Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 115 posts

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#31

Post by pvnick »

[deleted] wrote: post #26
pvnick wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm happy to hear that some have found a way to control their "affliction," I've never tried Straterra and have no plans to start. As I alluded to in my original post, my ideological objections to drugging our "broken" children are more than simply pragmatic. And, even though I'm a mid-twenties male in college, I hardly ever go to class as I still can't manage to sit still long enough to listen to a 50 minute l…

[deleted]

I don't mean to offend you, nor was it my intention to insinuate that you've been brainwashed, which implies malice, but rather inadvertently indoctrinated, through nobody's fault, to take the "you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it" mantra to it's logical extreme. My personal opinion (take it or leave it) is that if one is unable to pursue an activity without the use of drugs, then likely that is not an appropriate use of one's time. If you really want to get in to a lengthy discussion on my view of how modern society forces us into homogenous units and leads to things like drug use, anorexia, consumerism, etc to make us fit the mould presented for us, please feel free to email me at the address in my profile.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#32

Post by Alex3917 »

thejosh wrote: post #4

Yes it won't boost their grades, but it will actually make them be able to be "normal" people. People haven't lived with someone with actual/bad ADHD if they think drugs don't work.

"People haven't lived with someone with actual/bad ADHD if they think drugs don't work."

Or they actually read books. All of the research shows that ADD drugs actually make ability to concentrate worse in the long term, and in the short term they increase the ability to concentrate but not the actual rate of learning. This study has zero new information, this is all stuff we've known for decades.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#33

Post by saosebastiao »

thejosh wrote: post #4

Yes it won't boost their grades, but it will actually make them be able to be "normal" people. People haven't lived with someone with actual/bad ADHD if they think drugs don't work.

Thank you. Without exaggeration, I would be homeless without my medication. When people argue against ADHD medication, I take it personally.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#34

Post by DannyBee »

pvnick wrote: post #24
DannyBee wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"As I alluded to in my original post, my ideological objections to drugging our "broken" children are more than simply pragmatic. " Do you have similar objections to drugging alzheimers patients? I'm trying to understand where you draw the line. Given that actually diagnosed ADHD people have brain chemistry differences that various drugs are meant to control, i have trouble seeing a difference between the two cases.…

I don't remember ever being afflicted with Alzheimer's, so I can't speak to that case. But what is evident is that ADHD affliction is a broad, very continuous spectrum and not a black/white "disease" in the traditional sense. It's largely based on subjective factors. The hypochondriac parent will very easily convince a doctor to prescribe ADHD medication for his/her child. This reality, in addition to my own personal…

I guess I strongly disagree.

Just because diagnostic conditions are not always clear, or overdiagnose, does not make it any less of a disease.

A lot of things mental disorders are based on subjective factors.

Would you disagree that schizophrenia is a disease?

At least 3 of the factors (and you only need two) are highly subjective.

If you wanted to argue that DSM-IV/DSM-V criteria for a lot of things have a tendency to overdiagnose or not be objective enough, I would heartily agree.

That does not make something any less of a disease, it only means our diagnostic criteria suck.

Alzheimers had very broad, subjective, diagnostic criteria once as well, right up until they made various breakthroughs in neuropathology.

Yet you seem willing to class that as a disease?

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#35

Post by dualboot »

linohh wrote: post #30
X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

What many people don't understand is the stress people with ADD are exposed to. Especially when they're smart. Imagine having a porsche in your driveway, but for reasons you can only use the first gear. No matter how hard you push the pedal to the metal, you won't be as fast as you want the car to go. Plus if you keep going full throttle in the first gear eventually you'll break something. Sounds depressing, doesn't…

This is one of the most succinct explanations of what my life was like before medication and after.

Thank you!

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#36

Post by dualboot »

pvnick wrote: post #31
[deleted] wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

I don't mean to offend you, nor was it my intention to insinuate that you've been brainwashed, which implies malice, but rather inadvertently indoctrinated, through nobody's fault, to take the "you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it" mantra to it's logical extreme. My personal opinion (take it or leave it) is that if one is unable to pursue an activity without the use of drugs, then likely that is no…

The funny thing about drugs is that they don't effect every person in the same way. Any parent that would hand their kids medication and not do their very best to monitor how it impacts them is asking for trouble.

Glad you are able to function in life without the drugs. I've tried it. I was able to control the variables in my life somewhat to function for a reasonably long time but eventually I became overwhelmed and fell into a very deep pit of dysfunction.

They may not work for you but don't contribute to an already difficult stigma that makes it very difficult for those of us who have an actual need. It's hard enough to engage a doctor in this conversation given the "street value" of the drugs you're asking for.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#37

Post by jessriedel »

X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

I welcome people constructively criticizing the study, but this kind of anecdotal response is really not useful.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#38

Post by benjamincburns »

jessriedel wrote: post #37
X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

I welcome people constructively criticizing the study, but this kind of anecdotal response is really not useful.

I had some trepidation over this when deciding whether or not to post my own anecdotes. In the end I decided that while it's not useful as a criticism of the study it's absolutely useful to curb the conclusion, that ADHD drugs are broadly ineffective, which this presentation of the study might suggest.

Edit: As an example the caption of Dr. Farah's photo reads "Dr. Martha Farah and colleagues found no cognitive benefit from Adderall taken by students." Finding no correlation to grade improvement is very, very far from finding "no cognitive benefit."

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#39

Post by nsmartt »

jessriedel wrote: post #37
X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

I welcome people constructively criticizing the study, but this kind of anecdotal response is really not useful.

The parent seems more like a comment on the reaction to the study rather than on the validity of the study.

Re: ADHD Drugs Don't Boost Kids' Grades, Studies Find

#40

Post by fizzbuzzd »

X-Istence wrote: post #22

Each time a study comes out and people will link it to me (I've already had this linked to me three times) claiming that my ADHD medicine doesn't do anything and that it is worthless ... for me it isn't. Without my meds I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I wouldn't be able to get work done. At one point it got so bad at work that I was afraid I was going to get fired since I couldn't focus on any single task at hand…

When I go and get my ADHD prescription filled, I always get a look of judgement from pharmacy workers. I've struggled with a lot of shit throughout my life that has caused a lot persistent anxiousness that has always made it difficult to focus. I don't know what the exact issue is, but I was physically/sexually abused as a child, had overbearing parents, and so on, so it's hard to correlate just exactly what's behind it. Anxiety went hand and hand with all of this, and coping became harder and harder (I didn't have a girlfriend/sex until much later in life, failing college, etc). Things got real bad in my early twenties, and meds saved my life. I could do my job, and people could see I was good at it. It helped me calm down. It worked for me, and it may not work for everyone, but please leave that option open to the individual and his/her doctor. I was unmedicated most of my life, and still keep it a secret from every single person I know. There's my anecdote.
Post reply on HN