Ever since I started out in youth work, I’ve dealt with children and teens who had behaviour problems and hyperactive tendencies. In most cases the family circumstances exacerbated the situation as they weren’t in a position to support the child’s needs. Invariably those individuals got diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Defecit Hyperactivty Disorder) and were started on a course of Ritalin or Concerta with varying results (dependant on the dosage).
Some seemingly normal kids become practically vegetables when taking medication, while others become aggressive, depressed or suicidal! There are of course many who have been helped by taking drugs for ADHD, but it has always seemed to me as an easy solution to a difficult problem when things like diet control and therapy are ignored even though they yield positive results.

Therefore Mondays Panorama programme on the news that prescribing drugs for ADHD doesn’t work, was a breath of fresh air and came as a huge relief. In fact, the report shows that medicating ADHD can have the reverse effect:

Prof Pelham said there were “no beneficial effects” of medication and the impact was seemingly negative instead.
“The children had a substantial decrease in their rate of growth so they weren’t growing as much as other kids both in terms of their height and in terms of their weight,” he said.

It now seems that treatment for ADHD is being revised by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in light of the study which should finally give some other options to the families struggling to cope.

“I hope that we will be able to make recommendations that will give people, based on the best evidence we’ve got, a comprehensive approach to treatment which will advise about the use of parent training programmes, the use of behavioural interventions.
“The important thing is that we have an approach which doesn’t focus just on one type of treatment.”