What are your views of medicating children with add/adhd? This is for a school research paper. ?

Question

What are your views of medicating children with add/adhd? This is for a school research paper. ?

Answer 1

Ritalin and Dexamphetamine does help some children, helping them to focus and concentrate better, as well as decrease behaviours.

But if it causes unwanted side affects then it should not be used. The more serious side affects are;

Sleeping problems, such as insomnia (which can make behaviours worse)

Headache

Drowsiness

Vomiting

High blood pressure

Tachycardia (increased heart rate, and could be dangerous)

Psychosis

Tourette's syndrome.

So if these drugs cause these sort of reactions then it should be avoided. I firmly believe that using medication should only be part of the solution, CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Behavioural Modification etc, can help immensely.

My daughter was on Ritalin, we would only give it to her through the week, on the weekends and school holidays we would not give it to her. We found she could concentrate and focus better when on it, we also used behavioural modification to help control her behaviour.

She stopped taking it in her early teens (her choice) but thanks to the behavioural modification she knew how to prevent out bursts etc, she also knew what the consequences would be if she played up.

Answer 2

ADHD is a medical condition requiring medical treatment.  There is no real controversy in the need for medication for true cases of ADHD.  It is no longer a mystery as to whether this diagnosis truly exsists.  There are obvious differences in the chemical activity in the brains of ADHD sufferers to non ADHD sufferers.  Proving that this condition does exsist and has a true medical basis.

Denying an ADHD child medication in order to function because they need to learn to control themselves is the same as denying any treatment for any medical condition.  Should an asthmatic not be treated because then they wont learn to breath on their own, should a diabetic not take insulin because they need to learn to regulate their own blood sugar levels.  Of course this is silly, the same applies for ADHD.  Those who suffer from it can't change their brain activity patterns.  They can work to improve their behavior which will be more effective if medication is giving them the control they need.

ADHD sufferers who are not medicated will suffer from school failure, losing jobs, often expulsion from school, they may partake in dangerous activities with little or no forethought and will struggle with nearly all aspects of day to day life.

The controversy is not in whether or not ADHD sufferers should take medication.  If they do have the condition then it needs to be treated.  The controversy is to whether or not all (or even most) children who are diagnosed with ADHD really do have the condition.  If we are just using medication to treat real sufferers then all is well, but how many normal but difficult kids are being misdiagnosed and treated.

The tests that show the brain activity differences in ADHD sufferers and those who do not have the condition have been available to the public for well over a decade yet very, very few sufferers have ever been given this brain scan test.  The arguement is that the test is very expensive and time consuming.  However, when it is a childs health and welfare how can this even be a consideration.  The true controversy is that many people believe that if the brain differences do not show up on the scan their child will miss out on diagnosis and treatment and that is where the controversy is.  Doctors who see patients for ADHD diagnosis rarely seem to see it as a family who want to find out if their child has the condition or not, which can be tested.  They see it as a family who want to hear that their child does have the condition and be given medication.

Parents don't want a test because they are scared.  Scared that the test will say "no, your child does not have this condition you will have to deal with their behavior without help".  Which seems crazy, why would parents want to treat their child for a condition that they do not have.

So the real question is not should we use medication to treat ADHD kids, of course we should.  The question is, should we actually find out if the kid really suffers from ADHD before we treat them.

Answer 3

I had a student that was a danger to himself and others when he was not medicated--

but i do beleive that it is overused

Answer 4

I dont think its suitable for all children...often the medication masks the symptoms and behaviour and so instead of the child learning to control it or understand it it just means they and the people around them dont have to deal with it!

Although this may seem helpful eg: in education child needs to sit and listen through lessons rather than up and down-but then again the teacher should be supporting the child's individual learning styles and the child having opportunity to be challenged!

Also any medication that is long term may have side effects and this is something that must be taken into account as it can do more harm than good!

y sister has ADHD and she was on retalin for a while...but mum stopped it because she changed personalities-instead of being an interested, chatty and excited little girl so became quiet and wihtdrawn and not herself..the medication changed her personality and thats not a right we have!

But again-I'm not entirely against it depending on circumstances!

Answer 5

I have seen kids who need to be medicated. Saying that I must also say that of all the kids who NEEDED meds, that they also had terrible parents. The parents had no patience, didnt spend quality time with them.

Teachers also said my child had add, I read a book that said to change their diet to take out junk foods, lower the sugar intake and dyes, So I did and the teacher saw such a improvement that she thought I put my child on meds lol.

Answer 6

Denying the access to medication for ADD or ADHD would be the same as denying access to insulin for a diabetic.  If the family and medical professionals believe it is needed  - it is needed.

If you think of medication this way - it allows the child another 5 seconds to make a better choice.  It allows them to LEARN a process for self control.  

While some children do not respond well - there are so many options that working closely with a MD and the school to monitor changes in behavior one way or another - will allow the MD to choose another one.

At a recent workshop on Mental Health and ASD/ADHD the presentor indicated that when a child is on medication - there will be a period of time where behavior will get worse and too many times people stop then rather than a solid month trial to see how well something does or does not work.