As indicated by numerous studies, medicating children with stimulants provides short-term improvement of classroom concentration and a reduction in disturbances. However, short-term gains may come at the long-term price of negative impact on child brain development.
In 1956 Ritalin was introduced to the market as a Narcolepsy treatment, touted as a safe alternative to amphetamines. In 1970 Ritalin usage increased, primarily among state mental hospitals, to treat children suffering from severe emotional disturbances.
Fast forward to 1991 when Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), an organization focused on addressing problems of adults and children suffering from Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), successfully lobbied Congress to include ADHD as a disability covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This made children diagnosed with ADHD eligible for special services – special services funded with federal money. As a result, diagnosis-related use of stimulant medication spiked to over one million throughout the 1990s.
ADHD is identified as a brain disease, but the etiology remains unknown along with many other medicated pediatric mental diagnoses. CHADD describes ADHD as a chemical imbalance characterized by underactive dopamine, a position which has increased medicated diagnoses. What CHADD does not provide information on is the failure of medication to normalize or repair brain activity, with research indicating a more detrimental effect.
Today over 3.5 million individuals are diagnosed and prescribed stimulant-based medication. According to the Harvard Review of Psychiatry (2009), diagnosis of ADHD primarily arises from teacher complaints, with a small minority displaying symptoms during a physician visit.
Efficacy studies consistently demonstrate an improvement in classroom functioning and a reduction of classroom disturbances with the use of stimulant medications. What efficacy studies fail to demonstrate is a drug treatment that benefits overall development. In fact, a contrary outcome is frequently documented.
A University of Texas study shows that stimulant medication leads to negative child development outcomes – specifically in the area of social development. The child abandons sense of and trust in self, relying instead on medication.
The psychotropic impact of the Methylphenidate drug classification (Ritalin and Adderall) includes:
· Blockage of 70% of transporter neurons that remove dopamine from synaptic cleft – having a negative effect on the pleasure and reward structure of the brain.
· A slower brain clearing time than cocaine, thus blocking dopamine reuptake for hours. This is the opposite of cocaine, which is fast and brief, and the reason cocaine is more addictive.
Additionally, in response to Ritalin a compensatory adaption occurs:
· Dopamine remains in synaptic cleft too long, so the child’s brain dials down its dopamine machinery.
· Density of dopamine receptors in postsynaptic neurons decline.
· Dopamine receptors are altered affecting homeostasis – specifically one’s organization to pleasure and reward neuropathways.
In conclusion, the tradeoff for improved classroom performance and behavior does not translate into long-term success. Brain development in the areas of reasoning, problem-solving, and emotional coordination is not improved and in fact, may suffer long-term negative impacts.