Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.
Sadly, few physicians and parents seem to be aware of what we have been learning about the lack of effectiveness of these drugs.
What gets publicized are short-term results and studies on brain differences among children. Indeed, there are a number of incontrovertible facts that seem at first glance to support medication. It is because of this partial foundation in reality that the problem with the current approach to treating children has been so difficult to see.
Well I was shoked when Ritalin warned that children would have to go on taking in all through their lives.
ReplyDeleteThere is a study (published by Ritalin producer) that young adults who stopped taking Ritalin had a highter risk of being unemployed, drug addicts, criminal, etc...
They concluded that those young adults should not stop taking the drug. I do not draw quite the same conclusions.
ADHD is the most studied of all mental illnesses. It is also the most pre-judged and dismissed of all mental illnesses.
ReplyDeleteIf someone is depressed and has to take Prozac for life, well it happens. And no one tells schizophrenics to "grow up" and stop taking their anti-psychotics.
But when it comes to ADHD it's totally different. There is a constant push to minimize the effectiveness of safe and well-tolerated meds. As a physician who cares for many adults with untreated ADHD who have wasted years of their lives because their meds were stopped when they were 14 and expected to "outgrow" the condition I can confidently state that ADHD is a lifelong disease that needs one form of treatment or another.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD about 6 months ago, and was put on vyvance. After 3 months, he was tested, and since no improvement in his focusing ability was seen, his neurologist switched him to Focalin. The medication made him agitated, angry and unhappy, and although I did not yet take him for a follow up visit, I took him off it after 3 weeks. We now have an appointment at the neurologist, where I will tell him that I have decided not to continue treatment. My son is very bright, inquisitive, loves to learn and has no behavioral issues, but cannot learn in a regular classroom setting. I do not know what the solution is, but I know that turning him into a guinea pig with these potent psychotropics that change his personality is not the answer. I hope I am making the right decision, but only time will tell.
ReplyDelete"Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems."
ReplyDeleteIn that case, it's ironic that they won't give it out to people for the one thing that it's good for, only for the benefit of ADHD children, which it's not good for.
(That was a joke. Don't bother getting upset.)