Psychoactive Drugs

After reading articles about the increase of psychoactive drug prescriptions to children under the age of 18, the increase in prescriptions seems to be caused mainly by misunderstood behaviors ofchildren. Many physicians and adults are too quick to resort to medication when children show symptoms of psychological disorders. A child that is energetic may be prescribed medication when in realitythe increase in energy is just a small variation of a healthy child. The articles suggest that the children’s actions may be normal, but the actions are misinterpreted to make adults and physiciansbelieve that medication is necessary to fix a psychological disorder. In my personal experience I have never been prescribed any psychoactive drug to correct any mental disorder like ADD, but I knowa lot of children that are. Many times with these children I notice that their behavior doesn’t change much if they don’t take their prescribed medication which may suggest that the physician jumpedto a conclusion when prescribing the child with medication.
Another possible explanation for the increase in psychoactive drug prescriptions to children is because using drug therapy is a much morequick and easy fix to mental disorders. Common mental disorders among children like ADHD, ADD, and depression can help be controlled using behavior therapy, but drug therapy seems a more efficient andeffective way because the medication can reduce the symptoms and there is no need to schedule appointments or seek regular therapy sessions. All one has to do reduce symptoms is stick to themedication plan. Patients use a lot less effort to achieve the same result.
I believe the increase in psychoactive medication is mostly due to misunderstood symptoms of children. There are many childrenin the United States that were prescribed medication when medication may not have been necessary. Young teenagers are expected to convey moody emotions and young children sometimes show higher...