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Brandon Allison

Mr Cloninger
Period 4
2-12-16

A Call to Action
Children under the age of 17 are being over-diagnosed with ADHD, causing the
overmedication on the children and resulting in the drastic change of their personality and
future health. The amount of medication that they are receiving needs to change now.
Children are being significantly over-diagnosed with ADHD. Around 900,000 children,
10,000 of which were outside of pediatric guidelines, have been mistakenly diagnosed with the
disease. The doctors arent thorough enough with their diagnoses. They determine the diagnoses
with only 15-20 minutes of observation rather than a thorough examination of their overall
history. Personal problems such as abuse, sleep apnea, anxiety, the child being gifted, or even
learning disabilities could lead to the misdiagnoses due to the similar symptoms between them,
some of which I have dealt with personally. Not only are the children being over-diagnosed, the
children who actually have ADHD are being overmedicated.
Although ADHD medication decreases symptoms by 70%, there is no scientific evidence
that the medication even works or is even safe for the children over long periods of time.
Scientists have had no studies on the long term effects of the drugs whatsoever. The

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medication is simply unnecessary due to it only being temporary. If the medication is just a
temporary fix to a long term problem, what is the point in drugging your child twice a day,
every day of the week? Not only that, but why give your children methylphenidates or
amphetamines, which are in the same drugs such as cocaine and meth? There are other ways to
help fix ADHD symptoms other than pointless drugs.
Minimizing the effects of the symptoms are simple. Optimizing the classroom to their
abilities and taking behavioral classes have led to major improvements in symptoms for ADHD.
Putting them on a diet is also a good idea if looking to improve on the symptoms. 64% of
children who have ADHD have shown signs of significant improvements to their symptoms
when certain types of food were removed from their diet. When you combine those solutions,
you can solve the problems on your own without the need of pointless drugs. Thats partly how
Ive grown to be able to control my symptoms through my own experiences with the disease. But
the long term effects on my health is something I cannot fix.
The long term effects on my health have created heart problems, thus resulting in high
blood pressure. My heart rate and my blood pressure have been higher than they have been in
the past, according to my doctors. Due to those health issues, I had to quit sports in order to keep
myself in good health. Another long term effect is on my mental health. Depression is a
common but serious symptom of ADHD and drastically hinders your health. Due to your
personality being changed by the medication, your view of yourself and how you believe others
see you change, leading to depression. Half of the time you cant think of a good reason as to
why youre depressed in the first place, which then creates frustration within yourself as to why
its occurring. The only explanation is the medication.

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People see ADHD as a big problem, but the only problem is that parents would give their
2 year old a pill to stop them from being who they are. Theyre human. Theyre children. They
havent even had a chance to develop their own personality yet. As a person who has been
diagnosed with ADHD, I beg of you to be thorough with your children. There are other ways to
deal with ADHD rather than drugging them. Take them to behavioral management programs.
Put them on a diet. Optimize the classroom to the childrens advantage. But I beg of you, only
go to medication as the last resort.

Works Cited
Newmark, Sanford, and Harold S. Koplewicz. "Are ADHD Medications Overprescribed?." Wall Street
Journal. 18 Sep. 2012: B.9. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
Rappaport, Nancy. "We Are Overmedicating America's Poorest Kids." Washington Post - Blogs. 04 Jun.
2014: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.
Schwarz, Alan. "Thousands of Toddlers Are Medicated for A.D.H.D., Report Finds..." New York Times.
17 May 2014: A.11. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 03 Feb. 2016.