2 million Ritalin doses prescribed in Scotland last year
There have been calls for a reduction in the numbers of Ritalin doses prescribed. Picture: Allan Milligan
MORE than two million daily doses of Ritalin were prescribed to children in Scotland last year despite calls for doctors to reduce their use of the mood-altering drug.
Official statistics reveal that use of the drug – also known as methlyphenidate – has soared by almost 300 per cent in the past ten years even though its long-term effectiveness as a treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is unproven.
Around 6,000 children between six and 12 are now believed to be on Ritalin, which has been called the “chemical cosh” by critics who claim that although it can lead to a short-term improvement in behaviour it can also leave young children in a “zombie-like” state.
The number of daily doses of the drug in Scotland passed the two million mark in 2010 and climbed again to more than 2.1 million last year, compared with 770,000 ten years ago.
Some experts and politicians say the rise in Ritalin prescriptions should be curtailed and more emphasis placed on non-chemical treatments for ADHD. Critics have suggested that part of the rise may be due to families being able to claim disability benefits if their child is prescribed the drug.
The figures, compiled by ISD Scotland, the statistics arm of NHS Scotland, reveal steep rises in the number of prescriptions of Ritalin for ADHD, a group of behavioural symptoms in children that include inattention, hyperactivity and compulsiveness. Children as young as six can be prescribed Ritalin or similar drugs as a way of controlling their behaviour and focusing their concentration, but experts have raised concerns that Ritalin is too often prescribed to treat normal developmental difficulties.
Dr Gwynedd Lloyd, an education specialist at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The attraction of the ADHD diagnosis and drugs is that it’s a simple solution.
“The reason for the increase is that drug companies realised that their North American sales were reaching what they called ‘saturation point’ so they started looking at Europe.
“We don’t know what the long-term effects on developing brains are. Some children are being given more drugs to deal with side-effects like sleep loss and over-anxiety, so they end up on a cocktail of medication. We are narrowing the idea of what’s normal in children, and we should be looking at non-chemical ways of helping them.”
Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said: “‘These figures are truly astonishing. If the answer to the question is the mass medication of children across Scotland then we are asking the wrong question.”
The new concerns follow calls by the Association of Educational Psychologists for an urgent national review into the use of the drug. General secretary Kate Fallon said: “There is a danger that we rely on the ‘quick fix’ for children with conditions such as ADHD, which frequently means the prescription of medication such as Ritalin instead of a number of other possible interventions.
“These are very powerful drugs that should not be prescribed lightly and really be a last resort.”
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Comments
There are 29 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
AndrewJohnYounger
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:14 AMPost 25 ex-pet Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 07:09 PM special educational needs, including AHD and ADHD I can say with total authority that the condition "does exist," PROVE IT. Watch a child and then claim disease? ADHD and associated drugs are about behavioural control, that is neither scientific, nor clinical. Least outside the laboratory. As the authority in lazy teaching ex-pet, the drug culture must make for an easy life in the class room. Post 18 Novantae Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:20 PM "It is not a "chemical cosh"" Get the video evidence of those children that have a different view. But hey refusing to spend funds on proper research is the cartels answer and teh drug culture and the cartel are best friends for that. Shame on you all politicians. "Oh dear. Ignorance and prejudice are having a field day on this forum today, aren't they? . The facts are these: 1.ADHD "exists." PROVE IT. Using a behaviour check list equals not normal behaviour? These all comments of friends the Royal College of Psychiatry, Peter Rice, really must control your monkeys. Those labs got faulty locks? Strip anyone of there intellect is probable illegal, robbing kids of there intellectual property on basis of a state education cannot continue. End invasive compulsory dose. Facebook. Psychiatric Abuse Scotland.
antiparasite
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 02:14 AMComment removed by moderator
Tartancult
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:22 PMCharles, you are a prime candidate for the very drug you decry.
