Something must be changed....

When I read headline like " More Than 6 Percent of U.S. Teens Take Psychiatric Meds: Survey ADHD, depression most common conditions reported by those on medication", my first thought is this should not be an acceptable situation.
How can we just read this and be ok with it? Why are so many teenagers taking such medications? Are our health professionals are being too quick in prescribing these? Or are US teenagers missing some essential element in their upbringing and lives that is leading to a rise in need for treatment.We need to ask ourselves these pointed questions as the parents and do whatever needs to be done.

Here is an excerpt of the article on WebMD from HealthDay News; 

'Slightly more than 6 percent of U.S. teens take prescription medications for a mental health condition such as depression or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new survey shows. The survey also revealed a wide gap in psychiatric drug use across ethnic and racial groups. Earlier studies have documented a rise in the use of these medications among teens, but they mainly looked at high-risk groups such as children who have been hospitalized for psychiatric problems. 

The new survey provides a snapshot of the number of adolescents in the general population who took a psychiatric drug in the past month from 2005 to 2010.Teens aged 12 to 19 typically took drugs to treat depression or ADHD, the two most common mental health disorders in that age group. About 4 percent of kids aged 12 to 17 have experienced a bout of depression, the study found.Meanwhile, 9 percent of children aged 5 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, a behavioral disorder marked by difficulty paying attention and impulsive behavior. 

Males were more likely to be taking medication to treat ADHD, while females were more commonly taking medication to treat depression. This follows patterns seen in the diagnosis of these conditions across genders. Exactly what is driving the new numbers is not clear, but "in my opinion, it's an increase in the diagnosis of various conditions that these medications can be prescribed for," said study author Bruce Jonas. He is an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). But these are stressful times and it is also possible that children are becoming more vulnerable to these conditions as a result. "The recession and various world events might be a contributing factor," Jonas speculated. (Full Article)