Medicating Children with Behavioral and Psychological...

Every parent who has a child suffering from a psychological disorder that affects their behavior dreads a new school year. This means new teachers not aware of the disorder, more parent-teacher conferences, and more pressure to medicate the child. The most common and well known behavioral disorders are Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Most Americans have heard of Ritalin and Adderall, either being used to calm hyperactive children or used illegally across every college campus for the purpose of studying. These are two completely different circumstances, which may be confusing to some. The reason that these two different groups of people get two vastly different results from the same drug is that these belong to the drug class of central nervous system (CNS) stimulants. CNS stimulants increase alertness mentally and physically, but do the opposite for those with hyperactivity disorders. This is because these drugs release dopamine l evels in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that is related with motivation (Healthline Editorial Team). As controversial as medicating children with behavioral disorders may be, over half of all diagnosed cases in children between the ages of four and seventeen were being medicated with central nervous system stimulants, sixty-six point three percent to be exact (CDC). Many see prescription drugs as an easy fix to behavioral disorders, but not as many realize these medications canShow MoreRelatedBeing Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder ( Adhd ) Essay1706 Words   |  7 Pagesfighting over medicating their children. We hear so much about the raise in medication and think about our own childhood where the children were not taking medication or labeled as having Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But what a lot of us don’t know is that it was always with us. 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