Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurelunatic) wrote2002-10-10 11:36 am
azurelunatic) wrote2002-10-10 11:36 am
Research paper bare-bones draft/outline: ADHD vs. ritalin vs. careless doctors
Ritalin
From the 1980's on, there have been a rising number of increasingly younger children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The standard treatment is the prescription of certain strong stimulants, such as Ritalin and Dexedrine, to allow the children to calm and focus themselves. With this information, we have to ask a few questions. Why are so many young children being given these dangerous drugs? Where did these huge numbers of ADHD children come from? What are the side effects of the medication, and how do the benefits outweigh the dangers? ADHD is being overdiagnosed in young children, and, once diagnosed, overmedicated.
ADHD was discovered.
ADHD is:
*symptoms
*proposed causes, true and false
*How it is diagnosed
-How it's supposed to be diagnosed
-How it actually is diagnosed
ADHD is typically treated:
Ritalin is, and does:
*effects on brain and body
-effects on those with ADHD
-effects on those without
*positives
*negatives
*long-term
*who it's recommended for
-that is to say, no one under 6
-who it's prescribed for (small children)
*other drugs in the same chemical family
ADHD should be the last-ditch classification, not knee-jerk answer: Why not to hastily diagnose: possible factors other than disease in childhood attention problems:
*class size
*age
*gender
*parenting
Why not to hastily diagnose: possible other diseases that can pass for ADHD:
-and why Ritalin is a Bad Thing in many of these cases
Ok, so the kid has ADHD, and was properly diagnosed. What then? In light of the problems with drugs, other solutions should be tried first.
Conclusion: While ADHD does exist, proper diagnosis of it is necessary, due to the number of more identifiable conditions that can be misidentified as ADHD by a careless doctor. Although ADHD is a very valid problem and can be combatted with drugs, the dangerous nature of the drugs involved makes it necessary that after ADHD is properly diagnosed, other solutions than drugs should be attempted first to make an attempt at a permanent solution to the problem.
From the 1980's on, there have been a rising number of increasingly younger children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The standard treatment is the prescription of certain strong stimulants, such as Ritalin and Dexedrine, to allow the children to calm and focus themselves. With this information, we have to ask a few questions. Why are so many young children being given these dangerous drugs? Where did these huge numbers of ADHD children come from? What are the side effects of the medication, and how do the benefits outweigh the dangers? ADHD is being overdiagnosed in young children, and, once diagnosed, overmedicated.
ADHD was discovered.
ADHD is:
*symptoms
*proposed causes, true and false
*How it is diagnosed
-How it's supposed to be diagnosed
-How it actually is diagnosed
ADHD is typically treated:
Ritalin is, and does:
*effects on brain and body
-effects on those with ADHD
-effects on those without
*positives
*negatives
*long-term
*who it's recommended for
-that is to say, no one under 6
-who it's prescribed for (small children)
*other drugs in the same chemical family
ADHD should be the last-ditch classification, not knee-jerk answer: Why not to hastily diagnose: possible factors other than disease in childhood attention problems:
*class size
*age
*gender
*parenting
Why not to hastily diagnose: possible other diseases that can pass for ADHD:
-and why Ritalin is a Bad Thing in many of these cases
Ok, so the kid has ADHD, and was properly diagnosed. What then? In light of the problems with drugs, other solutions should be tried first.
Conclusion: While ADHD does exist, proper diagnosis of it is necessary, due to the number of more identifiable conditions that can be misidentified as ADHD by a careless doctor. Although ADHD is a very valid problem and can be combatted with drugs, the dangerous nature of the drugs involved makes it necessary that after ADHD is properly diagnosed, other solutions than drugs should be attempted first to make an attempt at a permanent solution to the problem.