Do you have ADHD? Take this quiz (courtesy of this morning’s Wall Street Journal) to find out. If you’re like me, you may discover that you do. Of course, you may want to ask yourself this question after taking the quiz: Who isn’t easily distracted; doesn’t allow their mind to wander during boring conversations; or doesn’t engage in endless multi-tasking while leaving many projects unfinished?
Have you ever imagined what the world would have been like if Albert Einstein had been on Ritalin? Would we ever have unlocked the mysteries of the universe and developed the technologies we depend on today? Well, had Einstein been born a century later, I’m certain that his genius would have been wholly misunderstood.
Children as young as two are being given powerful antipsychotic medications, raising concerns use of the drugs are not being properly monitored and could be putting children at risk of serious side effects. Figures from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing show 559 WA children were given at least one antipsychotic drug subsidised on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in 2007-08.
Young people are being overmedicated and undermined. It is time that we recognize that the deluge of amphetamines and psychotropic drugs being consumed by teenagers may be more of a problem than a solution.
Here was a bright young boy who was bored and frustrated in school… who probably had a few behavioral problems… and who had now been labeled as having a “disease” and put on medication. And, unfortunately, Phillip is just one of millions…