Shocking Amount Of Pre-School Children Being Prescribed ADHD Drugs

What experts call an “alarming” number of young children are being given drugs to treat hyperactivity, a survey has found.

In the study conducted by the University College London Institute of Education (IoE) and the British Psychological Society, 136 educational psychologists were asked about their views on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The findings, which will be published next year, show that medication is the most commonly used treatment of ADHD. Over a fifth of the educational psychologists polled admitted to knowing pre-school children that are given the drug Ritalin.

Ritalin, also known as methylphenidate, is a central nervous system stimulant commonly used to treat both ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Side effects of the drug include anxiety, loss of appetite, sickness, increased heart rate, high blood pressure and nervousness – to name a few.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) advises that drugs are avoided in young children and instead therapy and support are offered. In fact, in the UK, children under the age of six shouldn’t be prescribed the medicine at all.

“Parent-training/education programmmes are the first-line treatment for parents or carers of pre-school children…. Drug treatment is not recommended for pre-school children with ADHD,” state the NICE guidelines.

Not Enough Medical Experts
Vivian Hill, director of professional educational psychology training at the IoE who conducted the study, says this leniency towards prescribing medicine on a lack of paediatricians.

“It is very alarming to discover that terribly young children who often have not had access to alternative treatments are being put on medication,” says Hill.

“It is almost certainly to do with the fact that the whole of children’s mental health services is incredibly underfunded. It’s quick and easy – one off the waiting list, one intervention in place.

“To work with a child or a young person and their family over time is much more costly, but much safer and likely to have much better results. Medication has a short-term impact. It will not make the difference long-term."

And Hill’s not the only one who thinks a low number of doctors are to blame.

“Our biggest difficulty is that children’s and adolescent mental health services and paediatric teams are so short-staffed they go straight to medication and completely ignore NICE guidance,” an educational psychologist who took part in the study wrote.

But things are looking up.

The Department of Health has “formed a task force,” a spokesman said, to look at how they can provide the best possible care and have invested £54million in improving access to psychological treatments, which should help with scenarios such as this.

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