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Chelsea Henriquez
Professor Allison Fernley
English 1010
April 8, 2014
ADHD Epidemic Should We Be Medicating Our Children?
I have many friends that have children with ADHD. So I was always curious about how this is
diagnosed! It wasnt until my own experience that I really started to question this disorder. I took my four
year old daughter to her school checkup and was appalled when the doctor was in the room for less than
five minutes and referred to my child as having ADHD. All kinds of emotions ran through my head not
about the disorder, but how she felt she could diagnose my daughter in just min. She then proceeded to
offer to put her on medication. I chose not to take the diagnoses but it brings up questions about the
disorder for me. Are we facing an epidemic where children are being diagnosed in minutes? I wondered
to myself. Do the medication stimulants they put these kids on have an adverse effect? I began to
question. I have friends with ADHD children and they are very pro medication and said it changed their
childrens lives; so I felt pulled in different directions on the topic of ADHD and medicating children. I
have heard many different opinions about ADHD and what is correct or not correct. I have heard it
questioned if ADHD is even a diagnosable disorder. My head tends to go to how it is treated; is the
medication beneficial and are there any long term effects from a child taking a stimulant daily.
While I have seen children that have benefited from ADHD medication, I have reservations about
the medication itself and how they diagnose ADHD. There are so many different situations where
medication has been helpful but others where the medication was harmful. Another critical thing I ponder
when thinking about all the children being diagnosed is at what age is it appropriate to consider
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medication. I love the medical field and think the advancements we are making in the practice of
medicine are amazing. However I am always left with the question should medication be the first go to
treatment, especially in treating something so debatable. All of this leads into the debate Should children
be taking stimulant medication to treat ADHD? Is it beneficial to have a child on a daily dosage of
these medications? Here are some opinions on ADHD medication being used in children:
"ADHD has been the making of me." Mail on Sunday 08 Dec. 2013: 12. Regional Business
News. Web. 14 Apr. 2014
In ADHD has been the making of me the author recalls people that have been affected by
ADHD and are now adults. All of the stories recall how ADHD has helped them in their life and made
them who they have grown up to be. The article goes over how boys are 2-4 times more likely to be
diagnosed than boys are. Even though they are great attributes to people that have ADHD but a lot of
people who go undiagnosed and untreated also face a lot of things that are not as pleasant such as always
being late, forgetting things, not being able to focus on things, and procrastination. The article goes over
how these peoples lives have changed due to medication that makes it easier for them to live their daily
life. Each person the article goes over has different regimens that work for them in treating their disorder.
This article plays a lot on ethos; the whole thing reaches the reader because it is various
accounts of everyday people that struggle with ADHD. Each person accounts their experience and what
works for them. They talk about their families which make them relatable and they disclose their lives to
the reader. By doing this they make themselves more real to the reader not just someone youre reading
about.
This article will help me with my paper because even though it is adults recounting their
experience they talk about how they are affected by the disorder. This article also sheds light on all of the
different things that work for them; and how they are not all the same. It also helps because it gives first
hand insight to the disorder instead of just professionals or reporters writing about it.
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JOHN, NAISH. "A generation of children being used as Ritalin guinea pigs." Daily Mail 02 Oct. 2012:
38. Regional Business News. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Should children be on ADHD medication?
In A generation of children being used as Ritalin guinea pigs Naish John argues that our
children are being used as a scientific study. He accounts the stories of different children that have been
effected by the drug Ritalin in the worst way, suicide. John goes over expert information showing that the
stimulant drugs are being over used as a quick fix. The amount of children being diagnosed and dosed
with this dangerous drug has sky rocketed over the last couple of years. John passionately portrays how
there have been no studies done on this medication in children; because testing on children is illegal. But,
yet we are prescribing this medication to children as young as three years old! He points out some of the
side effects that are caused by Ritalin, the most severe cases causing a tendency to have suicidal thoughts.
Other known side effects include stress, anxiety, cardiovascular complaints, decreased appetite, stomach
problems, dizziness, tics, skin problems and bruising, among other things. John accounts all the experts
that have warned against this drug and the effects. Yet they continue to prescribe them to children and not
monitor them correctly, one psychologist accounted as saying they are under staffed and dont have the
resources to monitor every child. John concludes this article by explaining by this trend in Ritalin
prescription we are watching an uncontrolled chemical trial that is involving the youth among the globe.
Even worse we are not monitoring these children for the effects of long term use or use in very young
children.
John effectively uses logos as he provides the reader with hard evidence of cases where the worst
has happened, and young children have taken their lives. He also effectively uses logos providing expert
opinions, and pointing out logically that we have had no studies done on the effects of this medication in
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children. John uses pathos very effectively while talking about the young children taking their lives. This
really pulls at the readers heart hearing of such young children committing suicide possibly because of
the drugs prescribed to them by doctors. The same doctors that should be keeping them healthy and
monitoring them, have failed somewhere along the line. John also uses ethos in his article by using the
authority of the children that are no longer here to speak for themselves and using coroner reports to help
support what happened with these children.
