Overmedicated Kids?

From WTVF in Nashville

If something's wrong - pop a pill. Many experts argue we're an overmedicated society, kids included. Last year, doctors wrote more than 30 million prescriptions for ADHD meds alone. Are they just looking for a fast fix when many pediatricians are booked to spend only five minutes on each child?

Four million kids in the United State are diagnosed with ADHD, and more than half take medication for it.

Nine-year-old Melissa is one of those of kids, but after being put on the drug straterra, the side effects were worse than the symptoms.

"I think that the medication numbed her. She wasn't happy; she was nothing; she was just there," parent Cecilia Johnson said.

These concerns are real. The FDA now requires several ADHD drugs to carry warning labels about risks for heart and behavioral problems.

Child Psychiatrist Glen Elliott said psychiatric drug dangers are part of a bigger issue.

"There is a very strong debate about should we be going back to the old drugs, which had some side effects that we really disliked, or do we put up with the new ones, which do not have side effects but have new effects," Elliott said.

So what do parents need to know? First, talk to your doctor about alternatives like dietary changes that eliminate wheat and citrus and add supplements with fatty acids. But, don't be fooled by the allure of natural treatments.

"There are lots of poisons out there that are very natural and very deadly, and there are lots of poisons out there that have no benefit whatsoever," Elliott said.

Perhaps most important, don't underestimate your own level of expertise.

"The parents come as the expert on that child," Elliott said.

For Melissa, that meant getting her off drugs through counseling.

"Don't let the doctors and schools convince you that drugs and medicating your child is the only way," Johnson said.

For some kids, it might take more, but Melissa's back to her old self.

Also, don't believe everything you see on the internet either, especially something that guarantees 100 percent effectiveness with no side effects.

Elliott said any powerful treatment has the potential for powerful side effects.