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By Dr. Mercola
According to a 2010 US government survey, 1 in 10 American children now has attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD)—a 22 percent increase from 2003.
ADHD makes it hard for children to pay
attention and control impulsive behavior.
Cancer, Changes in personality depression, and/or hallucinations Heart
attack and stroke, Sudden death and suicide
About two-thirds of the children diagnosed with ADHD are on some form of prescription medication, and
according to data recently released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), ADHD drugs
such as Ritalin, Vyvanse, Strattera, and Adderall (and their generic equivalents) were responsible for nearly 23,000 emergency
room visits in 2011
This is a more than 400 percent increase in ER visits due
to adverse reactions to such drugs in a mere six years! According to the featured article in Forbes Magazine1:
“The population group studied was 18-34, but the rise was most dramatic among 18-
to 25-year-olds, Federal officials say
The report, which was published August 8th in The DAWN Report2,
a SAMSA publication, also warned that heart and blood vessel damage has been linked with 'nonmedical' use of the stimulant
drugs, based on a 2012 study reported in Brain and Behavior.”
Misuse of Behavior-Modification Drugs Is Rising
Dramatically
The DAWN report highlights the growing trend of prescription
drug abuse, and reveals that more than half of these youngsters—primarily college-aged—obtained the drug either
from a friend or relative, free of charge. Seventeen percent purchased them from someone they knew
Other reports also show a dramatic spike in ADHD drug abuse.“Data from I.M.S. Health4
found that 48.4 million prescriptions for ADHD stimulants were written in 2011, a 39 percent jump from 2007. More importantly,
close to 14,000 new monthly prescriptions were written for ADHD stimulants, up from 5.6 million in 2007,” the featured article states
Far from being recognized for their potential health hazards,
these kinds of stimulants have gained a reputation as “cognition enhancers” among students and young professionals
seeking to gain an edge. Unfortunately, it’s exceedingly easy to fake ADHD symptoms in order to secure a prescription,
and as noted in a 2008 study published in the Journal of American College Health
“Of the study participants, 34 percent reported the illegal use of ADHD stimulants.
Most illegal users reported using ADHD stimulants primarily in periods of high academic stress and found them to reduce fatigue
while increasing reading comprehension, interest, cognition, and memory. Furthermore, most had little information about the
drug and found procurement to be both easy and stigma free.”
Meanwhile, the potential side effects of ADHD drugs are actually
quite serious. Certainly, no one should take them without being under a competent doctor’s care:
In related news, US health officials have launched a federal probe into the use of antipsychotic drugs on children in the Medicaid
system. According to a study of data from 2004, kids using Medicaid were prescribed antipsychotic medications four times more
often than those with private insurance. In 2008, more than 19,000 children under the age of five received Medicaid prescriptions
for antipsychotics. Most shocking of all, the study also found that Medicaid prescriptions for antipsychotics were issued
to children younger than one year old! It’s exceedingly difficult to
fathom a situation that would actually warrant giving a toddler an antipsychotic drug... After all, medications cannot address
the underlying cause of aberrant behavior.
What Is ADHD, and What Causes It?
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) involves
a cluster of symptoms that include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behaviors. Often, children with the conditions
may struggle in school and with relationships, and suffer from low self-esteem. The similar term attention deficit disorder
(ADD) has largely been replaced with ADHD, as it describes two of the most common symptoms of the condition, inattention and
hyperactive-impulsive behavior. Most children display a combination of these two traits, along with the following symptoms
Frequent fidgeting or squirmingHas difficulty playing quietlyAlways seems on
the goFeels restless or often runs and climbs excessively, or leaves
his or her seat in the classroom when not appropriateTalks excessively,
interrupts often, and may blurt out answers to questions at inappropriate timesHas difficulty waiting his or her turnFrequent daydreamingFrequently has problems organizing tasks or activitiesDifficulty following through on instructions and apparently not listening
As you can see, many of these “symptoms”
could describe virtually any child, or most children, at one time or another. As such, those who display these symptoms at
school but not at home or with friends are not considered to have ADHD. Ditto for children who display symptoms at home but
not at school. Only children who struggle with inattention and hyperactive or impulsive behaviors around the clock are deemed
to have ADHD—although a 2010 study published in the Journal of Health Economics8 determined
that about 20 percent of children are likely to have been misdiagnosed.
The cause of ADHD remains elusive, and according
to psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg, who was hailed as the “scientific father of ADHD,” the disorder is “a prime example of a fictitious disease.” Eisenberg made this confession in a 2012 interview with the German paper Der Spiegel,
just seven months prior to his death9
at the age of 87.
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