At least 30 children have had psychotic episodes and wanted
to kill themselves while taking drugs for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to reports.
Documents from the Therapeutic Goods Administration outline
the figures, Sydney's Daily Telegraph says.
One seven-year-old boy became so depressed while taking
Ritalin in 2008 that he tried to commit suicide while an
eight-year-old hallucinated that spiders were crawling up his
skin after taking ADHD drugs.
The newspaper also reports that the overall number of serious
reactions to ADHD drugs has doubled to 827 in the last three
years.
However, the true extent of side-effects being experienced
may be hidden because of doctors and parents under-reporting
the impact.
Experts in children's health say there is a clear link
between ADHD drugs and psychotic episodes in children, with
boys said to be worse affected than girls.
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