Ritalin, The Wrong Choice

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Recommended: Attention deficit : the brain disorder of our era

For generations, parents glanced at their children and smiled with pride at their little angels painting of an unrecognizable family scene or at a sticker earned on a spelling paper. Looking back, these make up the happy memories of a father or mother. Parents tend to overlook the tantrums of the terrible twos, the kicking during sibling rivalry matches, the endless hassles of bedtime rituals, which lead to endless nights of waiting for the teenager to come home, not to mention the financial strain of money spent on a child. Yet, for some parents, these headaches do not just happen occasionally. After endless frustrations, these parents turn to medical professionals for help in finding an answer to why their child is not an angel. Often times this answer comes with a perscription for Ritalin. Ritalin, often referred to as the miracle drug, is anything but a miracle. In America, doctors prescribe this depressant too easily; moreover, the side affects outweigh the benefits, and there remains much mystery about this "wonder drug" as well as about the disease it is used to treat.

Ritalin is a powerful drug that doctors continue to investigate how, why and on what it works. Doctors consider Ritalin the number one treatment for children who have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). In the November issue of the Detroit News, a survey taken claimed currently three to five percent of American school children are said to be treated for one of these disorders. This percentage is alarmingly higher than the 1996 survey, which documented one to three percent (Gibbs 90). In fact, most of the American public believe in a major misconception. They do not realize that there is ...

... middle of paper ...

...d ADD is scarce. Parents need to open their eyes and say no. Doctors need to be alert of parents concern for the unknown about this drug and insist on further research. The growing number of children taking this pill each day continues to rise. Americans must stop working long enough to demand research to uncover the true mystery behind Ritalin.

Works Cited

Brink, Susan. "Doing Ritalin Right." U. S. News and World Report. 23 November 1998: 76-81.

Gibbs, Nancy. "The Age of Ritalin." Time Magazine 30 November 1998: 89-92.

Kassin, Saul. "Psychology Disorders and Education: Attention-Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder." Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1998: 318-19.

Recer, Paul. "Attention Deficit Disorder Hard to Diagnose." Detroit News. 19 November 1998: A5.

Stammen, Ken. "Ritalin." Morning Journal 26 June 1995: 23-4.

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