Currently there are millions of kids in the United State of America who are on prescription drugs for ADHD, diabetes, depression and insomnia. Children are being treated with controlled medications from a young age for various behavioral problems as well. This raises some serious questions about the mental state of a large number of kids as well as the question of them being over medicated. A 2014 article by Thomas Insel for the National Institute for Medical Health states that there could be a problem of under medication and not over medication. Insel gives statistics- 10,000 toddlers receiving psychostimulant medication, 7.5 per cent of kids taking medication for emotional and behavioral difficulties that are both alarming and disturbing (Insel 2014). These statistics go to prove that a large percentage of kids are being medicated for behavioral problems. But it does not really elaborate on what is causing these problems. Kids these days grow up in an environment that is completely different from how kids were brought up a few decades ago. Competitive parents, stressful environment at home and school, more time spent on television, computer and other devices, working parents are the norm these days. The kids also do not spend a lot of time playing outside. They are forced to sit still for long hours in the classroom or remain idle in front of their devices. This causes a lot of stress and prevents them from burning all their extra energy by running around and playing. To top it all they are more likely to be spoilt with parents giving them whatever they need at any given time. All this combined together results in a kid who is spoilt and gets irritable easily. When kids express their stress, anxiety and irritability, there are either reprimands or concern on the part of the family, school or the doctors. In many cases, kids who show behavioral problems at school and home are diagnosed with and prescribed medications for ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. More of than not, kids are diagnosed with this problem without considering their background or family conditions. This leads to the problem of over medication. A lot of kids are either misdiagnosed overmedicated these days due to a combination of over-anxious parents, pushy drug companies and a general lack of time among doctors, guardians, parents and teachers to look at and deal with the underlying problems.
There is a thin line between bad behavior and pathological behavior. A child can be naturally energetic, curious and exuberant. Young children on an average have more energy levels than adults and are not restricted by the responsibilities of adults. They have to run around, play and generally be physically active to burn off the excessive energy. But when parents do not have the time or the patience to deal with these energetic kids, they seek help from outside. There are also kids from broken families who show their emotional disturbances and lack of love in the family through violent or abnormal behavior outside of their homes.This can range from being physical with other kids at school, crying a lot or being extremely quiet and private. When doctors treat these kids, they often look at the symptoms and diagnose them and do not often concern themselves with the underlying problems at home. They do not have the time to go for extensive sessions with the kids. Since the kids are on medicaid, it is easier to give them medication to control their behavior than to hold long sessions with them. As a result kids, whose problems can be treated with counselling for either the parents or the kids themselves are put on medication. Sometimes they are overmedicated so their behavior could be controlled. Instead of spending more time with the kids and understanding what is causing the problem, the kids are treated for the problems they exhibit. In effect, the kids become the problem while the causes for their problems go largely untreated. This is one of the reasons for kids being overmedicated these days.
There is also a need from the parents for their kids to be perfect in every sense. Kids, as soon as they can talk and walk are put in different classes, such as ballet, horse riding, preschool, piano lessons, singing and more so they would not be left out in the highly competitive world. This places enormous stress on them. They not only have to go for these classes but also have to perform well so the money their parents spend on them can be justified. In their quest for a perfect child, the parents push their kids into doing too many things when they are not old enough to handle it. The kids unable to handle these pressures act out. The result of acting out is seen as mental and behavioral problems that need to be treated. This is a reason why kids as young as 3 and 4 are being overmedicated. The diagnosis of a kid with ADHD is also very subjective. Normal response to stress and other normal childhood behavior are now easily being labeled as one disorder or the other than needs to be treated. It is also easier for the parents to put their kids on medication than sit down and analyse their causes. They are also loathe to take the blame for much of their children’s behavior. Forcing a child indoors or making a child sit in one place for a long time can not only cause ADHD but also lead to other problems like diabetes and bad posture. When not enough energy is expended, it is only natural that the kids would suffer from insomnia and other sleeping problems.Since psychiatry is not an exactscience, there is always the problem of the diagnosis being subjective. Kids can be diagnosed with many disorders they do not have. They are medicated for behavior that could be perfectly normal for a child or a teenager.
Another reason for the overmedication of kids are the drug companies. They relentlessly push drugs onto the doctors and the patients in a bid to make more profits. They advertise and also sponsor a lot of studies that show an increase in the behavioral problems of kids. The problem with such sponsored studies is that the doctors and researchers are forced to give a positive result that would please their sponsors. An existing problem can be exaggerated, results can be skewed to show that a problem is bigger than it actually is and results could say that medication is a must when the problem could be solved by other means. Since medicaid and other insurance schemes covers most of their prescription medicines, the parents are also easily sold on medicating their kids. When medicines are pushed relentlessly and more studies are published by respected journals showing an alarming increase in a disorder or problem, parents naturally tend to panic. Even normal behavior of young kids or teenage rebellion could be seen as a major problem. Diet and lifestyle also contribute largely to the problems of kids. Instead of following a healthy feeding plan, kids are being treated for diseases such as diabetes. There is no doubt that diabetes in young children exists and that it creates serious health problems for them. It should also be treated. But changes in diet and lifestyle in early stages of the disease could bring it under control. Instead of overmedicating kids, small changes can be done to bring down their dependance on them,
There are however studies and opinions that state that kids are not over medicated but in fact under medicated. Articles such as the one by Insel state that a lot of kids and their problems go undiagnosed and in fact not enough of them are being treated. They claim that there is a lot of under treatment for kids who really need to be seen by doctors or psychiatrists for their behavioral problems. The problem with these articles and similar opinions is that there exists no clear data or information on what exactly consists a behavioral problem? A child that exhibits anxious behavior, sleeping and eating problem, problem communicating with others cannot be automatically diagnosed as having some serious disorder. The child could exhibit these behaviors as a result of stress from the tense atmosphere in the family, fighting between the parents, lack of enough nutrition or physical activity or stress from peers and school. School going kids are more likely to suffer from peer pressure and school work. In mentioning statistics about the problems of these kids, many forget to dwell into the real causes behind these problems. Medication is seen as the cure when lifestyle changes can be an easy solution.
There remains a serious problem of over medicating kids. Toddlers, and adolescents suffer from severe short term and long term problems because of their medication. Sometimes the side effects are worse than the problems they are diagnosed with. Sometimes it is best to spend some time and figure out what the real cause is instead of treating the problem. If studies show that behavioral and emotional problems have risen in the recent years, then maybe there is a problem with how kids are being raised. Psychiatry is not an exact science and it is alarming to see a number of kids being diagnosed with psychiatric problems. It is true that kids with diabetes and other ailments should be medicated, but if possible the parents and doctors should also look at alternative cures to treat the problem. Chemicals in the medicines can cause more problems in the longer run and hence the problem of over medication should be taken seriously. It exists and should not be taken lightly.
Works Cited
Insel, Thomas. Director’s Blog: Are Children Overmedicated?. National Institute of Mental Health. 6 June 2014. Web. 14 Apr 2016.
