3 Million Kids on ADD/ADHD Drugs: Not a Long-Term Solution

Ritalin and ADD/ADHD have become so closely with each other that to mention the one is to imply the other. Indeed, at the end of last year, a mild panic arose over a shortage of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. Three million children now take such medications, a 20-fold increase in the past 30 years. L. Alan Sroufe, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, says that the use of drugs in the name of helping children with attention issues is a case of “Ritalin gone wrong.” In a New York Times op-ed, Sroufe argues that, based on his 40 years of studying the development of “troubled children,” the drugs are not effective in the long-term. Our overuse of them is a sign of insufficiently understanding what ADD is and of not taking enough into account how experiences in early childhood can affect children’s development.

3 Million Kids on ADD/ADHD Drugs: Not a Long-Term Solution