Are We Overdosing Innocent Children?

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported that the number of children ages 2-4 taking psychiatric drugs, including Ritalin and anti-depressants such as Prozac, increased 50 percent between 1991 and 1995. Another source claims that, by 1996, U.S. kids were consuming 90 percent of the world’s Ritalin, and that 10-12 percent of all American school boys were taking Ritalin. Between 1.5 million and 3 million American children are taking drugs to combat mental disturbances, including attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There’s apparently little evidence of overdiagnosis of these disorders, or of widespread overprescription of Ritalin.

Evidence points to childhood hyperactivity as a strong risk factor for early onset of substance abuse and later violence, social problems and academic underachievement. Clearly, treatment is essential. When prescribed appropriately, drugs have great value.

But with prescription numbers this alarmingly high, one must question whether psychiatric drugs are being prescribed as casually as, say, antibiotics.

Some experts worry because the effects of such powerful drugs on young children’s development are not well-documented. And the diagnosis of mental disorders is in itself a highly subjective process.

In 1998, the National Institutes of Health labeled ADD a “profound problem” that may affect 3-5 percent of American school children. But, there’s no consistent diagnostic method. And, the NIH claimed, although Ritalin and other drugs may correct behavior problems in the classroom, there’s no evidence of improvements academically.

Researchers have revealed an effective new test, a brain scan. But this test is prohibitively expensive and not widely available.

Conspicuously lacking is information about why this need to give young children powerful, addictive drugs has become so common in the first place. Parents and medical professionals should be seeking solid scientific information about why so many kids now need drugs to keep from bouncing off walls.

Old-timers, and even not-so-old-timers, can’t remember a time during their elementary school days when kids would routinely line up for the school nurse to administer mood-altering drugs. In spite of that, typical classrooms weren’t a sea of chaos as a result of numerous disruptive youngsters. Why has this changed so much?

It would appear that American kids are harder hit by psychiatric disorders and resultant drug treatment than children in other countries. Could this indicate a societal root to the problem? Maybe we stressed-out Americans with our frantically-paced lives are just not as tolerant of whirlwind toddlers, and some cases of hyperactivity are diagnosed in error. Then, there’s our reliance on electronic stimuli.

Or, perhaps Americans are just quicker to reach for a pill to fix every ailment ranging from obesity to sleeplessness to common stress. This mindset should play no part in the drugging of innocent children - especially since we are teaching them to “just say no” to street drugs.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest claims that diet, particularly food dyes and additives, may be a factor in the disorder. The National Institutes of Health released findings that suggest promising results from omega-3 treatment. Omega-3 fatty acids are found naturally in fish, leafy green vegetables, nuts and certain oils. Dietary approaches to prevention and treatment are appealing.

The “whys” of childhood behavioral disorders need to be more explicitly defined. We must address the problem’s roots rather than increasingly treating the symptoms with drugs.