{"id":87763,"date":"2025-05-09T16:08:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T16:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87763\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T16:08:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T16:08:29","slug":"we-shouldnt-downplay-the-risks-of-adhd-medication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87763\/","title":{"rendered":"We shouldn\u2019t downplay the risks of ADHD medication"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was diagnosed with ADHD<\/a> in my freshman year of college. I\u2019d suspected as much in high school, but I disliked the idea of taking medication. College was different. No matter what I tried, I kept finding gaps in my notes \u2013 and therefore gaps in my knowledge on test day.<\/p>\n

While I was prescribed so-called \u201csmart drugs,\u201d I didn\u2019t delude myself into thinking they would magically make me more intelligent \u2013 which is why I laughed when I saw the ADHD research industry perform a volte-face in the pages of the New York Times, in a piece<\/a> headlined: \u201cHave we been thinking about ADHD all wrong?\u201d The obvious answer is yes.<\/p>\n

\n

Taking a medium-strength daily dose of Adderall triples a person\u2019s odds of developing psychosis or mania<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Medications for ADHD, such as Adderall and Ritalin, have long been pushed as a way to increase academic performance. But they do no such thing, according to research cited by the Times. While they have a big impact on concentration, they have a minimal impact on grades. ADHD may not need to be treated using quite as much medication as the industry has led us to believe, the research explains. Scientists used to think of it as a purely biological condition, but now view it as one \u201cproduced by some combination of biological and environmental forces.\u201d This means it may not last for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: I took Adderall for the rest of my time at the University of Dallas and I\u2019m grateful for it. ADHD is real. However, it\u2019s certainly not a disability. The medication improves your ability to focus \u2013 but it\u2019s not a perfect solution. It helps in the same way that coffee helps you when you\u2019re short on sleep: temporarily.<\/p>\n

You still need to develop good study and work habits. For me, this meant taking notes by hand and leaving my phone and laptop in my backpack while in class or doing homework. You can\u2019t get distracted by Twitter or ESPN if you can\u2019t access the internet.<\/p>\n

And while ADHD medication can change children\u2019s behavior in the classroom, it can\u2019t improve how they learn. As F. Xavier Castellanos, a neuroscience researcher at New York University put it: \u201cThere\u2019s a real disconnect between the almost awesome effects on behavior and the minimal effects on academic achievement or attainment\u2026 kids do more seatwork \u2013 you can see that they\u2019ve done more problems \u2013 but then when you test them a week or two later, their scores barely budge.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I laughed reading the Times article. What seemed to be almost staggeringly new to the scientists was obvious to me. Medication will only help those who struggle to learn because they can\u2019t pay attention. Most kids with ADHD need more than a pill in order to succeed. But while I may find scientists\u2019 bewilderment somewhat amusing, the rate at which they prescribe these stimulants to children, while downplaying their side effects, is not.<\/p>\n

In 2022, American doctors wrote almost 80 million prescriptions for ADHD stimulants. Last year, 11.4 percent of US children were diagnosed with the disorder, a record high. That figure includes 15.5 percent of adolescents, 21 percent of 14-year-old boys and 23 percent of 17-year-old boys. Seven million children had been diagnosed with ADHD in 2022 \u2013 up from six million in 2016 and two million in the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n

Perhaps to justify these numbers, the researchers in the Times article understated concerns over the medications\u2019 side effects. \u201cAt some level,\u201d one researcher said, \u201cthese stimulants are not that far from Red Bull.\u201d<\/p>\n

I imagine Red Bull would be thrilled to hear that, but it\u2019s simply not true. Stimulants such as Adderall may resemble caffeine in their primary effects, but their side effects \u2013 both when taking the medication and when stopping it \u2013 are very different.<\/p>\n

What happens when dedicated coffee drinkers go cold turkey? They get a splitting headache. Quitting ADHD stimulants is much worse. People often experience extreme fatigue, headaches and a craving for sweets or some sort of dopamine hit. I have friends who dealt with pretty sharp mood swings, bordering on depression. I can only imagine how problematic that could be for kids already struggling with teenage angst.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018These will lessen the side effects from the pills you\u2019re taking to reduce the side effects from those pills I prescribed to ease the side effects of\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

More importantly, the American Journal of Psychiatry found that taking a medium-strength daily dose of Adderall triples a person\u2019s odds of developing psychosis or mania. Adderall and Ritalin also severely suppress appetite, which may be why another study found that kids prescribed Ritalin grow up to be an inch shorter, on average, than their peers. And consistent stimulant usage raises the resting heart rate and puts young adults at risk of serious heart damage at a young age. These risks aren\u2019t worth it \u2013 unless medication is a true last resort.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the traits that are disadvantageous in a classroom may help in other settings. For example, I can\u2019t study in crowded settings because I constantly look up if I see movement out of the corner of my eye. It\u2019s quite unhelpful for studying, but served me well on the lacrosse field.<\/p>\n

Surely there are other \u2013 better \u2013 ways to help a child who is struggling at school than to accept medication as an easy option. Consider this: the mere presence of a smartphone reduces a child\u2019s basal attentional performance. It doesn\u2019t matter if they are using the phone: if they know it is nearby, their involuntary attention system listens for chimes or vibrations. Diet also plays a part. Parents have long suspected a link between artificial food coloring and hyperactivity in kids. But science has confirmed it: a 2021 UC Berkeley study found that consuming synthetic food dyes can cause hyperactivity.<\/p>\n

Instead of handing children amphetamines, try taking away the Skittles and cell phone when it\u2019s study time. You may be surprised at the results.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in\u00a0The Spectator<\/a>\u2019s June 2025 World edition.<\/p>\n

John Hasson<\/a><\/p>\n

John Hasson is a current student at George Mason University\u2019s Antonin Scalia Law School. Alongside The Spectator he has written for the Daily Caller and Townhall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was diagnosed with ADHD in my freshman year of college. I\u2019d suspected as much in high school,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[41919,2012,2266,105,4326,3912,41920,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-87763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-adderall","9":"tag-adhd","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-medication","13":"tag-medicine","14":"tag-ritalin","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114478743972548849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}