Posted on 01/04/2006 10:39:59 PM PST by neverdem
Psychotropic drug prescriptions for teenagers skyrocketed 250 percent between 1994 and 2001, rising particularly sharply after 1999, when the federal government allowed direct-to-consumer advertising and looser promotion of off-label use of prescription drugs, according to a new Brandeis University study in the journal Psychiatric Services.
This dramatic increase in adolescent visits to health care professionals which resulted in a prescription for a psychotropic drug occurred despite the fact that few psychotropic drugs, typically prescribed for ADHD, depression and other mood disorders, are approved for use in children under 18. The study is one of the first to focus on prescriptions to adolescents, rather than children in general.
The study shows that by 2001, one in every ten of all office visits by teenage boys led to a prescription for a psychotropic drug. Other findings in the study show that a diagnosis of ADHD was given in about one-third of office visits during the study period. Also, between 14 and 26 percent of visits in which psychotropic medications were prescribed did not have an associated mental health diagnosis, said lead author Professor Cindy Parks Thomas, an expert on prescription drug trends, at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
"There is an alarming increase in prescribing these drugs to teens, and the reasons for this trend need further scrutiny," said Thomas. "Our study suggests a number of factors may be particularly important to assess, including the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising and other marketing strategies."
Additional factors likely fueling the trend, noted by the authors, include greater acceptance among physicians and the public of psychotropic drugs, the advent of new medications with fewer side effects, increased screening for mental health disorders, and patient demand for such drugs. Nevertheless, the study noted that overall, pharmaceutical companies increased their spending on television advertising six fold, to $1.5 billion, between 1996 and 2000, with the trend accelerating after 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act was passed.
However, at the same time teenagers were being prescribed more psychotropic drugs than ever before, other prescription drugs taken by adolescents were trending down, said Thomas. For example, the use of antibiotics, the most widely prescribed drugs for teenagers, fell dramatically in response to widespread public educational campaigns about the dangers of antibiotic resistance due to overuse of these drugs.
"The dramatic increase in prescribing of psychotropic medications is of considerable concern, particularly because these medications are not without risks," Thomas said.
Ping.
I agree. :)
As an adult user of Ritalin (started at age 37) I've done a lot of reading and pondering on the growing use of Ritalin and similar drugs, in both adults and children. I'm increasingly convinced that there is a real need, and that it is the result of our inexorable march towards being an almost completely information-based society, which requires an education and adult lifestyle that is unnatural and for which many people's physiology is unsuited and not readily adapted. Sure, there are all sorts of social changes -- working moms, video games, etc. that have been cited as probably causes, and those things probably have some contributory effect, especially to the versions of ADHD which are characterized mainly by disruptive behavior. But the colossal change is that most people have little physical activity in their lives, and all the pressure of what you "must do" involves studying, sitting at a desk in an office, etc. Exercise has become a luxury, rather than something you couldn't help getting more than enough of, in the course or growing your food, chopping wood to heat the home over the winter, manual trades, the massive project of doing the family laundry, etc.
If this is in fact the main underlying cause, there's little hope for reversing the trend, at least until germ line genetic engineering reaches the point where we can identify the genes that make some people able to adapt well to the sedentary lifestyle of the information society, and sub it into all the offspring of people who don't adapt well. I don't think Ritalin and the related short-acting drugs do any significant harm, even in children, and suspect that within 20 years, these won't even be prescription drugs -- they'll be on the shelf right next to Benadryl, aspirin, and No-Doz (hopefully, the truly dangerous acetaminophen will be off the shelf by then).
I do think the increasing use of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs needs to be monitored and studied closely. The biggest problem with them is that they are only marginally effective in most patients, and totally ineffective in many. As a result, many people with serious psychological problems that have underlying causes that ARE fixable, are just being a given an ineffective band-aid, and then everybody around them relaxes and figures they're not in danger, and the underlying problems don't get seriously addressed. While I'm not convinced that these drugs actually CAUSE suicide in teens and adolescents as some researchers claim, the way they're used certainly compounds the problem, and may lead troubled teens to accelerate their slide into total despair, as they realize that no one around them is really going to help, and that now that they've been given this stupid ineffective pill, they're expected to buck up and get with the "program" that was probably the cause of their depression in the first place. Unlike adults, adolescents and teens have virtually no way to make fundamental changes in their lives -- where they go to school, where they live, who they live with, etc. Somebody has to make the changes for them, or they aren't going to get made.
Bush's fault.
(and don't forget guns,too!)
Well as long as it's legal drugs, it's ok! Legal drugs good! Illegal drugs bad! War on Some Drugs doubleplusgood!
Pharmacies as intermediaries are probably a good idea, but only if they're required to deal face to face with the buyer or buyer's agent. Online purchasing is just like off-the-shelf purchasing, and does nothing to keep potentially dangerous drugs from being purchased by minors. Of course, right now, nothing stops a 10 year old from buying and taking all the acetaminophen s/he wants, right off the shelf, despite the fact that it's the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S., often necessitating liver transplants.
As for the FDA, I think it can serve as useful purpose as a certifying agency, but don't think it should have authority to keep any drug off the market. They should be able to say, we don't endorse Drug X, due to concern that its risks outweigh it benefits, but they should not be able to say that Drug X can't legally be sold to the public.
Something akin to the FDA would be needed to determine which few drugs really do need to be limited to prescription sales. Realistically, many things with risk-to-others levels comparable to alcohol simply won't be allowed on the market on a non-prescription basis, and there are certainly things with high potential for criminal misuse (e.g. Rohypnol) that any reasonable person would agree need to be tightly controlled.
