Would Tom Sawyer Have Been Prescribed Ritalin - Essay Example

The article Would Tom Sawyer Have Been Prescribed Ritalin? by Lawrence Diller addresses an important issues of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) treatment with the help of performance enhancer drug Ritalin. This drug is prescribed more and more often in the USA who is the biggest world consumer of Ritalin. Diller argues that while Americans value creativity and self-confidence in their community, they require children to be obedient at school. Children have more demands but less care today. They face pressure of their community because they need to learn better and faster than ever. Their parents have to work hard to make money; this process takes away all their time. Moreover, they have to be liberal in the way they bring up their children. Obviously, lack of control leads to decrease in discipline. The diagnosis itself is relative because the border between impulsive personality and disorder is defined by community. In the UK and Japan the definition of impulsive personality seems to be broader because children in these countries are prescribe Ritalin not so often. While some doctors give to their patients more and more Ritalin prescriptions, others state that children can do without it because this drug serves as a “quick-fix” of the problem which does not cope with its causes. In this debate, I agree with Dr. Diller that better parental care and less pressure can result in better discipline and Tow Sawyer will live without Ritalin. The biggest problem children face in their life is represented by various demands. Children are required to be obedient; they have to meet different standards, pass various tests and participate in boring activities. These demands can cause bad and impulsive behavior in children (Diller). It is not a disorder, but a logical reaction of a person to the situation when people are forced to do something they totally dislike. If children misbehave at school they do not necessarily have ADHD; it is possible that they cannot concentrate on tasks which do not fit their personality. The biggest pressure at school is the need of high performance. When I studies at school, my parents always wanted me to be the best in the class. When I was worse than other kids, they tended to push on my forcing me to study something I disliked. I cannot say that their efforts were effective because they only destroyed my desire to learn the subjects where I could not succeed. Different studies show that Ritalin does help to concentrate on boring tasks, but it is helpless at improving intelligence (Sroufe). Some parents are sure that if their kinds take Ritalin, they become smarter. In fact, it is not true; children become smarter only when they are interested in what they learn. Even though ADHD is inheritable, it heavily depends on the lifestyle of children. When they have lack of parental control at home, they can be overexposed to TV, violent video games or inappropriate media content which can trigger wrong behavior. When parents at work, they cannot control what their children do at home. When I studies at school, my parents were always at work and there was nobody to structure my day till they come home. Many of my friends experienced the same situation. Diller argues that parents need to pay more attention to their children; in this way, they will mediate their behavior and reduce various environmental factors which can cause ADHD. According to Greenhill and Hechtman, bad parenting is not the primary cause of the disorder. However, certain behavioral interventions and parenting techniques used at home can control behavior without drugs. When a parent drinks or smokes during the pregnancy, the chances for ADHD increase. Attentive parents can either reduce or avoid using Ritalin for treating their children. Naish provides an example of the family where parents limit the use of Ritalin to minimum and succeed to control behavior of their son. In this case, parents do have power to deal with ADHD; however, they need to find some time and spend it on parenting instead of moneymaking. Finally, there are almost no medications without side effects. Ritalin is praised for its primary effect, but there is a doubt about its safety for children. Naish states that children off Ritalin have better sleep and appetite. They spend their energy to the full, but they cannot do that when they are under the effect of Ritalin. Naish gives an example of the kid who killed himself being overdosed by Ritalin. This performance enhancer is not as safe as people perceive it. People need to think twice before taking any drugs, especially if they need to take them daily. My parents always told me to take drugs only in some extreme cases. In this way, if ADHD is not too disturbing, children can do better without it. If they seriously suffer from their disorder, they can take Ritalin being at school, but their parents can limit the consumption of the drug at home providing better care and supervision to their children. Therapists discover different interventions which can cope with ADHD without any medications (Sonuga-Barke). Hopefully, their effectiveness will be proved in the future. In summary, parents are responsible for their children's health. They need to do everything possible to be the best and the most attentive parents they can. If their child is diagnosed with ADHD, it does not mean that they can do nothing but to buy Ritalin and give it to them. According to current diagnosing criteria, Tom Sawyer would be prescribed to take Ritalin. However, nobody knows the clear limit between impulsive and extraordinary personality and disorder. I believe that Ritalin is the last resort for parents who have already tried all other methods to cope with impulsiveness and inattentiveness of their children. This drug has side effects which influence child's daily life. Instead of buying more drugs, they can pay attention to their children and show that they love them the way they are. Parental care and adequate demands can create more adequate and stimulating conditions for child development. All in all, Ritalin does not deal with the causes of the problem; it is a quick solution which becomes ineffective when children stop taking it. Works Cited Diller, Lawrence. “Would Tom Sawyer Have Been Prescribed Ritalin?”. SFGate. March 18, 1999. Greenhill, L.L. and L.I. Hechtman. “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder”. In BJ Sadock et al., eds., Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 9th ed., vol. 2, pp. 3560–3572. (2009): pp. 3560–3572 Naish, John. “Ritalin calms hyperactive children and prescriptions are soaring - but experts warn of serious side-effects and it's even being linked to suicide”. Daily Mail. May 8, 2012. Web. May 17, 2014. Sroufe, Alan L. “Ritalin Gone Wrong”. The New York Times. January 28, 2012. Web. May 17, 2014. Sonuga-Barke, Edmund JS, et al. "Nonpharmacological interventions for ADHD: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of dietary and psychological treatments." American Journal of Psychiatry 170.3 (2013): 275-289. Read More