Benefits Of Medicating ADHD
Should ADHD be Medicated?
Erik Bailey
December 8, 2014
Ever since the discovery of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not to treat patients with the disorder. Some studies show that medicine is harmful, and some say it is neither beneficial nor harmful. A majority of research suggests that medication may not be the way.
What is Attention Deficit Disorder?
ADHD is a common mental disorder. It is estimated that 5% of children and adolescents have the disorder. ADHD consists of patterns of the inability to concentrate, being hyper active, and having impulses. In most cases it is shown to have a large mix of disorers.1 ADHD is a mental health condition which …show more content…
Matthew Smith writes “While some physicians, parents, and teachers see [medication] as a magic bullet, calming children and helping them focus on their schoolwork, others see it as a dangerous tool of social control, stunting the growth and development of children and teaching them that psychoactive drugs are often a necessary condition of success and happiness.”4 In other words medication can cause issues with the brain and its development and also the development of the body. It can also teach children that medication is the answer for everything, which it …show more content…
Parent training is teaching the parents of ADHD students different methods to help control their child’s disorder. Elizabeth Gromisch writes that “parent training starts by educating parents on the condition, then teaches them behavior strategies... Parents are encouraged to document problematic behaviors, and monitor any changes.”9 Parents learn in parent training that for younger students, giving rewards for good behaviors and consequences for bad behaviors.10
Another method would be interventions and accommodations in school. A lot of the tools used in parent training are used in the classroom. Such as rewards for good behavior and mark on report cards for poor behavior. For example, Gromisch believes that a good method would be “when the child fulfills [her daily goals], she receives a tangible reward that the student and teacher can agree on.”11 Rewarding students can help them to know the difference between good and bad behaviors.
In conclusion, medicine, by itself, is not the best treatment for ADHD. It can become addictive or harmful. A more feasible treatment would be a mix of medication and behavioral help, or even just behavioral help by
Erik Bailey
December 8, 2014
Ever since the discovery of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not to treat patients with the disorder. Some studies show that medicine is harmful, and some say it is neither beneficial nor harmful. A majority of research suggests that medication may not be the way.
What is Attention Deficit Disorder?
ADHD is a common mental disorder. It is estimated that 5% of children and adolescents have the disorder. ADHD consists of patterns of the inability to concentrate, being hyper active, and having impulses. In most cases it is shown to have a large mix of disorers.1 ADHD is a mental health condition which …show more content…
Matthew Smith writes “While some physicians, parents, and teachers see [medication] as a magic bullet, calming children and helping them focus on their schoolwork, others see it as a dangerous tool of social control, stunting the growth and development of children and teaching them that psychoactive drugs are often a necessary condition of success and happiness.”4 In other words medication can cause issues with the brain and its development and also the development of the body. It can also teach children that medication is the answer for everything, which it …show more content…
Parent training is teaching the parents of ADHD students different methods to help control their child’s disorder. Elizabeth Gromisch writes that “parent training starts by educating parents on the condition, then teaches them behavior strategies... Parents are encouraged to document problematic behaviors, and monitor any changes.”9 Parents learn in parent training that for younger students, giving rewards for good behaviors and consequences for bad behaviors.10
Another method would be interventions and accommodations in school. A lot of the tools used in parent training are used in the classroom. Such as rewards for good behavior and mark on report cards for poor behavior. For example, Gromisch believes that a good method would be “when the child fulfills [her daily goals], she receives a tangible reward that the student and teacher can agree on.”11 Rewarding students can help them to know the difference between good and bad behaviors.
In conclusion, medicine, by itself, is not the best treatment for ADHD. It can become addictive or harmful. A more feasible treatment would be a mix of medication and behavioral help, or even just behavioral help by