Welcome to From Insults to Respect.

As you no doubt know, a wide variety of people are being classified as having ADHD and prescribed psychiatric drugs. The pharmaceutical industry, with its enormous wealth, promotes the use of these drugs. Supporters of this drug approach often cast a disrespectful eye toward their critics while arguing that research supports their position. Meanwhile, a large group of scientific minded individuals, without the resources of the pharmaceutical industry to promote their position, are doing their best to inform the public of a completely different set of conclusions. To move this disagreement in a positive direction, every now and then I take a look at the most current research.

For example (see HERE), a few years ago I reported on a study that suggested that:

Children and adolescents who take medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show decreased bone density, according to a large cross-sectional study that appeared in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics.

More recently, I reported on a study that provided the latest replication of other studies indicating that ADHD drug treatment provides no lasting benefits for students classified as having ADHD on academic achievement and social functioning. After the drugs’ short-term stimulant boost, tolerance to the drugs occurs and any perceived benefits wane. The illusion that the drug continues to be helpful even after tolerance to the drugs occurs when people try to get off the drugs. The uncomfortable withdrawal effects they begin to experience lead to mistakenly thinking that they perform much better when taking the drug. It takes time for the body to be weaned off these drugs before they can begin to return to performing as well as they were doing while they were habitually taking the drug.

Although the drugged ADHD students didn’t do any better by the time they graduated high school than the non-drugged ADHD diagnosed students, many endured uncomfortable drug side effects, such as sleep problems, headaches, stomach aches, and feelings of depression each evening when the drug wore off.

Thousands of dollars are consumed on purchasing the drugs that achieved some modest short term gains but have no lasting positive effects.

Today, we take a look at a new study that is even more concerning. Medical doctors are hired to improve their patients’ health. The earlier decreased bone marrow study raises concerns about this. The various negative side effects raises additional concerns. But this latest study really raises a red flag.

Published November 22, 2023, in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Psychiatry, is titled “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medications and Long-Term Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases.” Following subjects for up to 14 years, the study concluded:

In this case-control study of 278,027 individuals in Sweden aged 6 to 64 years who had an incident ADHD diagnosis or ADHD medication dispensation, longer cumulative duration of ADHD medication use was associated with an increased risk of CVD [cardiovascular disease], particularly hypertension and arterial disease, compared with nonuse.

The study looked at all ADHD medications approved in Sweden during the study period, including stimulants (methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin) amphetamine (also known as Adderall), dexamphetamine, and lisdexamfetamine, as well as non-stimulants. Throughout the entire follow-up, each 1-year increase in the use of ADHD medication was associated with a 4% increased risk of CVD. Similar results were observed when the researchers examined children or youth and adults separately. Results from the study suggest that the CVD risk associated with ADHD medication is approximately 23% higher for those on ADHD medication for more than five years compared with nonuse. This association between cumulative duration of ADHD medication use and CVD was similar in females and males. The study’s conclusion states:

The results of this population-based case-control study with a longitudinal follow-up of 14 years suggested that long-term use of ADHD medication was associated with an increased risk of CVD, especially hypertension and arterial disease, and the risk was higher for stimulant medications. These findings highlight the importance of carefully weighing potential benefits and risks when making treatment decisions on long-term ADHD medication use.

If Not Drugs, Then What

I discussed this topic extensively in another post (see HERE).  For now, I’ll just quickly summarize some of my favorite suggestions.

Search the internet with the following search terms–“ADHD without drugs.” If you do so, you will find many suggestions on how to address your concerns.  A daily running program and meditation are just a couple of excellent ideas that I found quickly in a recent search of this sort.

Many of the suggestions indicate that they have research support demonstrating that they are effective (see for example the article titled “Easing ADHD without Meds“). What I particularly like about having parents search the internet in this way is that they get to select from a wide range of ideas, the ones that make the most sense to them. Moreover, there are always new ideas coming out, and these types of internet searches are regularly updated.

In a school setting, students classified as having ADHD qualify for an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Getting an extra period of recess time each day on their IEP can dramatically improve their behavior. Supporting this, according to one study, levels of inappropriate behavior were consistently higher on days when ADHD labeled students did not have recess, compared with days when they did have recess. Results also showed that the level of inappropriate behavior for all participants progressively increased over time on days when they did not have recess. However, this progressive increase did not occur on days when the participants had recess.

I also recommend going to the library to get a copy of The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child by Alan Kazdin.  Dr. Kazdin is director of the Yale Parenting Center and Conduct Clinic and is a former president of the American Psychological Association. His approach has been well tested in solid research programs with impressive results.

Another suggestion involves asking your child’s teacher to provide you, each week, a list of the main topics that will be covered in class the following week. Then view at home with your child a lesson on each topic on the Kahn Academy website.

This website is a resource that provides free lessons on all the topics that teachers teach in school. By having your child review each lesson before hearing it for the first time from the teacher, when the teacher actually presents the lesson in school, your child will now be at least somewhat familiar with the topic. This is called “priming” and it has been demonstrated to increase the interest level for learners and increase the likeliness that the topic will end up being mastered.  Moreover, once you show your child how the Kahn Academy website works, your child, before each test, can go back to the lesson and make sure he or she has really mastered it.

If you do not have the time to do this with your child, see what you can do to get someone at least four years older than your child to carry out this activity. You may have to pay a young teenager a little.

This approach leads to real learning. Once your child starts to make better academic progress in school, he or she will feel better about school in general.

OK, there are some thoughts on avoiding an unhealthy approach to dealing with the concerns that arise when a child is labeled ADHD. Feel free to express in the comment section below any disagreements with anything I’ve written or agreement, and if you have some suggestions for non-drug approaches, please let us know about this.

My Best,
Jeff

ADHD medication