Comments on: Doc Group Recommends ADHD Drugs for Kids as Young as 4

By: lyllyth

lyllyth — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:55:10 +0000

Dewsy makes a good point, but until such brains scans substantiating structural changes to patients’ brains are a standard part of the diagnosis before medications are handed out, I think we have a society problem more than we have a behavioral problem.

There always will be a small portion of patients who truly do benefit from these prescriptions.
But for every one of these patients, there are probably seven more who do not need them being overmedicated simply because it’s the easiest way to deal with them.

I personally feel it is unethical to medicate a child, altering their brain chemistry, possibly permanently. If standard medical practice will not include substantiating brain scans, they shouldn’t be handing out ADHD medications or anti-depressants to kids, period.

By: torres

torres — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:35:50 +0000

Sorry that you feel me uninformed, though my point greater point, Dewsy, is this; if you changed the societal norms and structure, (and they are ever-changing, i.e. homosexuality) give your child a sword and shield and your child may now be blessed with the boundless energy to be praised as a reincarnate Alexander the Great. Being better informed than I, tell me, what is “normal”? What is “abnormal”? My understanding is that “experts” can’t specifically agree on these terms.
Life rewards diversity; I could see how many psychological problems would be boons to other societies, past, present or future. Your child, and the millions of kids who will be pushed these pills, I would say, IS, normal. As “normal” and “abnormal” as any, just born in the wrong age, with the wrong expectations. But drug ‘em if you’d like. All beautiful and wild spirits need to be dulled and caged to do what we expect of them.

By: dewsy

dewsy — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:46:04 +0000

torres….if you were to look at a scan of a brain with ADHD, you would see that ADHD is not a “made up problem”…but rather, a very real neurological condition where portions of the brain are actually different from those without ADHD. It’s a real condition and, JD, it’s not simply “too much sugar”. My son was on the feinggold diet (which included ABSOLUTELY no processed sugars for the first 8 years of his life, yet his focus and hyperactivity was off the charts. (this is not to say that diet may not play a part for some kids….but it is not a catch-all solution). As someone who taught elementary school for 15 years and a parent of a 15 year old ADHD child, it bothers me to read uninformed statements.

By: torres

torres — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:02:01 +0000

It’s my humble conviction that ADHD is a made up problem caused by too much fast-moving and unfocused television coupled with our modern society’s unrealistic demands that kids sit in a chair all day and not move, rather than being outside and active, curious and imaginative: Think back to human children in nature, living a natural life, thats what these kids need, less boundaries. : )

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:40:32 +0000

just another way for drug companies to profit off the suffering of our children its past time people do something about these greedy corporate conglomerates who care nothing for the people they say they are trying to help.

By: JD

JD — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:28:50 +0000

ADHD is caused by all the sugars kids consume now days. If everyone had as much sugar as some kids these days everyone would be bouncing off the walls. That is also why so many kids at young ages have diabetes. Control the sugar overdose and you take control of many kids problems at once including obesity.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:50:53 +0000

I wonder if these doc are under the influence of the drug companies…oh wait most are

By: ADHD mom

ADHD mom — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:36:14 +0000

Somehow I get the feeling that most 6 year olds aren’t going to be dealing their meds on the playground.;P

Some kids really really need this stuff. My son was unable to learn how to talk because he was so hyperactive that he just could not be still for the kinds of things most other kids can hang out for.. and the lack of self esteem that goes with having a body you cannot control is rampant. The meds help him to concentrate, to learn how to talk and socialize, to learn basics. We started medicating him a little earlier than 4, and though I worry about the effects, if we didn’t.. well, we would have a big mess here.

I think what people who don’t have kids with ADHD don’t realize is that it is more than just ‘boundless energy’. It is a fundamental lack of bodily control. The urge to move, or talk incessantly, is so powerful that they are helpless against it. There is literally NO WAY that someone with ADHD or ADD can stop themselves. Medication can give them a way to settle themselves (with varying degrees of success), to gain control back. It isn’t about squashing a delicate flower’s imagination and childhood, it’s about helping a kid get their childhood BACK.

By: Chrysoprace

Chrysoprace — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:43:45 +0000

Growing up, half of my friends were on ADHD meds, but only two of them really needed them. The others just had parents who in one way or another were failing their children in ways apparent to even a 13 year old. Also, the potential for abuse of ADHD meds is rarely mentioned in articles like this, a child can get as much as 2$ per pill if the dosage is high, and that is a whole lot of money when one is 13 years old. Theres a reason it’s called “kiddy coke,” grinding 20-30mg and snorting it gives a high quite like crystal meth. I even knew one teen who would regularly steal entire bottles of ADHD meds from neighborhood kids and sell them to others. Burglary, drug trafficing, and drug abuse in young teens caused by the ready availability of pharmaceutical grade speeders.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:18:02 +0000

I think that the main reason that the age of evaluation was lowered was simply because there’s so much more information now than there was ten years ago. Earlier evaluation means earlier intervention – if necessary. That does not mean earlier prescriptions for medications.