Commentary Essay

ENG-105 English Composition I

Jan Wakefield

The rise in ADHD and Prescription Medications

There has been a significant rise in the diagnosis of ADHD as well as an increase in the use of pharmaceutical drugs to treat this mental disorder. ADHD is a disorder that is in all cultures and the exact cause is yet to be known. ADD/ADHD is known as “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, this label came about in the 1980’s. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is a mental behavioral disorder that affects up to 1 in 20 children in the United State of America (World Psychiatry, 2003 Par.1)”. In the past three decades the prescribed drug of choice Methylphenidate has risen exponentially (Dillar, 1998). About 1.5 million adolescents and youth between the ages of 5 to 18 are on some form of medication for ADHD (Dillar, 1998). Are physicians over diagnosing and mislabeling children as ADHD? Are could it be a difference in the understanding of the definition and symptoms of ADHD?

Perhaps there is a trend in the increase of prescriptions being prescribed for ADHD or could it just be parents wanting a quick fix for their children? The definition of ADHD is not being able to focus, being overactive, not being able to control behavior, or a combination of these (Medline Plus, 2013). To be given a true diagnosis of ADHD these problems have to be out of the normal range for the appropriate age and development. There are three categories for Symptoms of ADHD they are: Predominantly Inattentive the inability to focus, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive being extremely overactive and the third is Combined Hyperactive-Impulsive Inattentive which is the inability to control ones behavior. It is so easy to see where children can be mislabeled as being ADHD for all adolescents and youth have some degree of hyperactivity, inattentiveness, and impulsivity. A lot of these same symptoms could also be associated with normal adolescent behaviors. Could it be that maybe...