As a student diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD) myself, the field of biological psychology, specifically psychopharmacology, is one in which I express great interest. Biological psychology attempts to answer questions we have about our psychological processes by investigating the biological bases of behavior. With recent advances in modern science and medicine, we have learned a great deal more about our neuroanatomy, physiology, and the chemical pathways of our brain, and this has led to an explosion in the use of psychotropic drugs to treat many mental disorders. It seems recently that for many mental conditions, especially depression and attention deficit disorder, more emphasis has been put on drug therapy as the solution and less has been put on behavioral, cognitive, and psychodynamic therapies. The "pill-popping" culture of our society and of the growing pharmaceutical industry has made these antidepressants and amphetamines easier and easier to obtain, !

and there are many questions being raised over the issue of their abuse and overprescription.

Cyber: WWW7. National Institute of Medical Health

It may come to mind that the symptoms and effects of Dexedrine sound a lot like those for heavy-duty illegal illegal narcotics such as crystal meth, crank, or "tweak." Essentially, the Dexedrine that I am prescribed is a milder, legal form of "speed" - it seems to have the same symptoms and effects, but it is weaker and lasts for shorter duration of time. Though I have rarely had any serious adverse reactions when taking the drug in moderation, I most definitely feel a strong "speedy" effect strong enough so that I would classify it as a narcotic "high." When I was first prescribed, the doctor recommended me to take one or two pills three times a day, and mildly described the drug's effects as a means of "opening of the blackboard of the mind," when he should have just said: "Here's some speed." I was tremendously over-prescribed at first; if you take three to six Dexedrine a day, you are on speed - I had no appetite and no sleep for more than 48 hours. This just goes to i!

The American fascination with the idea of a simple "pill-popping-cure-all," along with the media's coverage of the growing ADHD prescription drug industry, has increased usage of these stimulants to lucrative levels; in the U.S.(which buys and consumes 95% of the world's Ritalin) ADD was first classified as a disease by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980, and by 1988, at least 500,000 people were diagnosed with ADD, a number which has risen to more than 4 million people today(WWW8). However, I believe that for many of these people, pill-popping will not be a permanent solution, but only a temporary one. The best treatment for ADHD is a comprehensive one, that includes not only the medication, but also therapy, such as psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy (Ingersoll, B. and Goldstein, S. 1992, 109-11). Regardless, the industry of psychopharmacology is growing and will continue to grow as time goes on. The results of this tremendously increasing trend will!

llustrate the gap between research and actual practice; though my psychiatrist calculated my dosage by looking at my size and weight, he actually had little to no idea of how much I was going to need, and told me to take more than twice what was necessary. I do support the use of Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Adderall to treat Attention Deficit Disorder for mature individuals who can benefit from their use in moderation under proper supervision. However, the mere thought of preschoolers and children over ten years younger than me taking more than two to three times my daily dosage on a consistent basis is a disturbing one, to say the least.

The major concern with this trend is that so many of these people are children, even infants; a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that in 1994, 3000 prescriptions for fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac) were written for children aged younger than a year (WWW2). I wonder, how well can a child under one year of age be accurately diagnosed with severe depression? Even if the baby seems "depressed," is it really a good idea to put it on a daily routine of high-powered psychotropic medication? This fact illustrates the "pill-popping" trend that our modern culture is moving towards, of trying to fix a problem the easiest and most convenient way possible, without looking towards the future at the problems that may later arise. By getting their kids in the routine of depending on a drug to fix their problems at such a young age, parents are fostering future drug addiction problems. Though some of these infants may actually benefit from taking Pro!

One of the problems of the increasing access to these prescription drugs is that amphetamines are, by nature, addictive. "Uppers" will give you short-term effects and leave you with crash or comedown when they wear off, leaving you depressed, tired, and sluggish. Furthermore, stimulant drugs like "Dex" induce

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ritalin Dexedrine, Deficit DisorderADD, Deficit Disorder, ADHD Ritalin, Medical Association, Mental Disorders, Essentially Dexedrine, TCA's SSRI's, Dexedrine Ritalin, Familiar Effects, attention deficit, attention deficit disorder, deficit disorder, mental disorders, severe depression, central nervous, dexedrine ritalin, biological psychology, ritalin dexedrine, drug therapy, psychotropic drugs treat, symptoms associated, drugs treat mental, treat mental disorders, symptoms associated adhd,
Approximate Word count = 2930
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)