Recent increases in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses, and the escalation of stimulant prescriptions, has raised concern about diversion and abuse of stimulants, as well as the ethics of using these drugs as “cognitive enhancers.”Such concern appears misplaced in the face of substantial evidence that stimulant drugs do not improve the academic performance of ADHD-diagnosed students.
Full Answer
How effective is multiple choice stimulant medication for ADHD?
Multiple Choice Stimulant medication such as Ritalin is effective in improving the attention of children with ADHD to the levels seen in children without ADHD. The sole cause of ADHD in children is damage to the brain during prenatal development. Doctors recommend avoiding exercise in all
How effective is Ritalin for ADHD?
Multiple Choice Stimulant medication such as Ritalin is effective in improving the attention of children with ADHD to the levels seen in children without ADHD. The sole cause of ADHD in children is damage to the brain during prenatal development.
What is the cause of ADHD?
The sole cause of ADHD in children is damage to the brain during prenatal development. Doctors recommend avoiding exercise in all This problem has been solved! Who are the experts? Experts are tested by Chegg as specialists in their subject area.
Is there a cure for ADHD?
There's no cure for ADHD, but a wide-variety of effective treatments are available to help children cope with the symptoms and lead productive lives. ___________________ have been used since the 1930s to treat the symptoms of ADHD.
What does stimulant medication do for ADHD?
Stimulants regulate impulsive behavior and improve attention span and focus by increasing the levels of certain chemicals in the brain, primarily dopamine, which transmit signals between nerves.
Do stimulants work for everyone with ADHD?
The first-line stimulant medications for ADHD are among the most effective treatments in all of medicine. Unfortunately, as many as one in five people do not respond to the two standard stimulants, methylphenidate and amphetamine. We measure effectiveness through a statistical calculation called effect size.
Why do stimulants have the opposite effect on ADHD?
While taking stimulants would cause most of us to become hyperactive, they have the opposite effect on those with ADHD. While stimulants can cause children with this disorder to have difficulty sleeping and can cause them to feel uncomfortable, it actually quiets their hyperactivity and improves their attention.
What is a contraindication to prescribing stimulants for the treatment of ADHD?
Contraindications for stimulant treatment are: florid psychosis, bipolar I disorder, Tourette's disorder, severe anorexia, and some medical condition such as hypertension, tachycardia, and arrhytmias (Greenhill 2001).
What stimulants do?
Prescription stimulants increase the activity of the brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. Prescription stimulants increase alertness, attention, and energy. Their misuse, including overdose, can also lead to psychosis, anger, paranoia, heart, nerve, and stomach problems.
Do stimulants help everyone?
Prescription stimulants are not meant as performance enhancers for the general population, but as part of an overall treatment plan for carefully diagnosed conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Do stimulants calm ADHD?
When you have ADHD, doctors often prescribe stimulants to help you feel more calm and focused.
Why you should not medicate ADHD?
Despite the widespread belief that medications for ADHD are relatively safe, the research says otherwise. The research demonstrates that your child will likely have a side effect from the medication. Side effects range from reduced eating and growth, irritability, rage, and personality changes to psychotic behaviors.
Are stimulants safe?
Actually, stimulants do not have any dangerous effects on the brain or normal hearts in kids and adults. Over the past decade, we have moved away from worrying about these medications being toxic to the nervous system, to the most recent data suggesting they are actually protective.
Are stimulants contraindicated in hypertension?
Stimulants usually prompt slight increases in heart rate and raise blood pressure, and even these changes can increase the risk of heart problems in someone who is vulnerable, Dr. Nissen said. Adults with hypertension who are considering the drugs should have their blood pressure stabilized first, doctors say.
Demographic Data
- Of the 400 surveys thatwere sent, 3 were returned as undeliverable and 145 were returned completed, for an overall response rate of 36.5%. The response rate for special educators was 43% (n = 86) compared to 30% (n = 59) for general educators. There were 29 male and 116 fema…
Factual Knowledge
- The percentage of teachers who correctly agreed or disagreed with statements on the 5-point Likert-type scale is shown in Table 1. Responses were determined to be correct on the basis of the NIH Consensus Statement (1998). Only 5 out of 13 items were answered correctly by more than half of the responding teachers. To determine whether the mean differences were significa…
Opinions
- The means for the opinions of general education teachers and special education teachers are shown in Table 2. Many of the means were near 3 on the 5-point scale, indicating uncertainty or ambivalence among respondents. Teachers generally agreed that stimulant medication helped students diagnosed with ADHD behave better in the classroom, do better on seatwork assignme…
Experience
- The means for all teachers, general education teachers, and special education teachers are shown in Table 3. < Seventyeight percent of the teachers surveyed indicated that they attempt prereferral programs, and 73% indicated that they refer students who they believe exhibit symptoms of ADHD. Eighty-eight percent agreed or strongly agreed that they could identify stud…
Practical Implications
- Issues related to referral for assessment of ADHD may present a dilemma for teachers. Specific additions to the content of teacher education programs and continuing education can provide teachers with useful knowledge that will broaden their perspectives about ADHD. Specific suggestions include (a) providing more information on psychopharmacology, (b) training teache…
Behavioral Assessment and Intervention
- It is important for teachers to be aware that inattention or inappropriate behavior may be explained by factors other than ADHD. Many of the behaviors that teachers interpret as symptoms of ADHD may actually be behaviors that are maintained by the need to obtain something (e.g., attention from teacher or peers) or to avoid something (e.g., school tasks; O’Neil et al., 1997). In…
Limitations
- A significant limitation of this study was the possibility of sample bias. The respondents were all from Wisconsin, which may not be representative of the rest of the country. However, in a national survey of teachers of students with learning disabilities, there were no significant differences between responses in Wisconsin and those in other states (Snider et al., 2000). The low respons…