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They Say: Abuse of ADHD Drugs On the Rise
One thing about kids. They have short attention spans. You could look at almost any kid and think they have either a mild or full blown case of attention deficit disorder. And with our texting, TV and action packed schedules, it’s no wonder kids are feeling scattered and spazzy. But do they really have a clinical diagnosed case of ADHD or are doctors prescribing ADHD drugs as a go-to answer to parent’s complaints of an unfocused child?
But the doctors aren’t the only ones pushing the pills, according to a report out this week in the August issue of Pediatrics they say that there has been a massive rise in ADHD drug abuse amongst American teens.
Kids are overdoing usage of the drug to get a cheap high and gain more alertness. The pills are commonly crushed up and then snorted which speeds up the effects giving the user a brief high. But most of the abusers don’t know the first thing about the side effects such as agitation, a rapid heartbeat, super high blood pressure and death.
The massive increase in the drug’s abuse are in line with the 86% rise in prescriptions of the drugs to children aged 10 to 19 with about 8 million prescriptions currently being issued.
Do you think ADHD drugs are being over prescribed?
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Katie commented on Aug 25 09 at 7:04 pmYES!!!!!! My son is currently on adha medicine it was like i was almost forced to do for the school I regret it to this day but no one wants to work hard to get to the core of the problem it is the easiest thing to do my son isnt the same i dont he’ll ever be what can you do either give it or he wont be in school my hands are tied
Dennis commented on Aug 26 09 at 12:19 amMany kids diagnosed with ADHD grow up to be very independent thinkers. Their career paths often are difficult as they don’t fit into the model of the job world. They then discover their creative sides, ending up as entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, etc. as they forge their own path.
Our education model does not fit these kids. So we pathologize them. Too often we are denying them an opportunity to express incredible creativity in favor of sedating them. Unfortunately this often results in SSRIs as an adult, a gifted life compromised.
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