Watchdog Says Report of 10,000 Toddlers on ADHD Drugs Tip of the Iceberg...

a reply to: Boadicea

What one reads doesn't matter, what are the facts? Tim McVeigh wasn't on meds, neither was the boston marathon guy nor the dc sniper. Murica has always been highly medicated, what ever happened to people being nut jobs?

a reply to: Boadicea

Yeah, but there are a LOT of parents like StoutBronx described. My husband worked as a pharm tech, and he would see the numbers of mothers who would come in and basically drug their kids to get them through the summers. And that's what it was - a summer Ritalin rush. They'd stop coming in as soon as the kids hit school again. So clearly not all the problem is from counselors and teachers or the levels of scrips would have stayed high or spiked in the winter, not summer.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Ozsheeple

So none of the blame rests on mommy or daddy who, more often than not, just want to do everything except parent little Johnny or Suzy?

"There's got to be something wrong with him, doc, I can't understand why he's a kid!"

Haha! I posted this a few minutes after your comment:

Parents are not the only problem, but they are the first and primary line of defense for their kids, so parents must be a big part of the solution. But I've heard the amount of pressure parents are under to put their kids on these drugs from doctors and teachers and counselors is crazy. That's not even including what they hear from friends and family -- especially those with a medical background! And just like you said, too often because it benefits them to have a little zombie child, not for the child's real benefit. But first people have to understand it's a problem... and remember they can say "no."

What I didn't post was a whole paragraph I wrote but deleted about letting kids be kids, and moms being mom and dads being dad. Kids need to play and run and bounce and explore and ask questions and check things out and basically learn and grow. So parents need to be there and give them a safe environment and the opportunities to do all this stuff and be there right along with them. And it gets crazy and messy sometimes (but so fun!). But that doesn't seem to fit with what many people want and expect from kids -- and from themselves.

But these kids must need these drugs right? There must have been extensive diagnostic testing performed to determine these kids must have these drugs, right? Nope:

Correct: Personal experience:
Teacher tells parent child has ADD. Parent takes kid to doctor. Doctor writes script. No testing whatsoever.
In my case, parent rips up script, goes to a new doctor, who sends child for testing, which proves no ADD.


These numbers are sicking.

originally posted by: cenpuppie
a reply to: Boadicea

Tim McVeigh wasn't on meds, neither was the boston marathon guy nor the dc sniper.

Thank you for pointing out those exceptions. Much appreciated!

Murica has always been highly medicated...

Always, huh? Um, okay, but speaking specifically to the OP and patented psychiatric pharmaceuticals, well, no.

...what ever happened to people being nut jobs?

I assume the good old-fashioned nut jobs are still out there doing what they've always done... and now we're creating new ones who are killing people. I don't see a downside to identifying them as such so we can stop creating murderers. In fact, I'd say there's a huge plus side to saving innocent lives. And I see a huge down side to ignoring the reality and continue creating monsters and letting people die. But maybe that's just me...

Is there a link to the raw data for this anywhere?
Evertwhere I look it links me back to the same article by the CCHR and that doesn't describe exactly what's being given to whom and why.
I'm sure psychiatric drugs are given out in the States far too easily but at these rates?
And in babies under 12 months old? How could they be diagnosed with a condition that required such a drug?
The numbers seem a bit strange.

Don't get me wrong, if the numbers are true then it's absolutely shocking but my spider sense is tingling.

I'm also a little bit wary of the fact that CCHR are a splinter-group of Scientology who, as we know, have their own, somewhat bizarre views on mental health issues and their causes.
www.scientology.org.uk...

CCHR

originally posted by: Pardon?
Is there a link to the raw data for this anywhere?
Evertwhere I look it links me back to the same article by the CCHR and that doesn't describe exactly what's being given to whom and why.
I'm sure psychiatric drugs are given out in the States far too easily but at these rates?
And in babies under 12 months old? How could they be diagnosed with a condition that required such a drug?
The numbers seem a bit strange.

Don't get me wrong, if the numbers are true then it's absolutely shocking but my spider sense is tingling.

I'm also a little bit wary of the fact that CCHR are a splinter-group of Scientology who, as we know, have their own, somewhat bizarre views on mental health issues and their causes.
www.scientology.org.uk...

CCHR

EDIT It seems that links to a certain site which name rhymes with licky peaks is blocked from this website. How strange...

a reply to: ketsuko

My husband worked as a pharm tech, and he would see the numbers of mothers who would come in and basically drug their kids to get them through the summers. And that's what it was - a summer Ritalin rush. They'd stop coming in as soon as the kids hit school again.

Wow! That's really sad to hear. I always had a lot of fun with my kids during summer breaks. I want to think a lot of mothers still do.

I wonder what that did to the kids being cut off cold turkey like that. I know many of those drugs you have to be tapered off. I don't know if Ritalin is one of them though.

But before we try these drugs you must do the following. Cut out Sugar and fast food. Make them play outdoors and make sure they are getting physical exercise. Martial arts is a great sport for those who don't like Baseball , Football and Soccer. Take away the cell phones and Ipods and Video Games. Then and only after working this in, should you even consider medication. OH I forgot to say , cut out the TV maybe down to an hour in the evenings.

This information is insane. Who would prescribe a toddler these kind of drugs and who would allow these to be prescribed. I think the FDA needs to have it's house cleaned. If a kid is depressed, give them just a little chocolate and if they are hyper, cut back on the sugar drinks and juices.

Yes, we have an epidemic here.

An epidemic in:

- weak minded parents who follow the authority figures every command
- weakly structured family coping mechanisms that would rather rely on medical intervention than using basic behavioral feedback to teach children how to behave
- over authoritative interference in the basic parenting. This one grinds my gears the worst: a school demads students to sit quietly for long periods, and want to dope the ones who cant. My view: the ones who can actually sit for 8 hours are the ones who are abnormal, and the ones who can stay quiet are the pushovers that propagate the entire system. The prototypes for what authority wants
- greedy medical professionals that are all too happy to hook another sucker on monthly visits and the associated payments


The losers here are humanity.

My children are not on any of these drugs. So far, parenting has worked for me.

Honestly, I had no idea the numbers were anywhere near this, especially for children so young.

My first post since rejoining after a few years.

I have been concerned about the mass medication of our populace for a while now.
These stats were an eye opener, so I thought I would do a little research of what some of these meds contained and discovered a little history about them as well.
This might be old news to most but here we go...

These seem to be based on the drug Methylphenidate

"Prescribed to patients beginning in 1960, the drug has become increasingly prescribed since the 1990s, when the diagnosis of ADHD itself became more widely accepted. Between 2007 and 2012 methylphenidate prescriptions increased by 50% in Britain and in 2013 global methylphenidate consumption increased to 2.4 billion doses, a 66% increase compared to the year before.
The US continues to account for more than 80% of global consumption.
Psychostimulants like methylphenidate and amphetamine may be effective in treating ADHD because they increase neurotransmitter activity in these systems".

"Methylphenidate is not approved for children under six years of age".--source-- Wikipedia

Hmmm....Amphetamine?

"Amphetamine...Amphetamine belongs to the phenethylamine class. It is also the parent compound of its own structural class, the substituted amphetamines, which includes prominent substances such as bupropion, cathinone, MDMA (ecstasy), and methamphetamine"...Wiki

Methamphetamine?..This got my attention having first hand experience with friends addicted to this.

"In the United States, methamphetamine hydrochloride, under the trade name Desoxyn, has been approved by the FDA for treating ADHD and obesity in both adults and children."

"The psychological effects of methamphetamine can include euphoria, dysphoria, changes in libido, alertness, apprehension, concentration, decreased sense of fatigue, insomnia or wakefulness, self-confidence, sociability, irritability, restlessness, grandiosity and repetitive and obsessive behaviors. Methamphetamine use also has a high association with anxiety, depression, methamphetamine psychosis, suicide, and violent behaviors"... Wiki

Hmmm....Mass shooter connection?

I know the levels of these chemicals are low in the prescribed ones but my generation did not have them and 99% of us turned out fine. Because of this I would never prescribe them if I had had children.
All my friends and family who have kids and are of the same generation, without exception have never and would never drug their kids.
Their answer to the issue is, stimulate them, interact with them and wear them out....oh and keep them away from sugar!

A little more....

"The History of Meth: From Hitler to Kerouac....

The history of methamphetamine starts with a group of shrubs known as ephedra. These plants, found in many parts of the world, have been used for thousands of years in China, Pakistan, India and the Americas to make teas that help open airways and treat asthma, as well as congestion and cough. In 1887, ephedrine (an amphetamine) was first isolated from the plant. Six years later, methamphetamine was developed from ephedrine, and in 1919 crystallized methamphetamine was first produced from ephedrine using iodine and red phosphorus. Both amphetamine and methamphetamine initially existed without any particular purpose.

Nazi leaders distributed millions of doses of methamphetamine in tablets called Pervitin to their infantry, sailors and airmen in World War II

In one four-month period in 1940, the German military was fed more than 35 million speed tablets [source: Ulrich]. Though the pills were known to cause adverse health effects in some soldiers, it was also immediately realized that stimulants went a long way toward the Nazi dream of creating supersoldiers.

The Nazis weren't the only ones jacking up their soldiers on pharmaceutical speed -- the Americans and the British were also consuming large amounts of amphetamines, namely Dexedrine. The Japanese had developed its own military-grade amphetamine, and when the war ended a large stockpile of the drug flooded the streets of Japan".

Link

It seems like this is just more big pharma "Profit before People" BS..using parents guilt, laziness and naivety to lock in a new, long term and massive market.

a reply to: butcherguy

Honestly, I had no idea the numbers were anywhere near this, especially for children so young.

I'm glad I'm not the only one shocked by this. Not just the numbers in general -- although those are bad enough -- I'm shocked that babies and toddlers are receiving them at all. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all the implications.

a reply to: butcherguy

Typically, the more reliant a parent is on psychotropics, the more likely their children are to be on it.

Is it nature, or nurture? Probably a little of both, to be honest. Epigenetics and all.

a reply to: Ngatikiwi

Thank you for all this research. This is amazing... in a horrible way. And the Nazi connection is very disturbing. More bad science we imported after the war.

I'm seriously not getting this. How could any parent put a baby less than a year old on any of these drugs? How in the hell could ANYONE think this is right? Dr.'s are actually prescribing these drugs for newborns AND the parents are going along?

Parent: Doc, my baby is depressed.

Doc: How old is he?

Parent: Three months.

Doc: Well, then, we have this, or this.........

Really? What am I missing here, or am I not missing anything? This sincerely baffles me.

a reply to: Boadicea

How does this have so few flags??? The numbers there are what's insane! Even placing a teen on such medication is a serious risk, and many can cause suicidal behavior. This is known. Younger kids, more risk. How in the heck can anyone, ANYONE, claim a toddler is depressed, or psychotic????? Worse, a baby?!?!?!?!? They can't even talk or walk, or do much of anything, and someone decides they need these drugs?? I am outraged.

All of this, and people claim it's the guns causing the violence. Far more likely, it's these drugs. All part of the plan, no doubt.

(and blast it, I want a flaming head emoticon for this!!!)

originally posted by: cenpuppie
a reply to: Boadicea

What one reads doesn't matter, what are the facts? Tim McVeigh wasn't on meds, neither was the boston marathon guy nor the dc sniper. Murica has always been highly medicated, what ever happened to people being nut jobs?

The last two were Muslim terrorists, and McVeigh had toes to some local terrorist group. hardly the same thing.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

The numbers on the Scientology led CCHR report can't be verified.
Since the CCHG is anti psychiatric medicine this leads me that the numbers are not robust.
Whilst psyche meds are given out to easily in the States and that needs to be addressed, the numbers, especially for the 3 year and under range seen grossly inflated. Ridiculously inflated.
And when you actually go though to the original CCHR report you can't drill down to find out exactly wh how these numbers are composed.

I can't believe no one has brought this up and are just blindly accepting the numbers.
Or maybe I can...