The most common medications prescribed for teens are anti depressants and ADHD medications. The CDC did a study based on teenagers ages 12-19, and found that 6.3 percent of American teenagers took some kind of psychotropic medications. The most common medication prescribed were the ADHD medications and anti depressants which were prescribed to 3.2 percent of these teens. Only a small number of teens took anti manic medications (used to treat bipolar disorders) or sedatives to treat anxiety. This stands to reason as depression and ADHD are the two most commonly diagnosed mental health disorders in teenagers.
This study also looked at the differences between males and female teenagers and also studied the differences in race and ethnicities. Females were much more likely to be prescribed the antidepressants; in fact 4.5 percent of females are on antidepressants compared to 2 percent of males. The reverse is true of ADHD medications, 4.2 percent of males are prescribed ADHD medications vs. 2.2 percent of females.
Race also seemed to play a key role in who was taking the medications. White children were far more likely to take the medications vs. African American children and Mexican American children. 8 percent of White children report being diagnosed and treated for a mental health disorder compared to just 3 percent of African American Children and 3 percent of Mexican American Children. The biggest difference was noted in the prescribing of antidepressants; approximately 5 percent of white children take antidepressants, while under 1 percent of the other races report taking the same medications. There is a discrepancy in the ADHD medications as well, but not nearly as big a difference, with 4 percent of white teens on ADHD medications compared to about 2 percent of the African American and Mexican American teens.
It is hard to say if the rise in teens on psychotropic medications is due to an increased awareness and increased diagnosis or if the problem is becoming worse in our teens. It could be that in the past teens were not diagnosed with these disorders as our culture has become more aware of mental health in recent years. For better or worse, more teens are taking ADHD medications and antidepressants then ever before.