I don't doubt that many people (adults and children) are medicated - and overly so - for the sole reason that it's easier to pop a pill than it is to grit one's teeth and work through problems. We're a society that wants a quick fix. From weight loss to grieving, we don't want to suffer, and we want our results immediately. I suffer from ADD, severe anxiety and occasional depression. In my darkest moments, in the times when I feel like an alien in my own life, I want nothing more than to feel good again. The idea of waiting weeks or months for another treatment to work seems unspeakably painful when just getting out of bed is a monumental task to consider.

Regardless of the root cause of the problem, however, the symptoms of anxiety and depression and even ADD can make it impossible to move beyond the quivering mess stage to seek out other effective treatments. It's well-known, for example, that severe anxiety can be treated with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - but it can take long, painful months to work. A week of meds can eradicate the worst of the suffering. Which would you choose?

Similarly, ADD can sometimes be conquered by following a rigid diet and exercise plan along various learned behaviours to help with organization and attention - but how can one sit down and investigate those options when every action is preceeded by a distracted and chaotic brain spasm?

Does our environment shape us? Certainly. We have more distractions, a more chaotic lifestyle to keep up with, shifted priorities and changed values from previous generations. At the same time, we also have better diagnostic tools, better understandings of genetics and neurology and brain disorders, and better medications to treat those issues. Is there an increase in ADD or is it that we've finally started to understand why some kids are 'space cadets' in class, and why some adults can't keep their lives together no matter how desperately they may try?

Ideally, it's about balance - medication, perhaps, to alleviate the worst of the suffering to allow the person to resolve the other issues. Long-term plans for depression and anxiety. Doctors who are better versed in natural remedies and new medications. And more education for non-afflicted individuals who believe taking medications is "cheating".

My son has ADHD. Yes, he's seven, and yes, he takes medication. Go ahead and call me what you like. But this is the kid who when we forgot his meds was at school not just jumping in puddles but drinking out of them. This is the kid who when he's on his meds is literate, articulate, imaginative, and a joy to be around. Off meds he's a turbo-charged bolt of lightning who couldn't learn to read (or anything else for that matter) for any amount of money in the world. In terms of maturity, he's about two to three years younger than his peers in his behavior when he's off meds. Just try putting a mental four year old in second grade and see how he does. It's not fair to him, his teachers, or his classmates. Lacking the personal funding for both a zookeeper and a full-time tutor, this is what helps him survive in public school. It's not all roses, and it doesn't solve everything. There are side-effects like sleeplessness and appetite suppression which we struggle with every day. But the medication means that he can have friends, he can learn in school, he can play soccer, he can participate in life in a meaningful way.

ADHD is real, no matter how much you'd like to write flippant articles and believe it is not. Maybe ritalin is over-prescribed. Maybe it's not. But articles like yours don't leave any room for real cases.

I have yet to meet a parent of an ADHD child who tried medications lightly, without spending years doing everything else first. Therapy, behavior modification, diet, everything. Exactly how long is it that I should wait, watching my son struggle and fail, because it's only a recreational drug? Get real.

I am currently a senior in high school, and spent a year on Prozac to treat OCD. Before I started taking Prozac I would hardly speak when I wasn't answering a direct question or talking to someone I'd known for years, but even then I'd need to be sure of everything I said. Afterwards I took a more devil may care attitude, and was much more outgoing and social. However, this same thing happened whenever I was drunk.

I know I can't speak for all people who take meds, but I'm not sold on their neccessity. Sure, I may be more outgoing, depending on who you ask I might even be getting more out of life, but I don't feel like Prozac was necessary. Yet I took Prozac for a year, because it made things easier to deal with. The whole time I found myself wondering how people dealt with these problems before they had happiness in pill form. Perhaps they just used their drugs without caring for the legality, but maybe they just accepted the existance of their problems and moved on with their lives.

I am a 35 year old mother of two. I have been on Strattera (ADD medication) for a little over a year and it has vastly improved my life.

I have always struggled with organization. Before marriage and children I could cope. But as my family got bigger so did the details of life and I was going crazy. Permission slips for school, packing lunches, getting other people dressed, planning meals it was all too much for me. I am glad for other people who don't feel like they need medication- but understand that different people's situations are different.

This article could have been written by a high school sophmore. What exactly is the point? "Recreational" drugs and "medical" drugs? "quasi-societal conditions"? excuse me? Did he actually take the time to talk to REAL people who suffer from ADD or real doctors who help people- or did he just set out to prove some hypothisis pulled out of no where? Even using the term "popping pills" carries a lot of baggage.

David Amsden talks about the author Halloway on the Today show pushing drugs but he obviously did not take the time to actually read the book by the foremost expert on ADD or he would have learned that Halloway is among the percentage of people with ADD that medication does not help. He uses all sorts of other methods to help himself. He always argues that taking medication is a choice.

For me that choice has made my life better. I am glad I live in a time where I could get the help I needed. I am a better wife and a LOT better mother. I am glad that my friends and family members who suffer from depression can also get help. I still struggle- but a huge load has been lifted.