ADHD prescriptions to children have spiked amid growing concerns of abuse

[microrobert]

ADHD prescriptions to children have spiked amid growing concerns of abuse

A major new study has revealed that prescription medications for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have spiked, a conclusion bound to fuel the increasing concern that these drugs are being misused and abused.

The study by the Food and Drug Administration, published online today, found that overall prescriptions for antibiotics dropped between 2002 and 2010.

Among those that dipped were cough medications, by 42 percent. In 2008, the FDA issued an advisory against over-the-counter drugs for minor coughs and colds in young children.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...medium=twitter

[Kazimiera]

I'm not surprised that these drugs are being over-prescribed.

Kids spend their lives traveling from screen to screen. The TV, then the computer, then TV games and more computer games. They are not playing outside anymore and burning off that energy like kids should.

The kids get fed with McDonalds, chips, sweets, soft drinks.

Add to that parents who are never at home. And when they are at home they cannot cope with their kids who have become naughty due to lack of discipline and being on a sugar- and caffeine-rush most of the time.

Then it gets blamed on the children and they get dragged to the nearest doctor who diagnoses ADHD and prescribes a mixture of drugs from which he gets a kick-back from the pharmaceutical company for pimping their drugs.

Granted, many kids DO suffer from ADHD and medication helps them. But there are many, many more kids who don't need it. What they need is positive attention from adults and space to play real games.

[Quorra]

People with adhd should be put in asylums.

[Kazimiera]

People with adhd should be put in asylums.

No. They need parents and proper nutrition.