Tintock Pete
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 07:37 PMAs a teacher of children with a variety of special educational needs...........I make a fortune from this. Aye we know. Another one who would otherwise be unemployed if parents did right by their kids instead of feeding them straight out of a packet and having them think a life on benefits is a suitable career........I'm speaking from experience as a parent and grandparent.
ex-pet
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 07:09 PMDear me, comment number 9 and comment number 17, really gentlemen, I'm fairly sure you both post like thisl in order to get a reaction, but it's laughable and no-one will respond with a decent argument if your posts are filled with uneducated nonsense. As a teacher of children with a variety of special educational needs, including AHD and ADHD I can say with total authority that the condition does exist, it is, as another poster commented, very upsetting and traumatic for the child and the family and it does affect every aspect of a child's life - most acutely their education. I agree with Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Conservative minister's comment If the answer to the question is the mass medication of children across Scotland then we are asking the wrong question.” But the question is Mr Carlaw, what is happening to prevent this situation. Already places in SEN schools are being slashed and pupils with obvious special needs, including ADHD, are being lumped into PRUs within mainstream schools. Essentially their needs are being ignored. It is due to funding cuts by the Conservative Party on LEAs across Britain
langtounlass
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 05:21 PMI've heard quite a few radio programmes with eminent child psychologists and child psychiatrists debating ADHD. They always conclude that it only exists in about 25% of all the diagnosed cases, the rest are down to bad or ineffective parenting. Parents just let their little darlings do what they like nowadays, I see it in my own street - 10 years olds wazzed off their faces on a combo of e numbers, energy drinks, crisps and fizzy pop. Add the junk food mum serves for tea and it's lethal. Bad diet, lack of exercise and no discipline are part of the problem.
Buford Van Stomm
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 05:14 PM21 Tintock Pete ==================================================== that quote sums you up......a vacuous beige moron..
Buford Van Stomm
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 05:12 PM17 Tintock Pete ==================================================== stop being so feckless additives have nothing to do with behaviour. ==================================================== This is simply another example of political stupidity as handing out pills is much simpler than providing what the state should. ==================================================== shameful way to treat children.....adults get treated no better with 10% of scots on anti-depressants.
Tintock Pete
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 04:04 PMIn the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies Everything you think, do and say Is in the pill you took today ; Zager and Evans.
Pilrig.
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 03:24 PM9 bring back the belt for, say, left-hand writers as well ?
AndrewJohnYounger
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:58 PMStimulant drugs, and how does One give a precise dose of stimulent when our daily lives contain the consumption of stimulents - Irun Bru is one. Is there really an honest need to dose children, or, anyone with what are pharmacological street drugs. Fact, if include Strattera that is an amphetamine; no difference except the quality should be guaranteed. Is giving children a pharma street drug an answer, when the problem is only that seen from behaviour, clinical never was about behavioural control, until psychiatry got its suggestive science on to our statue. Human experimentation was given a go & used without consent and whenever a no was found the patient somehow become a lesser person from a claim of mental capacity. Yet, science cannot prove a cure, nor a method of actionof any psychiatric dose, and in a future we shall ask who did lack mental capacity. Facebook. Psychiatric Abuse Scotland. Meet the truth and see where clinical lies.
The Great Bohunkus
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:20 PMOh dear. Ignorance and prejudice are having a field day on this forum today, aren't they? . The facts are these: 1.ADHD exists. 2.It can be a nightmare for the families of affected children who have to endure it's effects on a daily basis. 3.It can be disastrous for the education and social wellbeing of affected children. 4.Yes, it does need to be differentiated from behaviour problems due to other causes eg.social deprivation or poor parenting skills (and yes, #17 maybe caffeine excess as well). 5.Ritalin works (and can work very well indeed) for those children truly affected by ADHD. It can restore normal behaviour, allow them to get the education they deserve, stop them becoming socially isolated and significantly reduce the risk of them entering a spiral of antisocial behaviour which can be a blight for the rest of their lives. It is not a "chemical cosh" - it is believed to work by stimulating that part of the brain which in normal circumstances acts as a brake on impulsive or irrational behaviour or overactivity, and which in children with ADHD seems to be malfunctioning. One possible reason for the rise in prescribing is that ADHD is now better recognised and diagnosis has improved. Another is that ritalin is increasingly being prescribed "off license" to help combat the fatigue experienced by many patients suffering from terminal malignancy. And before anyone asks, no, I have no connections or financial interests in any pharmaceutical company.
Tintock Pete
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 12:26 PMCut out the red bull and sweeties and drinks with colours. A proper diet and parenting helps as well. All this bi-polar and AHHD is just another method of avoiding work and living a life on benefits.
Belinda-2
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:11 AMat the very least it appears we could do with a look at the geographic distribution of Ritalin. It seems if it is concentrated on one region that might point to a problem in diagnosis or management of wider problems affecting behaviour. It may well help some people but just because that is true it doesn't mean that it might not harm others. We're interfering with brain chemistry after all.
Niebiosa tam sa naprawde nieskrzydlowe ludzie tam
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 10:50 AMMMMhh might be better giving the stuff to some of the parents
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