Obesity In America

Ritalin: Good or Bad?

Imagine yourself sitting in a classroom at school, say a psychology class. There is a professor teaching at the very front of the room, but a grounds crew member snow blowing the sidewalks outside captures your attention instead. When the snow blower drives away, yet, you feel bored and impatient. Pretty soon your swinging feet smash into the seat in front of you. This makes an earsplitting and stunning noise that alerts the professor. Although, the sudden activity jolts you back into focus. It happens all the time, and you have quite a reputation for this sort of commotion. And besides, it isn't really your fault. They all say in all probability that you have ADD or ADHD or something akin to that and you can't help but act this way. It's just the way life is for several kids. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a major concern among parents, educators, and pediatricians today. This disorder appears to affect massive numbers of children and adolescents, rendering them incapable of functioning along with their unaffected peers. Unfortunately, many psychologists will admit that "the condition is over diagnosed" (Meyer 1). When ADHD first became popularized in the media, parents flooded doctor's offices with hyper or unsatisfactory children in order to get a diagnosis confirming that the child was "not right." The future seemed open to possibilities of treatments that could allow children to concentrate easier in school and behave better at home. Unfortunately, most child caretakers sought a quick fix for these children, rather than long-term complete care solutions. Ritalin, a stimulant drug, became the popular choice. Today, Ritalin is prescribed to a large percentage of school-age children. Many parents and teachers consider Ritalin to be a miracle drug; however, many others believe Ritalin is harmful to children. Despite the concerns, "there has been a tenfold increase in the production of Ritalin in the United States in the last decade, and the rates are probably rising." (Breggin 1) Ritalin actually has several harmful side effects and does not help the core issues; therefore, it is a dangerous drug to prescribe to children.

There is not one single set of symptoms that determines the presence of ADHD. "Some are dreamy, drifty, or spaced-out, but not hyperactive....Other youngsters seem to be in constant motion, bouncing off the walls, driven and motorized. Still others cannot wait, interrupt constantly, must be first, and are always seeking out something new or stimulating." (Reichenberg-Ullman 1) This can make diagnosis difficult. Some people argue that ADHD is not even a real disorder, despite the APA publications regarding it. The symptoms of ADHD, as described above, may simply be the behavior of a normal child. "Except for a minority of cases involving distinct medical problems such as hyperthyroidism and explicit brain injuries, most youngsters diagnosed with ADHD may simply be normal, highly playful children who have difficulty adjusting to certain institutional expectations." (Panksepp 1) In many cases, problems that look like ADHD are hiding other issues, such as language or memory difficulties, learning disabilities, emotional disorders, or even hearing and vision problems. This can result in children being misdiagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin, which can be dangerous to them. Before prescribing Ritalin so freely, researchers need to produce evidence that Ritalin is not harmful to small children.

Ritalin is used by so many people because it seems to be easier than dealing with the untreated child, or seeking alternative treatment options. "Despite increasingly widespread concern over ADHD medications being given to some children unnecessarily, drugs have unquestionably helped children who truly do have ADHD." (Meyer 1) The question, however, remains regarding whether or not ADHD can be properly diagnosed at all. Until ADHD was introduced to the public, children with this supposed disorder were only known as "daydreamers," and while these students sometimes had academic trouble, they still functioned in society. Yet children are being diagnosed with ADHD constantly, and one may ask how this is possible if the disorder is not as common as some doctors' claim. "Parents of normal children have actually asked for Ritalin just to improve their child's grades," and if parents cannot convince one doctor to diagnose and drug their child the way they want, then they will just go to another doctor. (Hancock 1) Doctors often do not perform a complete evaluation of the patient, but instead rely on the information relayed to them by parents, who have often received the information second-hand from the child's school.

Sometimes ADHD is a misdiagnosis of a real condition, "such as learning disabilities, depression, or anxiety-disorders that look like ADHD, but do not need Ritalin," (Hancock) however just as often it is simply a dangerous label put onto normal children. The teachers and school administrators who often first tell parents that a child has ADHD rarely have a working knowledge of psychology or medicine: "Judith Wiener, a clinical psychologist, is not impressed with what teachers know about ADHD or the drugs so often used to treat it" (National Post 1). Many schools attempt to convince parents to put their children on Ritalin, even if the parents are reluctant; some parents, like Sheila Matthews from Connecticut, suspect that "the school system was trying to medicate him just to make it easier for the teachers" (AP 1).

It is not a minimal concern that Ritalin is being over-prescribed to children. Ritalin has been shown to have very serious side effects and to be quite dangerous. ADHD victims have less of the neurotransmitter dopamine in their brains. This chemical messenger is believed to cause the brain to be more aware and more focused. With ADHD victims, it seems that the brain has more difficulty maintaining dopamine levels and a harder time keeping focus. According to Ritalin proponents, Ritalin works to maintain dopamine levels. However, the long-term risk to children who take Ritalin to manage ADHD is unknown. Consequently, it is too dangerous a drug to be administered so freely. Recent studies have also shown that Ritalin will make children more likely to become addicted to illegal drugs because of "brain cell changes that subsequently made them more sensitive to the rewarding effects of cocaine." (Update on Ritalin 1) Additionally, Children exposed to Ritalin may become "less responsive to natural rewards...and more sensitive to stressful situations experiencing increased anxiety-like behaviors and enhanced blood levels