Journal of Policy History

Rick Mayes
Jennifer Erkulwater
Medicating Kids: Pediatric Mental Health Policy and the Tipping Point for ADHD and Stimulants
Journal of Policy History - Volume 20, Number 3, 2008, pp. 309-343

Penn State University Press

Project MUSE - Journal of Policy History - Medicating Kids: Pediatric Mental Health Policy and the Tipping Point for ADHD and Stimulants Project MUSE Journals Journal of Policy History Volume 20, Number 3, 2008 Medicating Kids: Pediatric Mental Health Policy and the Tipping Point for ADHD and Stimulants Journal of Policy History Volume 20, Number 3, 2008 E-ISSN: 1528-4190 Print ISSN: 0898-0306 DOI: 10.1353/jph.0.0018 Medicating Kids: Pediatric Mental Health Policy and the Tipping Point for ADHD and Stimulants Rick Mayes and Jennifer ErkulwaterUniversity of Richmond Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (adhd) holds the distinction of being both the most extensively studied pediatric mental disorder and one of the most controversial.1 This is partly due to the fact that it is also the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder among minors.2 Currently, almost 8 percent of youth from the ages of four to seventen have a diagnosis of adhd, and slightly more than 4 percent both have the diagnosis and are taking medication for the disorder.3 In other words, on average one in every ten to fifteen children in the United States has been diagnosed with the disorder and one in every twenty to twenty-five uses a stimulant medication -- often Ritalin, Adderall, or Concerta -- as treatment.4 The biggest increase in youth diagnosed with adhd and prescribed a stimulant drug occurred during the early 1990s, when the prevalence of physician visits for stimulant...