In our last issue, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY reported on the growing number of parents giving otherwise normal children Ritalin to boost them academically. Now, in light of shocking new statistics about this expanding phenomenon, the White House is intervening.
According to the February issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, the number of children ages 2 through 4 taking psychotropic, or mind-altering, drugs increased by 200% to 300% between 1991 and 1995. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to approve these drugs for children under 6, and many are taking them without proper diagnosis.
Concerned by the drugs' potentially dangerous effects, the White House allocated more than $5 million to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to research psychotropic drug use in younger children. The NIMH will also work with the U.S. Department of Education to make information on alternative treatments available, and the FDA is beginning research on new pediatric dosage information for drug labels.
