Today, a full 61 percent of adults use at least one drug to treat a chronic health problem, a nearly 15 percent rise since 2001. In today’s society doctors around America are abusing the privilege to prescribe medicine. This then causes the issue of overmedication. Americans who are being prescribed drugs that are not needed for them have more risk of side effects. The long-term effects are dangerous and have caused numerous children hospitalized. Americans who are buying treatments for ADHD, depression, and many more disorders have spent over 4 billion dollars in the past year. Prices are increasing because the desires for these drugs are becoming more prevalent. Overmedication is a global issue that is affecting children that come from many different backgrounds and live in many different areas in America. Unknowingly, children have been the number one abusers of psychotropic medications. Children in the United States are on drugs for longer and more often than kids in any other country. Most children who are overmedicated come from foster homes and children of low-income parents. Most children who come from foster homes have experienced some type of trauma, for example, being taken away from their families. These children are at higher risk for having emotional disorders and mental health disorders. They often receive medications …show more content…
College students abuse these drugs because they want to boost their academic performance through better focusing. A 2010 CDC survey found that one in five U.S. high school students said they had taken a prescription drug such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin or Xanax without a physician's prescription. Some parents request prescription drugs because their kids misbehave in school, get low grades. Some parents even fake conditions for their child in hopes of receiving the medications for themselves. Should it be this easy to obtained
Prescription and pharmaceutical drug abuse is beginning to expand as a social issue within the United States because of the variety of drugs, their growing availability, and the social acceptance and peer pressure to uses them. Many in the workforce are suffering and failing at getting better due to the desperation driving their addiction.
In today’s society, a lot of emphasis is placed on administering drugs and medicating people with psychological issues; however, most of these ailments and issues have the ability be treated through the use of talk therapy rather than medication. Americans are particularly guilty of over medicating when it comes to our more common mental health diagnosis such as, ADHD, depression, and anxiety. We as a society expect things to be done at the snap of a finger; in our advancement of science, we have been able to discover ways of offering the results we want quickly, inexpensively, and with little effort. Unfortunately, although the use of medications, also known as psychoactive drugs, occasionally remove the symptoms, but they do little to remove the causes of these mental health issues. In addition, to the lack of solution that the use of psychoactive drugs offer, they can also have unwanted and dangerous side effects. These can include simple physical irritants such as dry mouth and head aches, and can range up to dependency and substance abuse, and in some cases even death. Moreover, there are cases of inappropriate prescribing, where doctors are authorizing the use of medications that don’t work or are not pertinent to the issue the patient is experiencing. Furthermore, some of these doctors are issuing these medications without subjecting the patient to a proper mental health evaluation by a psychological professional.
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
Psychotropic medications, also referred to as psychiatric or psychotherapeutic medications, are used to treat psychiatric disorders, such as: depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They have been used for many years and oftentimes come with dangerous side effects. The side effects that often occur in children taking these medications can include: fainting, blurred vision, vomiting, extreme weight gain, and even death ("Seroquel information,” n.d.). The use of psychotropic medication to treat mental disorders in children and adolescents is highly controversial because of ethical viewpoints (i.e. parents “drugging” their children to calm them down) and potentially harmful side effects, but one has to take into consideration whether the risks outweigh the benefits when deciding whether or not to give this type of medication to children.
There has been an increase in the Misuse and Abuse of prescription drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). the number of children on medication for ADHD has grown from 600,000 in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2013 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But although there is an over-medication of ADHD drugs, there is actually and under-medication since not all the right people are getting medicated. Many individuals lack insurance or are insured with health plans that do not cover the outpatient prescription drugs they need and cannot afford.10 Therefore, Individuals covered by various health plans and programs, and those who have no prescription drug coverage, pay significantly different prices for the same medications. As the demand for ADHD drugs grows, higher prescribing rates and increasing drug prices result, which creates problems for these number of Americans who cannot afford the treatment they require.
Of course, to obtain a prescription medication such as a strong pain killer, you would think you would need a prescription. So how are so many teens retrieving these drugs that can permanently alter their lives? In this day and age, most teenagers have access to the internet, computer, and all sorts of technology. The statement, “you can find anything on the internet,” holds true in this situation, as many teens are able to purchase all sorts of prescription medication online (4). If a parent suspects their child may be abusing prescription drugs, they should begin monitoring their search history and credit card purchases. It is shocking that teenagers can so easily purchase drugs online, just as easily as purchasing anything else. Another way these teens may be obtaining prescription drugs is by theft. Believe it or not, many teen
Typical ADHD drug overdoses lead to an estimated 3,000 Emergency Room visits each year (Vinerd. 2006). In 2010 alone, there were 17, 000 human exposures to ADHD medications. This number is just what was reported to the Poison Control Center. Eighty percent of these overdoses occurred in kids younger than 19 years old. The other twenty percent of the overdoses occurred in adults (Stiller, 2013).This leads to the number one question: Who is to blame for these overdoes? Do we blame the doctors prescribing the medications or do we blame society?
