Academic Doping Crisis
The recent media coverage featuring the growing trend of what is referred to as "academic doping" has alarmed NeuroGenesis. We are concerned that some misguided parents are going to unwise extremes to "help" their children reach the academic or athletic perfection they desire and expect. The growing fear is that otherwise healthy children will, throughout their life, continue to seek drugs strictly to improve or enhance their scholastic or athletic performance.
We as parents want the very best for our children. We want them to be healthy, happy, have all of the advantages we had and didn't have. We want them to be the most gifted, brightest, etc., etc.
There is an ever-increasing trend for well-meaning parents to push their children. Having an unquenchable desire to see our children have and be the very best, we sometimes make choices for the wrong reasons. Such is the case of "academic doping."
Parents can be overly eager to blame poor grades, lack of concentration or motivation, and other such symptoms on physical or emotional issues that we hope can be improved, if not eliminated, if we can just find the right medication.
"Academic doping" is asking a doctor or health care professional for a legal, stimulant prescription medication that will give the child the "boost" we parents feel they need to reach their full potential and become what we are certain they can become. The motive is commendable; the method is certainly cause for concern.
Caring parents should make a list of concerns and talk to the child about what they are seeing or sensing. Encourage them to "walk you through" a typical day. You may discover they are distracted because of a new girlfriend or because they are being bullied or even shunned by someone they thought was a friend. They may have become unmotivated because of a run-in with a teacher. They may need tutoring. They also may need more sleep and better nutrition.
Mood altering medications do not change negative behaviors or feelings, the effect they have on our brain chemistry is what changes them. But, when the medication is withdrawn, the negative behaviors or feelings will return -- nothing has happened to actually increase the availability of neurotransmitters. Changing our brain chemistry is what changes our feelings and behaviors. The assumption that we need medications to do this is faulty thinking.
When our neurochemistry begins to become better balanced our thought processes and behaviors begin to improve. We discover that we are more able to:
- Focus our attention and our behavior,
- Think more clearly,
- Finish projects or homework in a timely manner,
- Regain and retain a positive mood,
- Sleep more soundly and refreshed,
- Maintain a higher level of concern and compassion,
- Cope with every day stress more successfully,
- Control our emotions,
- Feel hopeful and positive, more optimistic,
- Experience a higher level of self-worth,
- Relax and "turn my mind off",
- Understand there are consequences for our actions,
- Sustain an improved energy level,
- And even find relief from some compulsive thought processes and behaviors.
So, parents, when you feel that your child is not moving in the direction they should be or when you sense they are becoming more easily distracted or less focused than they once were, don't panic. Talk to your child, make all the changes that you can and consult a health care professional who is knowledgeable in complementary as well as conventional medicine.
Return to Articles Catalog
