Study Suggests Many Antipsychotic Drugs Are Being Prescribed to Teenagers with No Mental Health Diagnosis

A new study conducted by JAMA Psychiatry discovered the use of anti-psychotic drugs have been increasing among adolescents, despite many of these users not having been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.

Data was collected from thousands of prescriptions as a means to analyze trends of use between the year 2006 and 2010 for the study. According to the study, the percentage of adolescents using anti-psychotic drugs significantly increased during that time frame. Data revealed during that time span the highest rates of usage were recorded among teens between the ages of 13 and 18. About 1.9 percent of those in that age bracket were using drugs in 2010, compared to only about 1.1 percent in 2006.

Here’s the breakdown of the age brackets the study covered:

60 percent of participants aged 1-6 did not have a record of being diagnosed or receiving treatment for a mental disorder. The preceding statement is true of the listed ages and associated percentages, representing an absence of diagnosis of a mental disorder and treatment for the alleged aliment:
56.7 percent aged 7-12
62 percent aged 13-18
and 67.1 percent aged 19-24

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved anti-psychotics for children and adolescents to treat medical conditions such as bipolar mania and schizophrenia. However they have not been approved to treat ADHD or depression, despite doctors being notorious for prescribing them to patients with those conditions.

Mark Olfson, lead author of the study and a professor at the Columbia University Medical Center, suggests that doctors are often mis-prescribing anti-psychotic drugs because they provide “fast relief “ for behaviors in hard to manage children. The doctors and parents of these children are generally willing to use these drugs despite them being outside of their approved uses.

Data from the study did not show which mental disorders the anti-psychotic drugs were being used to treat, however more than 50 percent of young patients with a mental health condition taking anti-psychotic medications either suffered from ADHD or depression. Less than 25 percent of the teens who had been taking the drugs were diagnosed with a bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. In addition, less than 25 percent of the patients go through any form of therapy, according to data from the study.

According to the study, the use of anti-psychotic drugs has significantly increased over the past 20 years. Sales of anti-psychotic medications reached $18.2 billion in 2011, according to research from the IMS research firm. 2.8 million prescriptions were filled solely for the treatment of teens in 2010, and recent studies have also indicated these drugs pose serious health risks for adolescents, especially if combined with other psychotropic medications. Despite those risks, studies show that more than 80 percent of teens taking anti-psychotics, are also using other medications including stimulants, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers, according to the study.

The study concluded young males have higher rates of drug use than their female peers, which can be attributed to the fact these drugs are commonly used to treat impulsive and aggressive behaviors- which is more common in young males. Despite the gaps between males and females, the study revealed the increase in the use of anti-psychotic drugs is prevalent in males and females. The Washington Post quotes Olfson,

“There’s a general consensus that great caution should be exercised with anti-psychotic drugs. This raises concerns about whether the right caution is taken.” 

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