This article will help me see the negative side and effects of medicating young children. As well
as the lack of funding being put towards research, showing how little we actually know about the effects
of the drugs on children. This article also showcases the alarming number of children that are being
diagnosed yearly. This article will definitely help on the debate opposing medication for children
diagnosed with ADHD.
JOHN, NAISH. "Children who are wrongly labelled mentally ill making billions for drug firms." Daily
Mail 16 July 2013: 49. Regional Business News. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
In Children who are wrongly labeled mentally ill making billions for drug firms Naish John
recalls a mothers experience with having her daughter wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia. After being
diagnosed and starting the medication the childs demeanor changed and she gained tons of weight. The
mother finding this alarming researched the drug which had never been tested for use in children. The
mother quickly took the daughter off the medication and she suffered withdrawal and ended up
prospering, her daughter never had schizophrenia. The way John portrays this account of a mothers
struggle is very relatable and easily brings up emotion. John argues how the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual for psychiatry was 130 pages in 1952, and now they are using the fifth edition at 992 pages. This
alone shows the rise in psychiatric disorders that they claim to exist and why the psychiatric
pharmaceutical companies are thriving. John disturbingly talks about how the diagnosiss of mental
illness in children is growing beyond belief and doctors are turning to medication for all of it. He accounts
how the leading psychologist that helped write the fourth edition of the DSM said himself that he opened
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the flood gates for the epidemic of over diagnosed children and the mass over-medication. These
medications have not been studied on children and have potentially devastating side effects.
John uses ethos quite well by quoting the mother of the misdiagnosed daughter and telling their
story it makes the reader feel some of the emotion that the mother must have felt. This helps to get the
readers emotions involved in the reading. He also effectively uses logos by presenting the reader with
hard facts like the increase in the pages of the DSM and by showing the link between children being over
medicated and the money that makes for the pharmaceutical companies.
This article will be useful in my paper because it shows one strong opinion with evidence of how
much the psychiatric field in children has grown. It also goes over the rise in children being diagnosed
with ADHD just with in the last decade. This article also helps to see a professionals opinion of how he
affected the psychiatric field by his part in the fourth edition which he feels help increase this epidemic.
Shankar, Vedantam. "Debate Over Drugs For ADHD Reignites." Washington Post, The n.d.: Regional
Business News. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
In this article Vedantam Shankar goes over data from studies conducted on the long term
effectiveness of using ADHD medication in children. One of the major psychologist involved in the
study, William Pelham said medication was effective in the short term. His colleagues repeatedly looked
for evidence that the medication was useful over long term periods. The study said that medication is
invaluable in the beginning because it gives the parents and doctor time to tech the child vital skills that
will help them. Another scientist involved in the study said that Pelham was biased against medication
and he let that play a role in his scientific study. During this study it was shown that children that used the
drug long term were shorter and weighed less than children that did not use the drug. Shankar, points out
the way the study portrayed this finding was that children that did not take the medication grew larger.
Instead of showing that the study possibly showed that this medication effected the growth in young
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children. At the end of this eight year study there was no notable difference between the children that took
the medication and the children that did not.
Shankar uses logos in a way that is interesting to me because we all want hard evidence to rely
on. In this news article Shankar provides many logos appeals but it is then put back on us and what you
want to believe because people in this study were torn in different directions and they each had evidence
to make their points relevant. I personally enjoyed this because Shankar brought the topic and the story to
you, but there is a debate in the article itself.
This article will be very helpful in my paper because it is a great example of the debate that goes
along with medication for ADHD. It shows different vies even if the person is pro medication there is still
a debate on how it should be administered, for how long, and if there should be any other form of
treatment that accompanies the medication. I found the study that was presented in the article was very
interesting because all of the members of the team did not come up with the same conclusion even with
the same data.
DR RICHARD, SAUL. "The eminent doctor who is convinced ADHD doesn't exist." Daily Mail 18 Mar.
2014: 30.Regional Business News. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Studies on children taking ADHD medication.
Dr. Richard Saul argues in his article The eminent doctor who is convinced ADHD doesnt exist that
there is no such thing as ADHD. He passionately goes over the fact that all the systems for ADHD can
easily be something else. But more and more children and adults are being diagnosed in the United States.
Doctors are overlooking other issues and test and just writing it off as ADHD. Saul claims that these
children are being medicated too much and are not being taken care of correctly. Saul goes over all the
other causes for the symptoms of ADHD, even though they are often under diagnosed.
