ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Treating the emotional and behavioral disorders of youths with psychotropic medication was very uncommon until the mid-1960s. It followed on the heels of a decade of increasingly successful psychotropic medication treatment of adults for depression and psychosis. Another major impetus to medicate youths with psychotropic agents came from repeated, double-blind, placebo-controlled research on methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine in the 1960s showing the beneficial impact of these stimulants on the classroom behavior of hyperactive children.
