I am alarmed but not surprised that the CDC reported a 41% increase in the number of kids diagnosed with ADHD over the past decade! I was neither alarmed nor surprised to read two days earlier that parent behavioral training was more helpful in treating pre-schoolers diagnosed with ADHA than medication.
The CDC study was based on telephone interviews of 67,000 parents; the other study was a review of some 50+ medical articles.
The CDC found that 20% of high school boys and 11% of school kids carried the diagnosis and were being treated with medication. In Tennessee, they said, more that 23% of high school boys are being treated with medication.The review talked about how playing outdoors with parents was especially helpful, and concluded that parenting behavior training was more effective than medication in pre-school kids with ADHD.
In my many years of pediatrics I was constantly bombarded by parents and teachers asking me to put kids on Ritalin: I rarely complied. I can remember only 2 boys whom I thought needed medication. One lived with his grandparents above (actually in) their tavern. His parents had abandoned him to them as an infant; it seemed he interfered with their drug use. He was a delightful boy, loved to talk was very imaginative but also very impulsive and filled with more energy than a car full of Tesla batteries. Unfortunately, he was often ignored by his hard working, “aging” grandparents. His teachers and Grandma talked me into giving him Ritalin. It did not help him. Today he would then be placed on Adderall, but fortunately, it wasn’t available way back then.
The other boy was about 10 and like the first, and millions of kids diagnose, or perhaps misdiagnosed, with ADHD, he was impulsive, happy, funny, and couldn’t sit still. “Just like his dad,” Mom said. I was able to keep the teachers at bay because neither Mom nor Dad wanted him on medicine. He was certainly a challenge, but he was so delightful that he had many friend, adults as well as kids. I always looked forward to seeing him.
Some years ago I lived on a golf course which had a youth golf summer camp. One morning I noticed the group of kids in a sand trap near my home. Wanting to see if I could learn something about getting out of sand I stood near the trap and listened to the golf pro. Another instructor who was a friend of mine walked over to talk with me during his colleague’s lesson to the kids. He pointed to a kid sitting on the bank of the trap staring straight ahead. “Look at that zombie,” he said. “He’s been staring like that all morning. It makes me sick that his parents give him ADHD medicine so he keeps still. You won’t believe the difference we see in him when by the end of the day the med wears off.” I agreed with him and walked on home shaking my head.
Now I know these meds are helpful in some kids. They are also helpful for college kids who take them the night before and the morning of a big exam. I inherited a state level high school tennis player who took Ritalin before each match. “It helps me focus,” he explained. He didn’t think of it as cheating! That bothered me. I thought it was a performance enhancing drug. Recently, Ritalin and some other ADHD drugs have been associated with decreased bone calcium in those who take them.
But, even worse that Ritalin is Adderall! Adderall is a combination of amphetamines! Yes amphetamines like methamphetamine. How can a physician prescribe a medication for kids when drug agency workers are being killed trying to keep it out of the communities? It doesn’t make sense to me; yet the American Academy of Pediatrics promotes using them for ADHD kids.
Now Internists, neurologist, and psychiatrists are using these same drugs to treat “adult” ADHD. We all know there is a pill for every inconvenience! Didn’t anyone ever hear of coping?
I know I would have been diagnosed with ADHD when I was in school, so would have one of my sons, and at least four of of my nine grandsons! Somehow we all did pretty well, my son is a respected academic physician, the grandsons are all doing great in school, including those at some in the best colleges in the USA, and I manage to keep it together!
OK, I know it’s easy to complain, and find fault, so let me tell you what I think should be done with kids who have symptoms of ADHD.
First, as with other problems, prevention is the best defense.
All kids need regular bed times, sleep is essential. They should have very limited television and screen time. No television at all before the age of 6 and then never more than an hour a day followed by at least one hour of vigorous play, if possible, out of doors. Get them tired enough and they’ll sleep.
Get them an alarm clock for their fifth birthday and teach them how to use it. Then leave them alone. If they oversleep they may miss the bus and have to walk to school or stay home. Oh, and they’ll have to go to bed earlier the next night, no agreement is needed. Help them become responsible at an early age!
Every kid need a structured environment with strict rules which are enforced at all times.
Parents too, need rules. No shouting or screaming is allowed while correcting kids. They are very sensitive and equate being yelled at with not being loved. They need lots of love. Interestingly many ADHD kids, do not want to be hugged or kissed, but they love to go on walks together, run together, and play together WITH THEIR PARENTS! These are great ways to show love! Green spaces, I mean real green spaces like parks, forests, lawns, and sports fields with grass are very calming to all humans especially kids.
Try to find a school which does not require lots of homework! Kids hate homework. It’s not fair that they should sit at the table or in their room after school and do homework when Mom and Dad can sit and watch TV! If kids do have work to do, make sure other members of the family are reading or doing quiet chores and not playing games or watching the idiot box during that time.
If you have a family history of ADHD talk with your pediatrician about your desire to avoid all drugs, including antibiotics, sedatives, and stimulants, long before your child ever starts to have symptoms . Avoid “prescription happy” pediatricians and psychiatrists. Look instead for a wellness coach who has had experience with kids or a child psychologist who does not have prescribing privileges.