When parents and doctors put children on dangerous medications like Adderall, Dexedrine, and Ritalin, they seem to overlook the dangers and consequences that come with taking antidepressants and stimulants. Children can often end up suffering from a more severe sickness than when they started when they began the treatments (source #8). The ...
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder that causes children to have problems with paying attention, trouble with following instructions, have impulsive behaviors and become easily distracted. Medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are used to treat the symptoms of this disorder by helping the patient to focus and pay attention while also curbing their impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Side effects of these medications are, but not limited to, anxiety, addiction and in some cases psychosis. Proponents of giving ADHD medication to children argue that ADHD is a real disorder in children and the medication does improve the symptoms of the disorder by a large margin as well as being cost effective. Also, not only are the parents happy with the outcome of their children taking the prescribed medication but so are the children themselves. Proponents also argue that by not letting parents of the children, young adults and adults choose to take these prescriptions when diagnosed with ADHD that the medical and psychiatric communities would be in violation of the principle of autonomy. Justice as well would be violated since most of the burden of dealing with all the symptoms caused by this disorder would fall onto those with ADHD and partly on their families. Opponents of giving ADHD medication to children point out that it is not only going to children with ADHD but also being prescribed to those not diagnosed with the disorder as well as the pills being given or sold to other children and young adults. They also claim that the full side effects of ADHD medication are still not known and could have harmful long- lasting side effects on the children taking the medications. In this case, the princip...
The documentary “The Medicated Child” gave me a lot of insight into the lives of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When we hear and learn about bipolar disorder, we do not normally think of children. However, there are many children diagnosed with bipolar disorder ranging from all ages. As we saw in the documentary, bipolar disorder can be very hard on both the child and the family, so finding a cure that is effective and safe is important. The video also highlighted how little research there has been on the effectiveness of antidepressants on children.
Twenty-five percent of all participating adolescents experienced physical abuse, which is a nearly three-fold increase in risk compared to the general population. Prevalence rates in residential care, especially in secure care, were significantly higher than in foster care” (Euser, Alink, Tharner, Van IJzendoorn, Bakersman-Kranenburg, 2013). Children who are abused often act out in other forums. These are the children that become the bullies, or begin stealing from stores. They also have a decrease in grades. It is sometimes difficult for children who are abused before entering foster care, to find a home placement due to their background. Many foster families do not want to take a chance with an abused child who may begin to act out, especially with older children. Abused children many times, turn to drugs and alcohol. They become addicted to these things and when they become legal age to live on their own, they become homeless. They do not have the skills and knowledge that they need to
Most adolescents who misuse prescription pain relievers are given the medication by an unknown friend or relative. This is a situation that can easily be avoided with an education on the risks of opioids. Patricia Schram, MD, an adolescent substance abuse specialist at Children’s Hospital Boston, stresses the importance of parent involvement in preventing young adults from abusing opioids and in the recovery process, citing a study that claimed, “teens were less likely to abuse opioids if their parents often checked their homework, if they had been frequently praised by their parents and if they perceived strong disapproval of marijuana from their parents” (Viamont 1). Besides parent and family involvement, physicians have a role to play in preventing the spread of the opioid epidemic.
There are many other options and treatment plans for people to consider before handing their life over to drugs. Drugs are not meant to be legalized without proper information and education about the drug for the public. Educational programs in the school system are a way of teaching the youth of how harmful these substances are. Even though some may be effective in treating pain, there are long-term side effects associated with these drugs that people need to consider. Pain is inevitable and suffering is
In today’s society everything needs to be resolved fast and efficient, and with prescription medicine you’re getting that because of the advancements being made in technology and medicine, but you’re also suffering the consequences if you are constantly taking them for every little pain and bruise. Doctors shouldn’t prescribe you prescription painkillers unless they can determine if you really need them and should require another doctor opinion when prescribing to teens under the age of 21. I say they this because they need to be very strict on these drugs because they are very harmful and they give them out so willingly.