Drug addictions and abuses are very common in today's society. Adults, teenagers, and even little kids are all being exposed to drugs every day. Media and schools are the two best ways to find out about drugs and what they do. Disorders such as A.D.D, Social Disorders, Depression and Bipolar disorders are very commonly diagnosed in young adolescents. Are Adolescents being over prescribed medications for Psychiatric problems and is it leading to drug abuse? Many people take drugs such as Xanax, Prozac, Risperdal and Ritalin for these disorders. Prescription psychiatric drugs are all around us and over 5 million American children take them every day. In this paper, articles from different opposing viewpoints will be discussed about the topic of over prescribing medications.
"Doctors Are Over prescribing Psychiatric Medication to Children" by Lawrence H. Diller. Diller appeals to pathos by providing a story about one of his patients. Lawrence Diller is a behavioral pediatrician and the author of Running on Ritalin,and Diller states, "Approximately 5 million American children, some as young as two, are being given potentially dangerous psychiatric drugs alone and in combination, including Ritalin, Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, and Dexedrine" (Diller). Diller found that most children exceed more than just one drug at a time not by choice but by prescription. Diller uses a patient of his as an example a kid named Bobby. When Booby's parents divorced he began to display many different behavioral problems and by age seven Bobby was taking more than five different medications. Diller states "Bobby's story is disturbing not for its uniqueness but for how it represents a growing trend in the U.S.-young children are being given essentially untested and potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs alone and in combination in greater volume than ever before."(Diller) Later in Diller's article he states "Further, children are wrongly being prescribed powerful psychotropic drugs for "conditions" such as out-of-control behavior that might be the result of family problems or problems at school rather than a mental illness.
