Monday, December 24, 2007

The problem of soaring psychiatric drug use.

A report from Aberdeen, Scotland. As is typical in many of these reports, in the original story there is a sop to the industry with the mention of a sentimental story of some mother praising the drugs, distracting from the obvious criminal increase in their usage. Here are some snippets with the relevant information

Use of a controversial drug on unruly children has rocketed in the North-east.

This year Ritalin has been prescribed 7,268 times, compared to 5,937 last year by NHS Grampian.

The figures are among the latest health statistics from NHS Scotland.

It marks an astonishing rise in use of the stimulant, which was prescribed just 167 times in Grampian back in 1996.

Ritalin is used to control people, mainly five to 14-year-olds, who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

[...]

Its side effects include difficulty sleeping, stomach aches, diarrhoea and headaches.

[...]

Yesterday's statistics also revealed a rapid rise in the use of anti-depressants.

In 2006/07 there were 297,157 prescriptions for anti-depressants in Grampian compared to 284,661 in 2005/06. Back in 1992/93 there were just 97,162 prescriptions.

Nobody from NHS Grampian was available for comment.

[...]

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