Children’s Rising Use of Ritalin

Children’s Rising Use of Ritalin

            The continually soaring use of Ritalin and such-related drugs among children has become a global issue of concern. It is raising questions around who to blame for this: the parents, doctors, or kids themselves. Thesedrugs are used to treat conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and ADD, which are commonly diagnosed in children. Parents and doctors have made it the norm to medicate when behavioral changes start showing in kids, which is the problem at hand.

In most cases, when children start acting up at home or school, they receive a diagnosis of ADHD and a subsequent prescription of Ritalin. This poses as a warning sign and an urgent call for attention on this matter. When a child gets expelled from school for whatever ills they did, parents rush to take them for an ADHD diagnosis, after which the doctor probably administers the patient a dosage of Ritalin. The question is, does this drug cure bad behavior? Well, it doesn’t, albeit it is “proven to treat patients of ADHD- an intricate neurodevelopmental disorder” (Olescowicz 223). But do all the children who receive this prescription have ADHD? Definitely not. Any drug that can be induced into the body has side effects, and Ritalin use could be causing patients more harm than good.

Should the parents get blamed? To some point, they should. It is normal for a child, especially one approaching puberty, to start doing and seeing things differently. They may develop an out-of-control behavior that drives them to act like the world is now in their hands, and they can do whatever they want. The best way to handle such a child is by taking them to therapists who specialize in such cases for a one-on-one conversation with someone who would understand and help them. Research reveals that “most parents medicate their kids in cases where they only needed to talk to them.”(Eveleigh 150) This is somewhat true, considering that not all changes in a child call for medication..

Should the doctors be inculpated? Medical reports indicate that ADHD, far from being treacherously common, has been deplorably under-diagnosed in the US. The condition is proven to lead to mild anxiety, depression, poor social life, and even unemployment. When a child is diagnosed with the condition, they may have to be transferred to a special school and end up feeling different from other kids. Ritalin, prescribed in the right amounts, can be an effective drug for ADHD but is not advised for a person who is unsure about having the condition. (Bohomol 167)A physician has the most influence on a patient’s life, being in the position to offer advice on things that one would not have known by themselves. Doctors who assume that a kid is suffering from this ailment- without running a diagnosis- should take the blame for the spiraling use of Ritalin.

In conclusion, the steadily swelling use of Ritalin, and other drugs of its kind, is a cause of alarm. The blame for this increasing, and possibly dangerous, use can be put on the doctors who are not keen before prescribing the drugs, as well as the parents who rush to medicate their children after noticing the slightest changes in their behavior.

Works Cited

Bohomol, Elena. “Medication Errors: Descriptive Study of Medication Classes and High-Alert Medication.” Escola Anna Nery – Revista De Enfermagem, vol. 18, no. 2, 2014, doi:10.5935/1414-8145.20140045.

Eveleigh, Rhona, et al. “Withdrawal of Unnecessary Antidepressant Medication: a Randomised Controlled Trial in Primary Care.” BJGP Open, vol. 1, no. 4, 2017, doi:10.3399/bjgpopen17x101265.

Oleskowicz, Tanya Oleskowicz Tanya. “How Does Taking Ritalin Affect Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder Patients?” 2018, doi:10.18258/11943.