Educate, Do Not Medicate (Ritalin)
...a prescribed medication to control the lives of those you love? Do you want to put anyone’s health at risk for long-term side effects or even death? Before determining whether or not you or your child should be put on this dangerous drug, be sure to read all the fine print. In my opinion, Ritalin is over prescribed to children who do not need to be on it. Parents should consider all the side effects, warnings, precautions, and all the alternative methods of treatment before making the mistake of putting your child on Ritalin. As you read the following information, you will learn what Ritalin is, what Ritalin is prescribed for, the dangerous side effects it has on your child, warnings, precautions, and some of the alternative methods of treatment.
What is Ritalin? “Ritalin or methylphenidate is a mild central nervous stimulant that boosts the brain’s ability to control impulsive behavior and helps children concentrate” (Hueber, C. and Riley, M. 2000). This is a very powerful drug that is mainly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This is considered the most common drug for this disorder (Khosh, F. and Beneda, D. 2005). Ritalin is also been know to treat narcolepsy and sleeping disorders. Although there have been no issues found while treating narcolepsy or sleeping disorders while taking Ritalin, there have been many issues and concerns of Ritalin when treating ADHD.
There are many doctors who highly recommend Ritalin to those people who have ADHD. Ritalin is America’s #1 drug for treatment of this disorder. Some patients who are on Ritalin have had some positive results such as, getting help with their behavior, improvement of academic scores, and are more likely to complete assignments accurately (Osterwell, N. 2001). There are some individuals who believe that Ritalin also helps the person cope with the disorder they have, have...
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