Jeffrey. "Medicating Young Minds." Time Oct. 26, 2003 .
3. McManamy, John. "Are We Over-Medicating Our Kids?" Suite101.com Feb 22 2000. .
4. Park, Alice. "Psychotropic Drugs and Children." Time.com (Daily Rx) Aug 1 2005. .
5. Turner, Scott J. "Perspectives on Psychotropic Drugs and Preschoolers." George Street .
6. Zito, Julie Magno. "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers."The Journal of the American Medical Association Feb 23 2000 <http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/283/8/1025?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=kids+and+medication&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT>.
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