Anesthetizing Our Youth a Commentary on Over Medicating...

â€Å"ADHD is the most extensively studied pediatric mental health disorder, yet controversy and public debate over the diagnosis and medication treatment of the disorder continue to exist.† (Connor D., P.1, 2011) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often a debated subject when the method of treatment is being discussed because it has become a trending issue to over medicate children with ADHD. A fitting label for the trend is the anesthetization of our youth, caused by government agency expansion and pharmaceutical allowances, and blame parents not advocating for their child better. The trend of over medicating children with ADHD is labeled well with the phrase anesthetization of our youth. â€Å"Anesthetize- deprive if feeling or awareness.† (Oxford Dictionary, 2014) Many children often express to their parents that they feel as if they are a walking zombie. A child may find that they are having memory issues, are not quite themselves, and feel overly drowsy. â€Å"ADHD medications often change a child’s personality creating what many kids with ADHD (and their parents) refer to as a zombie state or making them more aggressive.† (Barnett H., P. 1, 2013) Children with ADHD have other options for treatment but unfortunately medications are pushed on them at an alarming rate. The government paved the road for the pharmaceutical industry for ADHD medications in the 1990’s. â€Å"Before 1970, the diagnosis of ADHD was relatively rare for school children and almost nonexistent for