Two years ago, health insurance companies sounded the alarm: never before had so much Ritalin been prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as in 2022. But the situation has gotten worse, according to the “SonntagsBlick” this Sunday.
At the time, it was noted that 40,000 people had been prescribed this drug in 2017 and that there would be nearly 60,000 in 2021. But according to the Sunday newspaper, some 92,000 children and adults have now received of Ritalin in 2023. To the point that clinics complained last May of not being able to keep up with diagnostic requests.
But it is not over if we are to believe the wastewater samples taken from the treatment plants, reports the newspaper. The analyzes in fact show a peak in the first quarter of 2024, while we had already measured a strong increase already at the end of 2023. Another oddity: the average is significantly higher in the Zurich region compared to the eight other regions of the country tested.
Why this peak? The specialists don’t understand anything. Explanations put forward, however: an increased number of ADHD diagnoses in adults, more rapid medical prescription of Ritalin, higher doses per person; but also the consumption of the drug as a party drug as well as as a brain doping, particularly among students, since this substance allows one to learn while remaining concentrated for a long time.
Swiss
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