Part 3. Drug Therapy.
Keywords
prescription drugs, depression, controlled drugs, psychological disorders, aggressive behavior, overeating, drug therapy, Time Banking, time broker, time credits.
Vocabulary

steroid, illicit, pharmaceutical, insomnia, sedative, hypnotic, psychotropic, stone, serotonin, contentious, prone.amphetamine, pharmaceutical, anti-depressant, broker, Viagra, International Narcotics Control Board, Adifax, Prozac, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Ritalin.

A1. You're going to hear a report about drug therapy, listen to the first part of the report, focus on the questions and answers.

A United Nations drug agency has warned that legal prescription drugs like Viagra, steroids, and diet pills are being taken in worrying quantities in the West.
Dan Damon now asks whether people in the industrialized world really are in need of medication for illnesses like depression or whether it's simply becoming easier and more socially acceptable to try and correct mood and behavior through controlled drugs.
Generally, we think drug problems are something to do with contraband, and illicit street corner deals.
But the International Narcotics Control Board, which monitors the effectiveness of government measures to control the illegal drugs trade, also checks the use of prescription pharmaceuticals. And here too, there are serious problems.
In developed countries, the prevalence of anxiety and insomnia and consumption of sedative hypnotics are growing.
The Board notes with concern the frequent long-term use, sometimes indefinitely, of psychotropic substances for treating psychological reactions to social pressure, without a diagnosis for a specific disorder.
The Narcotics Board's recently published Annual Report for last year.
It's a detailed review of how drugs to treat psychological disorders, including depression, aggressive behavior and overeating are often given hastily, and without considering the underlying causes of the patients' problems.
Carol was a compulsive eater who never felt full. She reached 18 stone, that's more than 115 kilos.
She was prescribed the slimming drug Adifax, which used only to be available as an emergency treatment for just a few days, but is now prescribed over long periods.
Another controversial area for the use of drug therapy involves badly behaved children.
In America, young people suffering from depression are increasingly being given the drug Prozac.
For many children, some as young as 7, it provides instant relief from frightening dreams and suicidal feelings.
But, dangers are emerging. The drug works by increasing production in the brain of the chemical serotonin, but we don't know the long-term effect of that, especially in children.
And an even more contentious area is what's called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Ten-year-old Reese has been diagnosed with learning difficulties by an education psychologist. He's also prone to lose his temper quickly and be aggressive.
His parents found a consultant who was willing to try Ritalin, a powerful amphetamine.
Ritalin has helped Reese to control his temper, and he's doing better at school.
Professor Steven Rose from Britain's Oakland University is worried that advances in biochemistry are being used to mask what children really need, more discipline or more care.
And professor Rose is afraid that Western culture is now so wedded to pharmaceutical answers, patients and parents are unwilling to accept that drugs are not the answer to everything.