NEWS: Ritalin prescriptions soar 300 percent in seven years

[Mr Blonde]

Males fuel rise of the Ritalin generation

Amy Corderoy HEALTH
January 24, 2011

THE use of stimulant drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children has soared, with prescriptions for Ritalin and its equivalents up 300 per cent in seven years, research shows.

And the study leader, James Scott, said there was potential for more children to be given drugs for ADHD, because there was an underdiagnosis in girls.

Prescriptions of all stimulant drugs to treat ADHD among Australians rose 87 per cent between 2002 and 2009, researchers at the University of Queensland found.

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The increase was largely driven by prescriptions for male children and teenagers, although there was substantial prescribing of an often-misused form of the drugs, dexamphetamine, to people older than 25, the study found.

The percentage of children in NSW with ADHD being treated with the drugs was higher than the national average.

Jon Jureidini, a critic of psychiatric medication overuse, believes the results are worrying but Dr Scott said potentially more children could be treated with drugs.

''About five to 10 per cent of the population has ADHD so these rates are not extraordinarily high,'' he said.

Girls with ADHD often remained undiagnosed because they did not display the obvious hyperactive symptoms boys did, he said, adding that not all cases would require medication.

He would be concerned if the rates rose much higher and if children were not given proper access to non-drug treatments.

Dr Scott, a consultant psychiatrist at the university, said the 300 per cent increase in the use of methylphenidate, including Ritalin, was due to new subsidies from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Rates increased markedly in 2007 when a long-acting form became subsidised, meaning children did not have to take the drug at school and there was less risk of recreational use.

It was unclear why there was significant dispensing of dexamphetamine to people aged over 25 but he said some children still need drugs in later life.

Figures provided by the NSW Department of Health show that in 2009 about 1 per cent of children aged under 17 were prescribed stimulant medications, higher than the national average according to Dr Scott.

Nationally about 1 per cent of boys and 0.5 per cent of girls aged between 10 and 14 had been prescribed the drugs, he wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

Associate Professor Jureidini, a psychiatrist who has campaigned against overprescription of medications on behalf of Healthy Skepticism, said many people with mild to moderate ADHD were being prescribed drugs they did not need.

Differences among the states indicated individual doctors' willingness to prescribe was a big factor influencing who was given drugs, rather than the severity of the disease.

Most studies tested the effects for only six to 12 weeks and there was no evidence the drug improved educational or life outcomes, Associate Professor Jureidini said.

A spokesman for NSW Health said findings from a 2007 independent special review found prescribing rates for stimulants were no higher in NSW than in the rest of the country, and might be lower. All prescribing was authorised and stringently monitored.

Link.

 

[pisspotnrock]

ritalin is a cunt of a drug

 

[person]

ritalin is rife here in nz a very cheap alternative to meth/p! most people i.v. it here or mix it with their meth shot. I use it now and then as a topup after a decent meth shot but it tends to make me go into done w/ds real quick, start sweating then comes the hot cold flushs lol.

 

[pisspotnrock]

the only reason i hate ritalin is because of the come down, by far so much worst and deppressing than a meth comedown! the high just isnt worth it (although a good buzz nether the less)

i think the surge in scripts has alot to do with doctors changing their clients prescriptions, whether they be children or young adults, from dexamphetamine to ritalin..

 

[Jakeperson]

Hmm, I don't find ritalin recreational at all. It's a good stimulant for getting things done however doesn't provide any euphoria etc.

 

[drug_mentor]

the only reason i hate ritalin is because of the come down, by far so much worst and deppressing than a meth comedown!

It is funny I have read this time and time again but it is not my experience or that of the majority I know to have regularly abused ritalin. I used to get this shit thrown at me for nothing by mates with ADHD in high school and snort a fuck tonne of it, to this day I would rate the stimulant buzzes I was catching at school off ritalin almost as euphoric as smoking meth. I never got shit feeling come downs from it either, but I did used to get bulk paranoid.

I was almost going to come in here and say ritalin gave me virtually no comedown, but thinking back on those days I was a pretty paranoid guy and had one or two pretty serious delusions that now I think about it, were likely related to my stimulant abuse atleast slightly.

Definately weren't hellish comedowns by any stretch though, and I always found it such a good drug for either talking peoples ears off or buckling down and doing work, just whatever I focused on at the time ritalin would be perfect for. (except sleeping of course!)

They are way overprescribing this shit though, I mean I don't buy that many kids need fucking stimulants to pay attention, how did previous generations manage then? Ofcourse its a quick solution and giving a stimulant might improve troubled kids concentration, but at what cost? It really shits me how ignored kids doped up on pharms is in todays society, they are going after Michael jacksons doctor for scripts he wrote to a fucking grown man but apparently theres no accountability for doctors doping our kids up on amphetamines?

 

[pisspotnrock]

^^ your dead write about the euphoria, nearly as good as smokin pips!

you say the comedown didnt bother you? how much were you using and in what doses?

when we abused it, we would dump like 120mg of slow release and during that time, rack up about 50mg? we didnt have that much too often but mabey once a month, otherwise just eat like 90mg on a normal night...

 

[drug_mentor]

My doses could vary significantly, I would typically get 10mg IR tablets marked MP above the score and 10 under it, and R40's which were capsules containing beads with a total of 40mg ritalin.

On a good day I would go through a fair few, but often I would only take like 60mg in like 2 30mg doses. The first time I did it 20mg was enough to give me a good buzz insufflated but tolerance went up quickly, although tolerance did seem to peak sort of and eventually remain consistent. I would generally say for a dose I would perhaps eat 20-40mg then rack up 40-60mg a couple times throughout the day.

It is funny that I mostly got them for free off one guy who was scripted heaps but NEVER took them, but half the time when I would rack up he would for the sake of it. As a result doses really relied on how much I could procure at the time but I don't think I ever took it at any dose and felt nothing at all.

I wasn't naive to stimulants when I first started using it either, I had a reasonable amount of experience with 'speed' before I ever took ritalin.

 

[pisspotnrock]

^ yeah Ritalin came before speed for me and lookin back, the doses we had were unnecessarily large, but we also got them for free ... but as i stated before, the comedown was so depressing we eventually turned to speed

btw, the slow release capsules we had are exactly like you describe, small beads... we would just break em open and crush them, thus making them quick release (the beads are what make the cap slow release) except we had 20mg and 30mg, never 40s

 

[drug_mentor]

^ Yeah the R40's I am pretty sure were time release but not positive, it was a long time ago. Occassionally I used to get concertas as well and always had to eat em coz they aren't good for snorting.