Did you know that high dosages of Ritalin can lead to mental instability? It’s part of the reason why a 14 year old, who had been on the drug for seven years for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, beat a classmate to death with a baseball bat in 1986. Unfortunately, many kids who demonstrate even slight agitation and impulsivity are mistaken for ADHD and are misdiagnosed. Ritalin is prescribed to them, and the drug can have grave consequences. It’s more than likely you may know someone like this. As someone who knows several people with ADHD, I feel the need to bring up the seriousness of Ritalin. I have researched the drug’s history, use, forms, effects, precautions, and recovery from misuse on reliable sources to establish credibility. Ritalin is a methylphenidate that stimulates the central nervous system and suppresses high levels of activity. It’s a common drug prescribed to those with …show more content…
The drug was approved by the American Food and Drug Administration in 1954. The Ciba Pharmaceutical Company originally sold Ritalin, which was commonly known as MPH, to “treat chronic fatigue, depression, psychosis, narcolepsy, and counteract the side effects of other medications.” The use of Ritalin to treat ADHD steadily increased in the 1970s and 80s, but between 1991 and 1999, sales in the United States increased 500 percent. The United States alone produces (and also consumes ) as much as 85 percent of the world’s production of Ritalin. The first advertisements for Ritalin usually featured elderly patients and housewives. Doctor Matthew Smith from the University of Strathclyde reports that Ritalin promotions “showed severely depressed people, who would have been living in mental institutions.” When physciatrists “noticed that stimulant drugs could have a positive effect on the academic performance and behaviour of troubled children,” Ritalin became popular and sales dramatically