Mother of 2 with ADHD and DW of another. I thought the article makes some good points and raises some interesting questions. It mirrors what our care providers have told us. The medications don't improve intellectual functioning but improve behaviors. That's consistent with what we see. The only thing that seems to have helped my DSs' executive functioning is maturing. However, the medication does help them be better aware of themselves and their behaviors. It helps them regulate their attention and attend to tasks. It also helps keep them from being disruptive to their own learning, the learning of others and our entire household. It doesn't help them overcome their learning disabilities. It does help them regulate their emotions and that's a positive for everyone.

I thought this quote from the articule deserved highlighting:
Some researchers think that the lack of evidence for long-term academic benefits is a result of flawed study design. Peter Jensen, a leader on the MTA study, says he believes that if the children had been maintained on the study's protocol, the initial gains they made would have lasted. Longer randomly controlled trials would be challenging both from a technical and ethical standpoint, but the suggestion highlights another problem, namely the discrepancy between the optimal care given during a trial and that which most children receive.


We participate in the NIH ADHD studies and return once a year for a follow up. The researchers have been fabulous resources and I've greatly appreciated their advice. They've been clear that medication and behavioral supports are the most effective means of addressing ADHD symptoms. It's not easy to do and I can understand why people don't/can't maintain the protocols.

At this point, I like to think there's a long term benefit to the medication but even if there's not, I'll take the short term benefits. We did everythign we could before turning to medication and I'm so glad to have finally found something that's effective. We've had to change/tweak it over the years but it's been very positive in our life. I don't knnow why people feel the need to bash it.

" Now researchers are trying to understand why. The answer could lie in sub-optimal use of the drugs, or failure to address other factors that affect performance, such as learning disabilities. Or it could be that people place too much hope on a simple fix for a complex problem. “What we expect medication to do may be unrealistic,” says Lily Hechtman, a psychiatrist at McGill University in Montreal."

My child is medicated with two drugs for ADHD, both fairly low doses for her body weight. Without them she can function but it's so much harder for her to keep still, to control her body and to take in information and organize her thinking. She's developing good habits though and eventually I think she won't take medication any more, when the need to memorize facts, for example is not applicable to her life.

Nature is one of the most prestigious scientific journals, and it is peer reviewed. What is wrong with people?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The longitudinal NIMH study agrees. ADHD meds have no long term benefits.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2009/short-term-intensive-treatment-not-likely-to-improve-long-term-outcomes-for-children-with-adhd.shtml

Money quote from the NIMH summary:

"Children who were no longer taking medication at the eight-year follow-up were generally functioning as well as children who were still medicated, raising questions about whether medication treatment beyond two years continues to be beneficial or needed by all."

Why is this information not provided by every psychiatrist? Every Dr. I have seen about ADHD (and I have seen quite a few for myself and my children) urges medication as the first - and usually only - treatment for symptoms. Side effects are rarely discussed and the fact that medication is probably not going to help in the long run is NEVER mentioned. Whichever side of the medication fence you are on, I don't think we are getting accurate and complete information.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a mom at my school who is medicating her child. The child's meds make her not focus, but instead go off on tangents and talk non stop. Its completely disruptive. They are in the middle of a divorce, and she does not want to deal with it, so she medicates. Awful.

So these are meds which introduce ADHD symptoms? Hmmm.

If you know anything about ADD, ADHD, or the meds prescribed for it, you know that the results can be the opposite of those intended. Or (more likely) the dx is completely wrong - and there is NO ADD, ADHD, whatever. Perhaps the mom just wants to try to medicate the child. It is not unheard of - in fact, it is fairly common.

Anonymous wrote:There is a mom at my school who is medicating her child. The child's meds make her not focus, but instead go off on tangents and talk non stop. Its completely disruptive. They are in the middle of a divorce, and she does not want to deal with it, so she medicates. Awful.

So these are meds which introduce ADHD symptoms? Hmmm.

There is a mom at my school who is medicating her child. The child's meds make her not focus, but instead go off on tangents and talk non stop. Its completely disruptive. They are in the middle of a divorce, and she does not want to deal with it, so she medicates. Awful.