ADD/ADHD: A Decision That Can Change a Life
Although American culture has changed over the years, parents today still want what is best for their children. Why then, are parents allowing their children to be put on medications that may have an adverse effect on their children? Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) have increasingly been diagnosed among young children today. Parents should become more informed about the over diagnosing, side effects, results of the medication and all other pertinent information before they allow their children to become treated. In this research paper we are first going to look at why ADD and ADHD diagnosing has become so widespread. Then we will look into the side effects of Ritalin; the number one drug prescribed for ADD and ADHD. Finally, we will consider the results of the treatment. ADD and ADHD have had a dramatic rate of increase since it was first “discovered” 25 years ago. “This “epidemic” has grown from 500 thousand in 1985 to between five and seven million today.” (Baughman) ADD and ADHD have become popular for many reasons. In today’s American culture and fast paced society it is likely that both parents will work. This breaks down the traditional family where only one parent would w . . .
These schools are also looking for a “quick fix” to the problem. ” (Breggin) In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Fred A. Examples of these types of violent episodes are the Columbine shootings, where all the shooters had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Ritalin for drug therapy. The Swiss pharmaceutical company Navartis is also soaring on the stock market, with federal funds to support the use of it in classrooms, and the purposed use of more drugs in the classroom (Luvox and Prozac). I recently saw a movie that is symbolic of this parental approach. With all the advertising of Ritalin as a cure for ADD and all the knowledge of it’s existence and use, few people seem to be concerned or know anything of the side-effects that Ritalin has. Ritalin however, actually has quite a few side effects to include but not limit to “brain damage, impaired learning, psychosis, depression and apathy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, motor tics, insomnia, reduced appetite, cardiovascular disease, growth suppression and even death. Teachers also play a key role in the over diagnosing of ADD and ADHD. CHADD (Children and Adults with deficit disorder) is the organization that parents turn to. Due to new federal programs and funding, (in 1991 federal education I grant were changed to provide schools with $400 per each student diagnosed with ADD) schools are now allocated with in-school clinics and psychologists to help determine if students have learning disabilities. 126 of these adverse reactions were cardiovascular. This leads to a tremendous breakdown in parental supervision and involvement in their children’s academics. Teachers today, although they only receive education up to a master’s degree to teach in K-12th grade, have become psychiatric doctors. 1 – “Mathematics Disorder,” if a child can’t write literature composition he/she must be suffering from code 315. Parents should reconsider drug treatment for ADD and look for alternatives; ones that provide healthy results.
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