Verified by Kids on Pills
Are more children hopped up on psychiatric meds? Yes, very much
so.
By Colin Allen published January 1, 2003 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
The use of psychiatric drugs by children and adolescents has more
than doubled in the last decade, according to research released
yesterday, January 14, in the journal
The Archives of Pediatrics Medicine. Researchers
from the University of Maryland tracked 900,000 children from 1987 to
1996 and discovered large increases in the use of stimulants,
antidepressants and mood stabilizers.
The study found that the percentage of American youth using
psychotropic drugs rose from 2.5 percent to 6.7 percent, and that twice
as many boys took psychiatric drugs than did girls in 1996. Both genders
were found to have been taking these drugs for longer periods of
time.
Researchers stopped short of explaining what impact the drugs may
have on our youth, and it remains in dispute whether the increase is good
or bad. Advocates of psychotropic treatment argue that the mental heath
community is more effectively treating psychological problems today that
might otherwise have been overlooked in the past, thus preventing
illnesses from worsening. Opponents, on the other hand, worry that the
long-term effects of these drugs may cause other, unforeseen mental
problems, especially when administered during puberty.
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