Medication not solution
to problems

We believe people in the United States are overmedicated.
Utah has a particularly high rate of anti-depressant users. We believe this is a problem, which has been caused by two things.
First, medicating has started with childhood and then continues through adulthood. Second, some counselors and doctors just hand out prescriptions at the request of a patient, sometimes without a complete knowledge or evaluation of the patient.
A scary part of receiving medications without a complete evaluation is that some medications are highly addictive.
Utah is among the top 10 states for Ritalin prescriptions for children, the DEA said.
Until legislation stepped in last year, an elementary school teacher could send a note home to Mom and Dad to suggest medication for a child. The parents would then ask their doctor for a prescription and sometimes get one, often without evaluation of the child.
It is disappointing that no matter what a child is feeling, our society seems to think the solution is to medicate.
We understand Ritalin has improved the lives of many children, however, a lot of times the children taking Ritalin are only in need of a little more attention from parents. Other times the child is exceedingly bright and is bored in school.
Too often, our society’s solution is to calm or dull a child’s brain with medication, instead of urging them to develop their minds and continue learning.
This is a problem that not only affects children. The medication trend continues as the child grows into an adult.
Now, adults — including SUU students — are still asking for prescriptions for medication as a solution to everything.
Some medications no longer work because people have overused them for the common cold, flu and headaches.
Medication also is given as a remedy to problems that need to be worked out with a counselor or psychologist.
At SUU our school psychologist is overbooked. The wait at the Wellness Center is often months to see the one counselor available to students.