How Adequate are Stimulants For ADHD?
It is difficult for a parent to deal with the ADHD challenge in his child. And what makes it even harder to deal with is the fact that one of the two characteristic kinds of symptoms appears in many cases after preschooler period: the lack of attention. To make a choice whether to put them on stimulants or try an alternative, the parent may unconditionally follow the advice of the specialist, or effectively participate in the deciding process.
Because of the difficulty and complexity of the decision to put your ADHD child on stimulant- based treatment, some advice may help to decide whether positive influence could be greater than the risks:
- - In case of few and almost imperceptible symptoms, you may try first alternative treatments, like medical help, management of behavior, and training of social abilities.
- - The stimulant medication treatment is the most efficient in case of behavioral or school problems for your ADHD child with a 70% rate of improvement.
- - Yet, the stimulants don't eliminate all the problems of an ADHD child, but only control hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention disorders.
- - Stimulant medication was proved to be safe on short term treatment but was not researched yet for long term effects. A 2 year study revealed that children who are receiving treatment with stimulating medication grow 1, 3 cm slower in one year than those who are not on medication. Still, it is possible for the child on stimulants to recover the loss later.
- - A non-stimulant alternative is represented by atomoxetine (Strattera).