Let's see now. I have 2 rifles, a shot gun, a pistol, and no problem legally obtaining or owning them. I also take Xanax. If a persons wants to go up against The System then they first need to understand what they are fighting. First of all understand the ADD ADHD so called epidemic and what it likely is. Could their actually be a true medical problem giving ADD ADHD symptoms in many kids? Yes. Does it take mind altering drugs to treat it? No! In most cases a mild antihistamine and learning environment modification does wonders.
I likely distrust the mental health profession and pharmaceutical companies as a whole more than anyone in here and with good cause to do so. But the light at the end of the tunnel came from education & not denial. I fought shrinks tooth and nail about taking SSRI's. I won but I had to learn more than they knew as to why SSRI's drugs are dangerous to certain patients. I started doing so by researching information through other than mental health venues.
Many times SSRI's even in adults are not necessary as drugs like Xanax and even Valium are more chemically suited and far safer for proper treatment. The conditions I posted of in kids if left unchecked can lead to Anxiety Disorders later in adults and yes I can prove it outside of Mental Health venues.
Exercise has become a luxury, rather than something you couldn't help getting more than enough of, in the course or growing your food, chopping wood to heat the home over the winter, manual trades, the massive project of doing the family laundry, etc.
I wish I had the energy :>} but I don't beat myself up anymore because I don't. Some of these underlying disorders causing these problems make it nearly impossible. Did you know that to some persons simply reading a book 15 minutes can be physically & mentally exhausting? Some days are better than others. Your mileage may vary :>}
I met a woman once who had her daughter on Ritalin. When I asked her what she was like without it, she said the daughter would "talk your ear off".
Doped for being a chatterbox. It made we want to cry.
I agree with your statement about the FDA as a certifying agency, however, a private agency could do this just as well and probably one would form due to demand by the public.
I disagree that some drugs need to be limited to perscription only. This opens the door to the type of tyranny we are currently living under.
As an adult user of Ritalin (started at age 37) I've done a lot of reading and pondering on the growing use of Ritalin and similar drugs, in both adults and children.
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I am an adult user of Adderal. I prefer XR, 10 mg or so a day. When I started out I was up to 40mg XR, or higher. I think through meditation (which involves focusing) and which ADD folks seem to be quite good at for some reason, had beeen a key to reducing my dose without seeing a return in symtoms. Also, neurofeedback is something to read up on, quite interesting and i've experimented with it myself, but am going to wait a bit before starting it up again.
Hey wait a minute. This kid likely had ADD ADHD and Ritalin helped. Ritalin is in a sense Speed. IF the kid did not have ADD ADHD the reaction would have likely been a kid bouncing off the walls from it. One shrink told me he tries Caffeine pills first with ADD ADHD. If the caffeine pill doesn't slow the kid down somewhat the Ritalin is not the answer and there is another problem instead. The parent likely gave you an off hand remark.
Just curious if it is true that schools get a financial type kickback from drug co's for every child placed into a drug program........I've heard there is but have yet to confirm.
I consider my family to be pretty stable. Brother is an MD, brother in law an MD, sister conservative Christian, parents Christian. Having said that my father is on antideppresants, sister and niece on the same, brother and his daughter and stepson are also medicated. I sometimes wonder about it all and how people used to get by without this stuff. I used to think I drank too much wine but so far it beats the hell out of being narcotized, sedated, or jacked up on meds. Besides a nice Cabernat smells and tastes a lot better than Zoloft.
I suspect any private agency would quickly become as self-interested and corrupt as the FDA.
As for the prescription issue, appalling results would follow from unfettered availability of dangerous drugs like Rohypnol. But there's a fairly short list of drugs that fall into that category. The meth plague is also of concern -- while I don't give a hoot what happens to the users, they quickly become very dangerous to their children, and when they progress almost inevitably to paranoia, they become very dangerous to anyone who crosses paths with them. I think the downside of prescription regulation of certain substances based only on risks to 3rd parties, is smaller than the downside of having them readily available to anyone.
Does anyone ever check the kids diet, exercise and sleeping habits before putting them on some of this crap? I've seen some that are drinking cokes and eating candy at all hours of the day causing numerous behavior problems.......that's why I've always regulated how much my kids had of that stuff.
That can factor especially if they have food allergies. I would limit a kids sweets intake though. As an adult caffeine doesn't seem to bother me one way or the other. I drink about 4 cokes a day. As a teenager I drank 1-2 cokes a day and milk at home. Now milk gags me.
Seriously I don't think it's the food near as much as food additives that may be causing problems. A good gastro doctor for example deplores some milk products and especially processed meats and MSG. Used to years ago Bologna tasted good and didn't hurt my stomach now I can't eat a bite of it due to taste and reaction. Growth hormone's etc in our food chain may cause some problems also IMO.
It is my understanding that at least in my state of CT....if you apply for a pistol permit and write down that you take drugs of that type.....you'll be declined at the "city" level and thus never get a state permit.
And it sticks because not enough citizen in your city & state challenges the legality of a person even having to have such permit for ownership to start with. I know several friends in my state though who have conceal carry permits and take such medications. To be honest about it I would move if my state required one for ownership and it was not overturned. I live in a rural area but if any of our leaders in East Tennessee tried such a stunt they would likely be wearing tar & feathers.
But most persons who take SSRI's for anxiety and depression probably need Xanax and not SSRI's anyway. Sad to say SSRI's are doctors first choice and offer the more serious adverse side effects. Benzo's are far more safer than SSRI's. Pharmacutical companies push SSRI's due to their very high retail value. I have yet to see a person have Serotonin Syndrome from Xanax or any Benzo as that is the antidote for it.
Many of these drugs are highly addictive. I know, my mom is one of those addicted.
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