Trends in Ritalin Use

The trend in Ritalin use has changed dramatically during the last decade. The number of people diagnosed as having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased from 900,000 in 1990 to about 5 million in 2000. At the same time, the number of prescriptions for Ritalin has increased from 3 million in 1991 to 11 million in 1998. In addition, the age and the type of individuals diagnosed as having ADHD has also changed. 

Parents were confused about their inability to improve their child s behavior and blamed themselves for this failure. In most cases, they had not heard of ADHD. Some parents, especially fathers, refused to believe there could be something wrong with their child s brain and blamed the mother s parenting style for 

The situation is quite different now. Today, everybody seems to know about ADHD, and Ritalin is widely accepted as a miracle pill that makes children behave. This belief is so widespread that some parents cannot wait for their children to turn six, the recommended age for a child to start receiving Ritalin. In fact, some do not wait, and, although it is against the American Psychiatric Association s recommendations, the number of children under the age of six taking Ritalin is increasing. 

Nowadays, when parents call the doctor to make an appointment, they may already have decided that their child 

after years of struggling with their child s behavior, parents ask a doctor whether their child has ADHD, what they are really asking is whether there is a physiological reason for their child to behave the way he or she does. What they are asking is whether the child cannot behave or whether he or she will not behave. 

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