Saul does a great job of using ethos; his article is very easy to read. While he is talking you believe what
he is talking about. The fact that he has been a doctor for over 45 years makes him a very credible source
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at least worth listening to. Saul does a great job with logos in his article he is very logical and follows it
through step by step. The way the article is written makes sense to the reader as you read it out loud. After
this you realize how there is many other ways that he uses logos in his article by showing evidence of the
cases that he had referred to him. Out of the people that were referred to him ended up leaving on very
small doses or no medication at all. Saul does a great job at making conversation pieces that make you
feel open and ready to talk.
This article will help me with my paper because this is a professional doctor that has had success fixing
the other problems and having ADHD symptoms disappear. This article will help great in my paper
because I have someone that opposes, agrees, and then believes it does not exist at all. There is also great
info included in the article about side effects that you can experience while taking stimulant drugs. It will
also help my article by having another opinion about the treatment of disorders and that medication
should not be the first jump to.
Park, Alice. "Taking ADHD Drugs As A Child Linked To Later Obesity." Time.Com (2014): 1. Business
Source Premier. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
In "Taking ADHD Drugs As A Child Linked To Later Obesity." Alice Park formerly explains
her educational findings that she found. She explains how the use of ADHD medication in children has
led to obesity in teens. Even though this is not something that is normally associated with hyper activity
or stimulant medication, usually these things decrease appetite and can cause children to be skinny. Park
goes over the study that has been done on this that is still a theory because many more studies will need to
be done to prove without a doubt this is what caused the obesity in children. The study shows that
children that were on stimulants for a long period of time or that started the medication at a very young
age were more prone to obesity. It is alarming that this is an effect of the medication that is appearing
long after the medication has been stopped. That brings up other questions. What if there are other long
term effects of these drugs in our children?
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Park relies mostly on ethos by deriving authority from Dr. Brian Schwartz, professor of
environmental health sciences, epidemiology, and medicine at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg
School of Public Health. His profession and standing in the educational system makes readers feel that he
knows what he is talking about and respect his opinion. Park also uses logos by giving us the hard
evidence of the studies; she provides the number that they came up with. It also helps that she addresses
this as a theory because more studies are needed to completely say for sure that the medication causes
obesity; this helps with ethos by building her character. This makes you feel that she is up front and
honest with you, so you can trust her.
I can use this article to help support what studies have been done on the long term effects of the
drugs prescribed for ADHD. It also helps because this article isnt pro or anti medication it is just
exploring the effects that ADHD medication could have long term.
Dr Ellie, Cannon. "When being naughty IS an illness." Mail on Sunday 03 Nov. 2013: 72. Regional
Business News. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Should children be on ADHD medication?

In When being naughty is an illness Dr. Ellie Cannon does like an interview style article
answering questions about ADHD. Dr. Ellie argues that sometimes children act out and are naughty
beyond just pushing boundaries, and sometimes this is cause for concern. She says when a childs
behavior gets to a point that it is affecting them being able to participate in age appropriate activities that
should be the time that you seek medical advice. Dr. Ellie states that she feels that people have a stigma
about medication being over prescribed to children. She says that there is a protocol that has to be
followed for a child to be diagnosed and that process is at a minimum of six months. Dr. Ellie answers
that the reason these new disorders are coming to light now is due to the advancements in the medical
field. Dr. Ellie ends her interview article in addressing whether mainstream schools should have to deal
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with children that have behavioral issues. Stating that every child should have the opportunity to go to
mainstream school regardless of their special needs, they should receive the extra help they need to thrive.
Dr. Ellie uses pathos by her credentials of just being a doctor. We tend to listen to doctors when
it comes to medical issues. Dr. Ellie also uses pathos just by the way the article is written, it makes you
feel like you are in on a conversation between the doctor and someone else. This creates a comforting
feeling that you can relate to. She also uses pathos in a great way by making it seem like the judgment is
taken off of the parent and validating that sometimes there can be other issues at play.
This article will help me by having a source that is pro treatment and diagnose of ADHD. It gives
informative views in an interview style article written by a doctor. The article helps shed light on the
struggle that moms who do have children with behavioral issues go thru. It also just helps to have a
doctors perspective on the epidemic of children being medicated due to ADHD.
While researching all of these articles I have come to the understanding that there are many
different ways to treat ADHD. The diagnoses in children have increased dramatically over the past
decade. Studies show that ADHD is being over diagnosed in children and adults, with boys being 2-4
times more likely of being diagnosed than girls. Should children diagnosed with ADHD be medicated?
I have found through the research that it comes down to individual cases, and having a good treatment
team behind your child. At the same time that I think it is case by case it is very alarming that there were
not studies on the effects of being on ADHD medication as a young child. I also want to research more
how children are being diagnosed, how they are evaluated, and what treatment is offered to the child. In
researching this topic it seems that anyone could be affected by this disorder or a doctor claiming your
child has this disorder. Everyone would benefit from being educated on this topic and knowing what
options are available to someone diagnosed with ADHD.