Nine percent of children who are between the ages of five and seventeen are diagnosed with ADHD in the United States (CDC). About 3 million kids that are on ADHD medication are prescribed Ritalin or Adderall. Most people and psychologists see ADHD as a true disorder, then theres those who think the complete opposite. Are children being overmedicated and over diagnosed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? Some medications are not always the answer. Parents might want another way to approach things when it comes to their children. Some options could be watching the child’s diet, something that seems to trigger the hyperactivity mostly leads to food dyes. Better and more consistent discipline along with giving your child a lot of attention helps the child to reinforce their behavior. The most important thing is making sure that the child that has ADHD is getting a lot of sleep. Being sleepy makes them more prone to jumping on that emotional roller coaster. A strict sleep schedule works well and keeps the child consistent. (Ellis) Just because your child is active, does not always mean to assume they have this disorder. Even though more and more kids are being diagnosed with ADHD, experts are saying that it’s often not the kid’s problem. Some cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are coming back on how well of parenting the child is receiving. “When I first diagnose a child with ADHD, I tell the parents they need to learn behavior techniques, whether I’m prescribing medication or not,” (Patricia Quinn, M.D.) Medications for ADHD are often started with the first treatment. The first treatment normally or should start with psychosocial that including behavioral therapy, social skills training, and suppor... ... middle of paper ... ...Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Research shows that in the united states that the percentages are increasing at a rapid rate. So people are starting to think that the question of are children being overmedicated and over diagnosed for ADHD is true. Works Cited "ADHD: Overdiagnosed and Overmedicated." Parenting RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. "Behavior Therapy for ADHD Children: More Carrot, Less Stick." ADDitude Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. "Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders: Are Children Being Overmedicated?" NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. Swaine, Jon. "Fears American Children Are Being Over-medicated as ADHD Rates Soar." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 02 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. "Over-medicating ADHD... or Over-blaming Parents? - Moms - TODAY.com." TODAY. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
There has been an increase in the Misuse and Abuse of prescription drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). the number of children on medication for ADHD has grown from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2013 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But although there is an over-medication of ADHD drugs, there is actually and under-medication since not all the right people are getting medicated. Many individuals lack insurance or are insured with health plans that do not cover the outpatient prescription drugs they need and cannot afford.10 Therefore, Individuals covered by various health plans and programs, and those who have no prescription drug coverage, pay significantly different prices for the same medications. As the demand for ADHD drugs grows, higher prescribing rates and increasing drug prices result, which creates problems for these number of Americans who cannot afford the treatment they require.
Stolzer, PhD, J. M. (2007). The ADHD Epidemic in America. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 109-116.
Typical ADHD drug overdoses lead to an estimated 3,000 Emergency Room visits each year (Vinerd. 2006). In 2010 alone, there were 17, 000 human exposures to ADHD medications. This number is just what was reported to the Poison Control Center. Eighty percent of these overdoses occurred in kids younger than 19 years old. The other twenty percent of the overdoses occurred in adults (Stiller, 2013).This leads to the number one question: Who is to blame for these overdoes? Do we blame the doctors prescribing the medications or do we blame society?
behavioral outcomes of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Volume 50, Issue April 2008, Pages 347-350. doi: 10.1080/00131880802499803.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder that causes children to have problems with paying attention, trouble with following instructions, have impulsive behaviors and become easily distracted. Medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are used to treat the symptoms of this disorder by helping the patient to focus and pay attention while also curbing their impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Side effects of these medications are, but not limited to, anxiety, addiction and in some cases psychosis. Proponents of giving ADHD medication to children argue that ADHD is a real disorder in children and the medication does improve the symptoms of the disorder by a large margin as well as being cost effective. Also, not only are the parents happy with the outcome of their children taking the prescribed medication but so are the children themselves. Proponents also argue that by not letting parents of the children, young adults and adults choose to take these prescriptions when diagnosed with ADHD that the medical and psychiatric communities would be in violation of the principle of autonomy. Justice as well would be violated since most of the burden of dealing with all the symptoms caused by this disorder would fall onto those with ADHD and partly on their families. Opponents of giving ADHD medication to children point out that it is not only going to children with ADHD but also being prescribed to those not diagnosed with the disorder as well as the pills being given or sold to other children and young adults. They also claim that the full side effects of ADHD medication are still not known and could have harmful long- lasting side effects on the children taking the medications. In this case, the princip...
Merrow, John. “Attention Deficit Disorder: A Dubious Diagnosis," The Merrow Report, New York, October, 1995.
One of the points they stress is how behavioral therapy can be a solution, but it is less effective and has it’s limitations. Despite it being less reliable, there are reasons why professionals and parents decide to give it a try. One of these is that parents and professionals don’t want to give their child medication. Another is that medication isn’t enough to curb their child’s symptoms. Lastly, their child has had reactions to the medication they’ve been given previously. In addition to those reasons, behavioral therapy has it’s limitations. It isn’t able to account for every setting the child will be in. Behavioral therapy isn’t able to reduce all of the core characteristics that come with having ADHD (short-attention span, impulsivity, hyperactivity). It also isn’t able to advance at the same rate that behavioral-altering medication can (“Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit
It has been known since the beginning of time that not all people have the same brain function, social graces or self control. Children have daydreamed, been distracted, wiggled and have been routinely disruptive in classrooms. The condition dubbed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a new name for old behaviors. It has only been the last 40 or so years that these behaviors have become known as a disorder. They were previously accepted, on the most part, as common childhood behavior that would be outgrown. The controversy over the treatment, Ritalin, during the 1960s is when ADHD became well known (Conrad 563). Before that children and their families managed to survive without the labeling and medicating of children who didn’t fit perfectly into the mold. The brain function of a child with ADHD may be different, but who’s to say that difference needs to be changed. The person with ADHD still gets the job done, just differently, with a lot more effort and creativity. There are many who benefit from an ADHD diagnosis, the child is not always one of them.
Hyperactivity. The term hyperactive is often confusing for those who expect to observe a child racing unceasingly about. A boy with ADHD playin...
"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Controversies." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2014. Web. 05 May 2014.
ADHD is an exceedingly real diagnosis for many children in the United States. Are we over diagnosing our little ones just to keep from dealing with unpleasant behavior? “ On average 1 of every 10 to 15 children in the United States has been diagnosed with the disorder, and 1 in every 20 to 25 uses a stimulant medication” (Mayes, Bagwell, & Erkulwater, 2008). Several believe that virtually all ADHD diagnoses are retractable with appropriate discipline of children instead of being so hasty in medicating them. The material found on the CDC website describes facts about ADHD, it clarifies the signs, symptoms, types, causes, diagnosis tools, and treatment forms of ADHD. What the article neglects to go into is the reality that there is a considerable amount of controversy surrounding ADHD. The CDCs usage of ethos, pathos, and logos and by what method the website manipulates them to affect the reader will be the basis of this paper.
National Institute of Mental Health (1999). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Retrieved April 2, 2003 from www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm#adhd3
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common disorders diagnosed among children in the United States (Lynch, 2013). Its growing prevalence in the United States is becoming a major controversy in the field of Psychology. The public seems to have an opinion as well. Should we be treating children with …
Disturbingly over two-thirds of children are given some type of medication over a two week period. Children with ADHD are being medicated without needing it. The question many researchers are asking is, “Is that patient really in need for the medication given?”
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder also known as ADHD, is one of the most common childhood psychological disorders and can continue through adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed in 6-7% of children. The rate of diagnosis is similar between countries. Although is it not known why boys are about three times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD.