Giving Children Drugs... I think it's kind of sick.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/19/preschoolers.adhd.ap/index.html

Okay, so I read this article about how more and more preschoolers are being given ritalin every day. I guess it's pretty standard practice, but personally I feel even the thought of it as awful. 3-year-olds! On psychiactric drugs! It's ludicrous. Aside from the fact that at age 3 the child isn't entirely developed, and there are serious side effects that could arise if a child under the age of 6 uses ritalin, how could a parent conciously give thier children drugs at such an early age??

As a psychology and bio major, hopefully to go on to medical school and gain my Doctorate in psychiactric studies, I am outraged. The rate at which pharmaceuticals are reaching our younger generation (that's MY generation I'm talking about, the college kids, not the preschoolers) is ridiculous. I have many friends that suffer from "depression" or "anxiety." I understand being unahppy, or down on your luck, and hey, I become quite seriously depressed, but there are ways to deal with that depression that do not involve drugs.

Let me elaborate for a moment. America's society is dramatic. If we've got an ailment, if some even has brought us into a state of unhappiness, the rest of the world knows. That's just the way we are. And we also frequently engage in the "woe is me" idea of things. Granted, there are people that just have a problem that is chemical, and needs medical intervention, but sometimes it's all a matter of mentality. It is scientifically proven that if you tell yourself continually that you are unhappy or depressed, that you will remain so. It has to do with connections in your brain. Certain connections are made between the neurons that creates this unhappy feeling, and if you continue to tell yourself these things, the same connections continue to repeat, and you never get out of the rut you got yourself in.

At any rate, children of the age of 3 can be a little hyperactive. I've seen it, and babysat enough to know. And there are obviously some cases of ADHD that need to be treated with ritalin. But the rate at which doctors prescribe this stuff is ridiculous... for children who dont really need it, even. I think what it all boils down to is that these pharmaceutical companies are trying to market drugs to an even younger age group, and parents are lacking in responsibility for thier own children. I suppose they think it makes thier job easier. I think it's pretty disgusting, myself.