If you didn’t catch this from a few days ago, I’m working on getting everything done for my summer semester at college, so I don’t have much time on my hands. As a result, for the next few days or so, I’ll be putting my homework on my blog, which may or may not be of any interest to you.

My Homework for Your Reading Pleasure

This is a paper I wrote for my abnormal psychology class about overmedication. The prompt was pretty broad; we were told to read an informational article in our textbooks about overmedication in general, and we were permitted to select a more specific topic on our own. I decided to go with misdiagnoses that result in overmedication.

Medicine is something that I can safely say most people appreciate. It can range anywhere from something as simple as over-the-counter anti-itch cream to relieve the disturbance from mosquito bites, to something as complex as Adrucil, which is used in the treatment of cancer. Not many people can argue that medication does not have a positive effect on our lives.

But sometimes, taking an unneeded medication will turn it from a wonder drug into a toxic substance. For example, the use of Adrucil outside of cancer treatment will not have any positive effects, and instead just cause myelotoxicity (bone marrow suppression), dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), and mucositis (inflammation of the mucous membranes in the gastrointestinal tract). Either way, that’s nothing to worry about, because we would never use a drug that we don’t need, right?

According to research done by Children and Adults Against Drugging America (CHAADA), in the past 25 years, the number of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased by approximately 1200% (one thousand two hundred percent). Are children who are born today drastically more likely to have ADD or ADHD than children born 25 years ago? Or is there something else affecting the rate of diagnoses, and ultimately, the rate of children receiving medication for ADD and ADHD that they might not even have?

A good place to start would be to look at what makes a child eligible to be diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, which is part of the National Institutes of Health and a component of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, a child must demonstrate the symptoms of ADHD for six months at a higher degree than other children of similar age. For ADHD with inattention, a child might be easily distracted, forgetful, unfocused, bored, or slow. For ADHD with hyperactivity, a child might be fidgety, squirmy, extremely talkative, constantly in motion, or unable to do quiet activities. For ADHD with impulsivity, a child might be impatient, inappropriate, emotionally unrestrained, or interruptive.

The key problem with this process of diagnoses is that it is relative to other children of similar age. There is obviously an above and below average for everything, but where do these turn into extremes? How does one determine if the prevalence of symptoms is too great to be considered just above average and how do we keep this consistent enough so we do not have situations where some pediatricians would diagnose a child with ADHD while another pediatrician would not?

On top of that, many of the symptoms of ADHD can be considered personality traits or undisciplined behavior. For example, a child with a dull personality might be seen as always bored, and could be misinterpreted as inattentive and distracted. A child who is not disciplined could be restless and interjective, but a little bit of conditioning could turn the child into a socially acceptable person. On top of that, some of the symptoms could be caused by completely different problems. For example, an ear infection could cause hearing problems, which can be misinterpreted as inattention. A child with depression as a result of anxiety or a sudden life-changing event (such as the death of a family member or a parents’ divorce) can be seen as always down and dull, which can be misinterpreted as inattention. From this viewpoint, it is clear that the diagnosis of ADHD is a surprisingly subjective. Unfortunately, there seems to be a relatively objective connection between ADHD and medication – according to data collected by Dr. Gretchen LeFever of Eastern Virginia Medical School, 84% of children diagnosed with ADHD received a prescription for medication.

With the debatable methods of ADHD diagnosis and the shockingly drastic increase of the number of diagnoses, it is clear that there is a problem with overdiagnosis and overmedication. People are very well justified when they express their concern for overmedication, and it is vital to our future generations’ health that we take action as soon as possible and start medicating only those who really need it.