In recent years, as the diagnosis of ADHD continues to accelerate amongst children, there has been increasing controversy relating to the effectiveness of treatment prescribed for it and whether they have long term side-effects and a detrimental impact on mental and physical wellbeing.
This situation is made more complicated by the different reactions children have to the drugs. Whilst some respond to treatment positively, and take them without incident on a daily basis, others have experienced adverse side-effects. For those, who have had positive experiences, they are now able to undertake day-to-day activities such as going to school much more productively, whilst those who have not are likely to find such experiences problematic.
Raising a child who suffers from ADHD, can be extremely challenging, as the disorder can cause volatile and highly unpredictable behavioural patterns that make it difficult to assert control. This can be even more challenging for carers in an educational environment who have many children in their care and are unable to provide ADHD sufferers with adequate supervision. Therefore, following diagnosis, parents face a very difficult choice about whether to seek medical intervention and try and manage the condition without it – possibly making things more difficult in the short term.
The erratic nature of the treatment has been well documented by disturbing adverse reactions. Some children have experienced heart damage as a result of being administered with the drugs, but another concern for some parents remains the alleged addictive effects of the treatment. Addiction has for some time been associated with depression, and for this reason, many doctors are reluctant to prescribe ADHD medications if the patient has a history of depression, and in the US, the organisation that regulates drug-use for patients – the FDA, has included such treatments within its high-risk category.
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