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In some secondary and secondary schools in the United States, 1 out of 4 adolescents report that they were abused by prescription stimulants for attention deficit during the year, but also a new study.
“This is the first national study that examined the non -medical stimulants of secondary and secondary school students, and we discovered a huge, wide range of abuse,” said the leader of the Sean Esteban McCab, director of the Center for Drug, Alcohol, Smoking and Health at the University of Michigan at the Ann -Arbor.
“In some schools, there were practically no abuse of stimulants, while in other schools more than 25% of students used stimulants in non -medical methods,” said McCabe, who is also a professor at the school of a nurse of the University of Michigan. “This study is a serious alarming call.”
Non -medical use of stimulants may include taking a more ordinary dose to achieve a high level or taking drugs using alcohol or other drugs To increase the high, Previous studies Found.
Students also excessively use medicines or “use a pill that someone gave them out of a sense of stress against academicians – they are trying not to sleep late, or to study or finish the documents,” said Dr. Dipa Kamenga, deputy director of pediatric programs in Yale Program In -Medicine in InSic innsic in -in -in Indiction in Indiation in InDiction in InDiction in An New Hive, Connecticut.
“We know that this happens in colleges. The main conclusion of the new study is that the abuse and exchange of stimulating prescription drugs occurs in secondary and secondary schools, and not just in college, ”said Kamanga, which was not related to research.
Published on Tuesday in the magazine Jama Network is openThe study analyzed the data collected in the period from 2005 to 2020 by monitoring the future, a federal survey, which measured the use of drugs and alcohol among high school students throughout the country every year since 1975.
In the data set used for this study, the profiles were provided with more than 230,000 teenagers in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades in a national representative sample of 3284 secondary schools.
School with the highest adolescents using prescribed drugs for ADHD The study showed that over the past year there were about 36% more likely, that students abuse prescription stimulants. According to McCake, schools with a small number of students who currently use such treatment methods have a much smaller problem, but this did not disappear.
“We know that these two largest sources are the remaining medicines, possibly from family members, such as brothers and sisters, and asking peers who can attend other schools,” he said.
Schools in the suburbs in all regions of the United States, with the exception of the north -east, had higher indicators of abuse of adolescence from ADHD, as well as schools, where, as a rule, one or more parents had higher education, according to the study.
Schools with a large number of white students and those who had an average level of alcohol consumption also more likely to see the abuse of stimulants by adolescents.
At the individual level, students who said that they used marijuana over the past 30 days, four times more often abused medicines for ADHD than adolescents who did not use grass, according to the analysis.
In addition, adolescents who stated that they used medicines for ADHD at present or in the past, had about 2.5% more often, probably incorrectly used stimulants compared to The study showed that colleagues who have never used stimulants.
“But these conclusions were not exclusively due to adolescents when the SDVG incorrectly used their medicines,” McCabe said. “We still found a significant association, even when we excluded students who have never been prescribed therapy for ADHD.”
The data collection for research took place until 2020. Since then, New statistics Show recipes for stimulants, have grown by 10% during 2021 in most age groups. At the same time, a nationwide shortage of Addrall, one of the most popular drugs for ADHD, has occurred, leaving many patients It is impossible to fill out or replenish your recipes.
According to experts, the bets are high: to take stimulating drugs over time can lead to a disorder using stimulants, which can lead to anxiety, depression, psychosis and seizures.
With excessive use or in combination with alcohol or other drugs, there may be sudden health consequences. Side effects can include “paranoia, dangerously high body temperature and irregular palpitations, especially if stimulants are accepted in large doses or methods except swallowing a tablet”, according to Administration for the fight against psychoactive substances and psychiatric healthField
Studies also showed that people who abuse medicines for ADHD. Numerous disorders of the use of psychoactive substancesField
According to experts, abuse of stimulating drugs has grown over the past two decades, since more adolescents Diagnosed and prescribed These drugs are research According to McCeib, showed 1 out of every 9 high school students.
For children with ADHDs who use their medicines accordingly, stimulants can be effective treatment. They are “protecting the child’s health,” Kamenga said. “These adolescents, diagnosed and treated correctly, are very well controlled – they have a lower risk of new mental health problems or new disorders associated with the use of psychoactive substances.”
What can parents and guardians do
The solution to the problem of improper use of stimulants among adolescents of secondary and high school does not limit the use of drugs for children who really need them, McCabe emphasized.
“Instead, we need to look at school strategies for a very long and eagerly, which are more or less effective for curbing stimulation drugs,” he said. “Parents can make sure that the schools that their children visit have safe storage for drugs and strict dosing. And ask about the prevalence of improper use – these data are available to each school. ”
Families can also help, talking with their children about how to treat peers who approach them, wanting pills or two to a party or pulled out all nights of the educational session, he added.
“You will be surprised how many children do not know what to say,” said McCab. “Parents can play a role -playing game with their children to give them options for what to say so that they are ready when this will happen.”
Parents and guardians Should you always store controlled medicines in the lock, and you should not be afraid to count the pills and stay at the top of the early gas stations, he added.
“Finally, if parents suspect what kind of abuse type, they should immediately contact their child,” McCabe said. “This child must be immediately verified and evaluated.”
