Caution Is Key In Using Ritalin
They used to call it “hyper.”
No big deal, really. Just a label for overactive kids. It was as much a playground taunt as a parental lament.
But “hyper” has given way to “attention deficit disorder,” a new name with its own wonder drug and an accompanying controversy - one that’s been brewing for decades.
Should children be medicated for bad behavior? Are doctors screening kids thoroughly before prescribing the “sit-still pill”? Should the drugs be easier to get?
Today’s Spokesman-Review features the final installment of a three-day series on attention deficit disorder and Ritalin, the drug most commonly prescribed to calm kids. It shows that use of Ritalin has skyrocketed over the last four years. Eleven tons of the stuff will be produced in 1995 - enough to keep 1.5 million children medicated for the year - and the pharmaceutical companies want to make more.
It’s a problem with no easy answers. Talk to parents of some of the worst cases, and they’ll tell you about out-of-control kids and the positive changes that have come with medication. But talk to others, and you’ll find people wary of the effects of drugs on developing minds and bodies.
Trouble is: No one knows the total effect. Ritalin causes decreased appetites, sleep problems, stomachaches and - in rare cases - stunted growth and Tourette’s syndrome. There’s scant research on the long-term effects of Ritalin. Who knows what problems this medicated generation will have as adults?
Parents are hesitant to use the drug. They should be. They should insist on intensive testing for attention deficit disorder and use medication only as a last resort, not a quick fix.
There are other options, too, found in today’s stories. Children with attention deficit disorder benefit from strict, dependable boundaries. They need a clear understanding of rewards and consequences. Close communication between school and home also is imperative.
Parents should be skeptical, too, of attention deficit disorder education and support groups - bankrolled by pharmaceutical companies - pushing for fewer restrictions on Ritalin. Right now, the drug is tightly controlled by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; prescriptions must be renewed every month.
That’s as it should be. Children should be examined regularly, their prescriptions re-evaluated routinely.
Each case should be considered on an individual basis; it’s the only way to ensure that children remain individuals to doctors - not just another slip of paper and another vial of pills in a mass diagnosis.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Anne Windishar/For the editorial board