PSYCH DRUG America: More than 8 million children now on mind-altering psychiatric medication
by: Isabelle Z.
NaturalNews.com
Thursday, May 31, 2018
As more children are being prescribed psychiatric drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, misuse is also on the rise, prompting experts to question why so many kids are being told they need psychiatric drugs in the first place.
The journal Pediatrics reports that poison control centers saw more than 150,000 calls related to people younger than 20 being improperly exposed to such meds from 2000 to 2014. Some of the drugs that are commonly prescribed for ADHD include Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta.
It’s not surprising when you consider that around 6.1 million children aged 2 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, and six in ten of these children are taking medication for the condition. The numbers rose by 2 million between 2003 and 2011, and it looks like the problem isn’t going away any time soon. As a matter of fact, the risk of a three-year-old being diagnosed with ADHD is now more than 40 percent, showing how wildly overdiagnosed this condition is. Overall, more than eight million American children take some type of psychotropic drugs.
The poison control calls were related to unintentional exposures via improperly stored pills, overdoses, or failure to follow directions. Seventy-five percent of these types of calls were for kids younger than 12.
Another very concerning aspect is abuse, which accounted for nearly a quarter of the calls among teens. Nearly 9,000 calls pertained to those who were using the pills in an attempt to commit suicide, prompting serious concerns among experts. Overall, poison control centers are seeing an average of 29 calls per day and 200 calls per week related to ADHD drugs.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Center for Injury Research and Policy Director Gary Smith, who was a senior author of their study, said: “They’re taking bigger doses, it’s resulting in more serious outcomes and it’s not infrequent,” he says. “Looking into the motivations behind these attempted suicides would be absolutely critical.”
It’s not uncommon for college students under pressure to perform well academically to use ADHD drugs as “study drugs” in hopes of improving their focus. Many mistakenly believe they can’t be that harmful if they’re given to children regularly, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. These stimulants carry some very serious side effects, including high blood pressure, drowsiness, irritability, and rapid heartbeat, and overdoses can be fatal.
What are the ramifications of a drugged-up society?
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