In order to experience the therapeutic benefits of prescription drugs, compliance in taking the medication is important. Often times it may be difficult to want to continue a regimen if one experiences any unwanted side effects from the drug; this may especially be true for younger patients. Many young people are diagnosed as having a mental health disorder. The 1999 MECA Study (Methodology for Epidemiology of Mental Disorders in Children and Adolescents) suggests that as many as 21% of children ages 9-17 have a diagnosable disorder in the United States. More recent estimates suggest that at least 1 in 10 children have a serious enough disorder to cause impairment (Leslie, Newman, Chesney, & Perrin, 2005). Clearly, mental health disorders are becoming more commonplace through proper diagnosis and are being treated.

  Some disorders that young people may experience include mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder. For others it may be anxiety disorders, including obsessive compulsive disorder or phobias. There are also disruptive behavior disorders such as conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Patients are often times given pharmacological treatment to better manage their symptoms, including teenagers. For example, stimulant medications such as methylphenidate (e.g., Concerta, Ritalin, Metadate) and amphetamine (e.g., Dexadrine, Adderall) are frequently used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In some instances these medications may produce side effects such as lack of appetite, stomach aches or difficulty sleeping (Bezchlibnyk-Butler & Jeffries, 2002; Buck & Hendrick, 2004; Konopasek, 2005; NIMH, 2002). While these mild side effects may only be temporary, they can still be quite bothersome. There are simple, but perhaps unknown to the patient, ways of easing these effects such as taking medication with food.

Other drugs, such as antidepressants have a potential to cause serious side effects in young people if not properly monitored. These include hostility or thoughts of suicide (FDA, 2003; Garland, 2004). These effects may only become dangerous if medication goes unmonitored so it is important to encourage communication between patients and their medical professionals of how their medication is making them feel.

It is important for young people to be able to manage medication side effects. This can be done with their doctor’s help, but also on their own. Through simple tips they themselves can implement, adolescents may continue taking their medication and benefit from the drug without experiencing as many unwanted discomforts. It is also considerable for younger patients to understand that proper nutrition benefits the body along with their medication. Healthy food and snacks along with their medical routine not only may ease side effects, but is excellent for their general well-being overall. For example, to ease the side effect of sleeplessness associated with stimulant medications avoiding caffeine and adjusting the time of day medication is taken may help (Watkins & Bynes, 2006).

The goal of this project is to design a practical pamphlet to aid teenagers in managing the side effects of their medications. These sheets will be distributed to students and may even be useful for their parents to understand medication side effects in simple terms. It will include tips on how common medications may make them feel, how they can cope and the benefits they will experience from their medications. It will also include some advice on the benefits of proper nutrition. This project also aims to help students better understand why their medication is important as is their compliance, medication can help them at home, school and their daily lives. Better knowledge of medications can help the students become better advocates for their own health and well-being.  Lastly, it aims to reduce the stigma associated with “mental health” by providing simple statistics and facts of how common certain disorders really are and for the adolescent to realize that he or she is not alone.


Medication Side Effects Handbook
File Type: pdf
Author: Barbara Postol, MS
Source:

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