The prescription of Adderall will lead to a lifetime of addiction, and many other social problems
In today’s society, the trust we put into doctors goes a long way. We follow their prescriptions and advice because we were paying them to give us the best answers to our problems. Rightfully so, we should trust them, but we should also realize that doctors are not in the business of caring about the long, long term. What is best for a child at a young age may not be the best thing for them as an adult. Unfortunately, our society’s view of what truly helps is medication, and some parents, along with their doctors guidance, take the medication route for their children. The prescription of Adderall, an ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ) medication that parents with ADHD diagnosed children resort to, although may be positive for a child in the short term, can lead to lifelong dependency issues and social problems.
A child who has symptoms of ADHD, may blurt out the answers before the questions have been completed, has difficulty awaiting turn, or intrudes and interrupts others. Temperaments that can simply be the result of bad teachings, and immaturity. As a parent, seeing your child struggle and not be able to focus at a young age puts parents in a position where they would do anything to help their kid. Going to the doctor and asking for his advice is a start to finding a solution. When the doctor assesses the child to having ADHD, the next recommended step is medication. The problem is that agreeing on the prescription of medication as the solution to their child’s classroom disturbances can be a lifelong decision.
The Recovery village, which specializes in addiction awareness/education, put an article up on their website titled, “Is Adderall Safe? | Safe for Adults and Children?” describing the true risk of the drug. The article describing the pills purpose as, “… not meant to be a long-term treatment because symptoms of ADHD often get better in children as they get older.” We cannot deny the positive performance effect of the drug, and with that comes the problem. With these amazing results of the child’s improvements performance, why would anyone want to stop taking it? Resorting back to a less functioning self is not the ideal situation. As their adolescent ADHD symptoms presumably subside, a diagnosed individual is already on that daily regiment of popping that pill each day that without, could not function to their presumed highest. Someone who is reliant on this pill, and who has been brought up entrusting that pill with their normality in society cannot simply say goodbye to the pill when symptoms vanish. Once medication is perceived to be this sort of “Miracle pill” to the user, who thinks the medication is a necessary part of their daily success, that is where the problem unavoidably starts.
The matter of originally classifying a child’s temperaments, and immature qualities as ADHD stigmatizes a child, and puts them in a category different from others who are perceived to be “normal.” Once this connotation of being less functioning than the normal kids is put around an adolescent, they will start to think they need medication to be normal. In a YouTube video titled, “CCHR Co-Founder Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus” Dr. Thomas Szasz describes the connotation an illness or disease has now. He believes that any disease cannot be not based on behavior, its something in the body that malfunctions. The stigma and connotation ADHD has around it is socially constructed. By diagnosing a child with ADHD and classifying it as a disease, or disorder stigmatizes a child, and puts them in a category that they should not be in. Parents should not think that their kid has an illness based on behavior, and should not jump to try to treat it. Instead, society, and doctors push to treat immediately. Making a child feel like he is sick and needs the medication to be normal destroys their perception of their own life by already seeing themselves as having an issue. Putting them in the pill cycle till they don’t have any more pills to take… and when they don’t have the pills, they believe they cannot be normal.
The other issue of stopping the medication intake is Adderall’s extremely addictive properties. The devastating effects of addiction should be enough to deter anyone from approaching any drug, but people tend to overlook, and outweigh addiction with all of the miracle works of the drug. In a first person account of one woman’s Adderall downfall published by The Washburn Review, in an article titled, ”The real effects of Adderall: a personal testimony” Taylor Evans goes in depth in her experiences. Evans knew that she did not have ADHD, but a simple visit to the doctors office with descriptions of problems with paying attention, and whatever other fluff she needed to embellish on to get the Adderall prescription. Evans loved the drug, comparing taking Adderall to “being superwoman.” She could get all of her homework done, write papers longer than the required length, clean her house until it was spotless and still pick up extra hours at work. Once someone builds up this notion of only achieving that success from the medication, they will make the connection of pill equaling success, and no pill equaling no success. As time went on, Evans addiction to the drug worsened. The author says, “…Evans started accomplishing less at school and work and shifted her main focus to finding more pills. This disrupted both her studies and home life”. The drug will turn the user into them fully depending on the medication
This topic first spiked my interest when I started living with an Adderall addict. Seeing how dependent he was on the drug to be able to wake up, go to class, maintain his appetite, and stay focused scared me. It is not natural to have something change your performance so much. The benefits of the prescription (which there are many positive effects of the drug) should not even be considered if there is potential for a lifetime or dependency.
References
Is Adderall Safe? | Safe for Adults and Children? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/adderall/adderall-safe/#gref
F. (2012, February 20). Retrieved April 24, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4SFyWilyV0
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1715703263?pq-origsite=summon
Rowan Counterintuitive 