Author Joy Pullmann profileFor decades, the U.S. medical system has delivered amphetamines to skyrocketing numbers of Americans without clear evidence a defined disorder exists or of any long-term effects, says a New York Times Magazine article out Sunday. One in nine American children has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder diagnosis now, including nearly a quarter of 17-year-old American boys. This record number is more than triple the diagnoses in the mid-1990s, says the Times.

“From 2012 to 2022, the total number of prescriptions for stimulants to treat A.D.H.D. increased in the United States by 58 percent,” writes Times contributor Paul Tough. “Although the prescription rate is highest among boys ages 10 to 14, the real growth market today for stimulant medication is adults. In 2012, Americans in their 30s were issued five million prescriptions for stimulants to treat A.D.H.D.; a decade later, that figure had more than tripled, rising to 18 million.” …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>