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

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

#61

Post by jt2190 »

benjamincburns wrote: post #53
jt2190 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So we're going to look at grades as an indicator of > success here? Yes, because children who suffer from poor grades are now frequently tested for ADHD, and since we can't very accurately diagnose ADHD, some children who don't need the medication will get it. It's called a "false positive." Those children's grades won't improve. The studies are really telling us that we're not very good at diagnosing this.

That's a very valid statement, and I greatly appreciate/respect that truth. If that were the tack this article were taking, I'd have no qualms. This is the perfect kind of study to combat overprescription based on poor academic performance. However there's an unwritten assumption in this article that grades are synonymous with success. See the caption to Dr. Farah's photo. That's a very poor inference. That's what I'…

I read it as "success in treatment", not "success in life."

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

#62

Post by scotty79 »

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…

How do you know that sugar pill wouldn't bring you same benefits? Were you taking some other smart sounding similarly administered drugs before and you began taking current ones and you observed improvement on switching meds?

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

#63

Post by stevewillows »

reneherse wrote: post #50
linohh wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Wow, this sounds exactly like what I've been experiencing for the last four to five years. Even the misdiagnosis, which have mostly turned me off from seeking any kind of mental health treatment. Can you recommend how to screen for a competent psychiatrist specializing in adult ADD?

I live in Vancouver and have had the best success working directly through the local hospital's mental health group. The key is to do a lot of testing. I've also found pink noise to help quite a bit in those times where I need an extra bit of focus.

A misdiagnosis and even the wrong medication is the worst to experience. Finally in my 33rd year of life (18 years since finding out about ADHD) I found a medication that helps my anxiety and depression which allows me to focus on the downsides of the ADHD.

This isn't an ad for mirtazipine. :)

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

#64

Post by sliverstorm »

jt2190 wrote: post #52
benjamincburns wrote: post #9

So we're going to look at grades as an indicator of success here? Grades, which have been shown time and time again to have very weak, if any correlation with success? I've dealt with ADHD my entire life. As a kid people could see I was smart, but "if only he could apply himself!" One of the most pivotal decisions I ever made was to seek counseling, and ultimately medication, when I was flunking out of college. My gr…

> So we're going to look at grades as an indicator of > success here? Yes, because children who suffer from poor grades are now frequently tested for ADHD, and since we can't very accurately diagnose ADHD, some children who don't need the medication will get it. It's called a "false positive." Those children's grades won't improve. The studies are really telling us that we're not very good at diagnosing this.

That's exactly what I'm hearing in my head as I read this article; "But did they control for ADHD over-diagnosis?"

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

#65

Post by doktrin »

stevewillows wrote: post #63
reneherse wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this sounds exactly like what I've been experiencing for the last four to five years. Even the misdiagnosis, which have mostly turned me off from seeking any kind of mental health treatment. Can you recommend how to screen for a competent psychiatrist specializing in adult ADD?

I live in Vancouver and have had the best success working directly through the local hospital's mental health group. The key is to do a lot of testing. I've also found pink noise to help quite a bit in those times where I need an extra bit of focus. A misdiagnosis and even the wrong medication is the worst to experience. Finally in my 33rd year of life (18 years since finding out about ADHD) I found a medication that…

> This isn't an ad for mirtazipine. :)

Genuinely curious - do you in fact take mirtazipine to manage AD(H)D? I've never had it recommended as a treatment option.

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

#67

Post by dschiptsov »

jt2190 wrote: post #45
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…

> 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... Unless any of those people is a licensed psychiatrist you should ignore them and move on.

Does this imply that one should read/use code only of licensed/certified programmers?))

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

#68

Post by noone55 »

I am currently prescribed Concerta 54 mg and take it in spurts. Why spurts? A love-hate relationship. While I am on Concerta, I excel at my job. Unfortunately, Concerta tends to super-enhance my "logical/work" side while hampering my "interpersonal/compassion" side. My girlrfriend cannot stand me while I am on my ADD medication: I am far too distant and non-communicative with her. I know she is right, I can't deny the truth: I neglect her to focus on logical tasks instead.

It seems I cannot maintain a healthy, intimate relationship with my girlfriend (or likely any other person) while on ADD medication. In addition, my performance at work is abysmal without medication: I find any and every distraction around me when not medicated. How can I balance my work/personal life with ADD?! This frustration is driving me crazy! =(

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

#69

Post by hmsimha »

benjamincburns wrote: post #29
obituary_latte wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: could your success be at all attributed to placebo? IOW, is there any question at all as to whether or not you could have made a conscious decision to "buckle down" and have met the same result? I fear for myself that when facing similar hardship that acquiescing to meds could just be "dealing with the situation" and not properly processing what the actual hardship is, why it exists, and how else it…

> Honest question: could your success be at all attributed to placebo? IOW, is there any question at all as to whether or not you could have made a conscious decision to "buckle down" and have met the same result? I'm 27 now. I began taking ADHD medication when I was 21. With the exception of methamphetamine (yes, it's actually an old, crude ADHD treatment) I believe I've taken every FDA-approved ADHD drug there is -…

I'd love to know what you found has worked the best for you, if you feel comfortable sharing.

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

#70

Post by gordaco »

The ADHD craze is rampant on the USA, but fortunately not in Europe, where I'm from. I'm so glad of that, even if I'm more or less on the opposite side of ADHD when it comes to focus and behaviour.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying that ADHD is a thing. However, it seems that in the USA it's heavily overdiagnosed, and even worse, the educational system seems to be especially harmful to people with actual ADHD (some people argue that it's because of that system being focused on certain skills, but I honestly don't think it's so different here). It seems like some kind of ADHD-phobia that pushes schools to find a huge problem whenever any faint symptom is found, immediately resorting to medication and severely punishing those who don't comply.

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