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Should Children with Adhd Be Medicated? Essay Example

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Should Children with Adhd Be Medicated? Essay Example
Should children with ADHD be medicated? Although many parents, doctors, and teachers would say yes I believe there are far too many risks for children with ADHD to be medicated. [You left out a comma in the previous sentence.] Diagnosing ADHD is purely a matter of a doctor's opinion. Parents often use medication as the first option for their children instead of trying alternative methods of medication. Medication needs to be the last option.

Children with ADHD are being medicated unnecessarily. The problem is there are no biological tests for the disorder, and it cannot be revealed through a blood test. ADHD should be the last resort for a diagnosis, but it is often the first choice. In many cases a child who is disruptive in class or has problems concentrating are diagnosed with ADHD, although the children are really having problems in their home life.

Lefever (2001) states "84% of children with ADHD received medication at some point in time, 70% were receiving medication at the same time that this article was written (4). [Usually, you want to begin with your own topic sentence, and then, use the evidence.]
Martin (2006) stated "75 out of 100 kids who walk into a psychiatrist's office for the first time walk out with at least one prescription" (4). In the past 4 years the number of prescriptions for ADHD medications has increased significantly. Womersley (2006) says that since 2001 spending on drugs to treat ADHD has soared from 441,000 pounds a year to 1.8m. O'Connor (2001) says "28% of elementary school students who were medicated for ADHD received two drugs simultaneously, for many students treatment began as early as preschool"(. 5) [You're providing some good information here.]

To reduce the rates of medication, lefever called for a "public health agenda that includes
Improved systems for tracking ADHD diagnosis. treatments, and outcome and primary prevention initiatives. Gardiner (2006) says that reports show children from lower

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