Chill Pills (pt. 1)

The word "psychotropic" is defined as "affecting mental activity, behavior, or perception, as a mood-altering drug." Basically, this isn't just taking an Tylenol if you've got a headache or Zyrtec for allergies. It's way more complex than that. These drugs get into your mind and start messing with the chemicals and electrical processes in there--processes that scientists, as confident as they are about a lot of things, don't fully understand. Essentially these are drugs that could change your personality. Honestly, I don't think people (or doctors, apparently) are giving this fact as much weight as it warrants when prescribing something for their hyperactive or mopey kid.

ADHD/ADD: Ritalin, Adderol, Concerta

So let's say you have a kid that's not doing well in school. He doesn't pay attention in class, he's constantly bouncing off the walls, he's totally out of control. So you take him to the doctor, and he's diagnosed with ADHD. He gets some pills for it--voila, he's a model student. Right?

I hear this story a lot among people I know. Usually it's about their little brother--in some cases it's about them. I would say roughly a third of the people I know (or indirectly know) either have been diagnosed with ADHD or have a family member diagnosed with it. In fact, according to this site, 5-12% of all children have ADHD.

I don't know about you, but I think that's absolutely NUTS.

My brother was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago and had been taking medication for it since he was diagnosed. I'm pretty sure he's switch through several brands but right now I think he's on Concerta. He's been taking them so long that I can't really remember what he was like before he was taking them--but there is a distinct difference between his medicated and unmedicated personalities.

When he has taken his "pill", he's a zombie. He doesn't talk very much, he has no appetite, he doesn't get excited about things or laugh at jokes. He tells me that all he wants to do when he's taking his pill is write essays. He often isn't even interested in his main passion--video games. Considering that normally he would spend fourteen hours a day on his Xbox if he were allowed to, that's a pretty drastic change. I guess it's great if all he ever needed to do in life was take tests and write essays.

When he hasn't taken it (for whatever reason: we ran out, it's a holiday) he's totally different. He's cheerful and funny--he laughs at jokes, he smiles more and has the appetite of a whale shark. Overall he just gives off a totally different vibe--more lively and normal and--healthy, honestly. He might be a little unfocused, he might get bored a little more easily--but at least he's a human being. The problem, however, is that he is also prone to unpredictable mood swings--once he actually attacked me almost completely out of the blue with little provocation. My dad thinks it may have been a withdrawal symptom.

Withdrawal symptom? It was more like something a coke addict would do if you took away his stash.

In fact, this site states that ADHD medications are closely related to street drugs such as meth and cocaine.

I never keep my feelings about this a secret from my parents--I usually discuss it with them a lot, actually. But I understand that performing well in school is important and taking this medication may be the only means of ensuring that happens.

Nevertheless, I can't help but be secretly glad when he runs out of medication for a day or two. And I can't help but feel that doctors are far too quick to dole out what could be characterized as crack to kids.

I may add on to this blog or post a few more blogs about other psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants.