Posts Tagged ‘college’

Our Drug-Obsessed Nation: Obsessed with ‘feeling good’ & ‘forgetting our problems’—prescription drug abuse skyrockets

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Tech Jackal
June 19, 2010

Not many people would be surprised to find that drug abuse is on the increase, but they may be surprised to find that the increase is not in illegal drug abuse but pharmaceutical drug abuse.

Emergency room visits have increased 110% over the last 5 years, due to prescription drug abuse. These visits are either for overdoses or excuses to get drugs refilled. Ten years ago, emergency room visits were for heroine abuse and other illegal drugs. Today, these visits are for Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Hydrocodone abuse. There are also many other prescription drugs, such as antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs.

Today, it is a popular practice for children in high school and college to take prescription drugs to help them study and focus. Some of these prescriptions are for Addeall and Xanax. Some young people are having teeth pulled and wisdom teeth extracted just so they can get a pain prescription.

Read entire article: http://www.techjackal.net/other/2010/06/19/why-are-we-a-drug-obsessed-nation/

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Time Magazine—ADHD Checklist Too Easy to Fake (Note to Time: that’s because it’s not a real medical disease. Get it?)

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

TIME Magazine
By Megan Gibson
June 15, 2010

It turns out you don’t need to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in order to get the prescription drugs that treat it – you just have to know how to fake it.

A new study released in the journal Psychological Assessment has found that the initial self-report checklists used for ADHD diagnoses are actually quite easily faked by anyone who has a basic knowledge of the disorder.

Since Adderall and Ritalin abuse is quite common on college campuses and kids these days are quite adept at Googling things, this poses a problem for medical professionals. And while the study did show that follow-up tests were a bit more successful at weeding out feigned cases, they still weren’t hacker-proof.

Read entire article:  http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/15/study-faking-adhd-is-easy-so-is-getting-adhd-drugs/

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