Children's A.D.D. Drugs Do Not Work Long Term.

"THREE million children in this country take drugs for problems in focusing. Toward the end of last year, many of their parents were deeply alarmed because there was a shortage of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall that they considered absolutely essential to their children’s functioning."

"In 30 years there has been a twentyfold increase in the consumption of drugs for attention-deficit disorder."

This is the alarming opening to Alan Sroufe's recent column in the New York Times. In it, Sroufe, a psychologist that has studied children and behavior for over 40 years goes over the alarming trend in prescription drug use of stimulants for children diagnosed with ADD and other disorders. 

If drugs, which studies show work for four to eight weeks, are not the answer, what is? Many of these children have anxiety or depression; others are showing family stresses. We need to treat them as individuals.

In long term study, ritalin, adderall and other stimulant drugs constantly presribed to children have a different effect on their quality of learning and living than previously thought:

Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.

Sadly, few physicians and parents seem to be aware of what we have been learning about the lack of effectiveness of these drugs.

Additionally dependence on said drugs actually can make the children worse off: 

(Children) apparently develop a tolerance to the drug, and thus its efficacy disappears. Many parents who take their children off the drugs find that behavior worsens, which most likely confirms their belief that the drugs work. But the behavior worsens because the children’s bodies have become adapted to the drug. Adults may have similar reactions if they suddenly cut back on coffee, or stop smoking.

TO date, no study has found any long-term benefit of attention-deficit medication on academic performance, peer relationships or behavior problems, the very things we would most want to improve.

Instead of concentrating on treating the symptoms, many experts in this field opine that the cause should be treated, literally re-evaluating the way that a child is raised, in which support of thier development is nurtured. It has been found that simple actions by those around a child can either support positive development, or sew seeds of future cognitive and problem solving issues that can lead to an ADD diagnosis. 

Behavior problems in children have many possible sources. Among them are family stresses like domestic violence, lack of social support from friends or relatives, chaotic living situations, including frequent moves, and, especially, patterns of parental intrusiveness that involve stimulation for which the baby is not prepared. For example, a 6-month-old baby is playing, and the parent picks it up quickly from behind and plunges it in the bath. Or a 3-year-old is becoming frustrated in solving a problem, and a parent taunts or ridicules. Such practices excessively stimulate and also compromise the child’s developing capacity for self-regulation.

Putting children on drugs does nothing to change the conditions that derail their development in the first place. 

Read the original article here: 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/opinion/sunday/childrens-add-drugs-dont-work-long-term.html?pagewanted=all