Re: Medicating children with ADD
Interesting topic, and it tends to get people fired up. I know a few elementary/middle school teachers, and they freely admit that the medication is getting out of hand. Typically, a teacher will "diagnose" a student as ADHD and pressure the parents to get the meds. The parents go to either their family doc or a psychiatrist...in either case, the "evaluation" is usually pretty meager and the scrip is written with a minimum of fuss. I have no doubt that the medications have worked wonders for many kids, but I also have no doubt that there are countless thousands on stimulants right now whose only "illness" is being a boy.
I've read some compelling research that indicates this is genetic...then again, I've also read that it seems far more prevalant in children raised by single parents. (Interactionist maybe?) Back in March, Head Shrinker, MD said, "I think anyone who dosen't believe in medicating ADHD hasn't spent enough time with hyperactive children." Well, I've spent a lot of time with hyperactive kids, and strangely enough, the more time I spend with them, the less hyperactive they tend to be. I think a lot of these kids have normal problems, but the teachers don't have the time, resources, or authority to work with them effectively, the parents either don't have the time (or won't make it) and getting an MD to write up a scrip for stimulants is just less of a hassle for everyone involved. (Not true for everyone, of course, but a lot of cases seem to fit the bill.)
|