A shocking and amazing new study confirms what us country folk have known all along. Stop drugging kids - send them outside instead.

Here's a link to an old study. I just saw a "new" study on CBS...I guess this is finally making the news. They were saying that in most cases, a healthy dose of outdoor activity [and not in a cement jungle, in actual nature] was just as effective in children as a standard dose of ADD/ADHD medication. No mention of adults, though.

I find this particularly funny, since I remember a friend's mother always lamenting over my friend's ADHD. And how it seemed to get better during the summer, when she was away at camp. :P

I remember studies when I was in graduate school that suggested that ADHD drugs did not improve a child's learning ability, rather that the drugs made some children more manageable for the teacher and less disruptive to the class.

Many ADHD kids do great unmedicated in settings where they can learn at an individualized pace (if given the right type of input, guidance and reinforcement from the adults). In fact, some learn faster than "average" kids, because bright ADHD kids don't have to learn to wait patiently while the rest of the class catches up.

I think that ADHD isn't necessarily a "disorder," but a different way of processing information, and disrupting it unnecessarily, forcing the square peg child into the round peg world, doesn't always do them any favors.

amazing they had to do a study to figure that one out. I think ADD/ADHD is so over diagnosed. I do think many children have a problem but I wouldn't call it a disorder. I also wonder how much their nutrition, medication, vaccinatons, etc are a part of the problem.

I am a teacher of 18 years and have two children. I felt the same way that you do for years. I use to think that my middle schoolers, mainly boys, just needed more discipline from home. I would cringe every time that I found out that one of my students was on medication. Everything changed when I watched my son (who btw plays baseball, football, hunts, fishes, and loves to ride his bike every afternoon) have a huge drop in self esteem due to lack of success in the classroom. He has a high IQ, but has trouble focusing in class, as well as other issues. He use to cried himself to sleep wondering why he could not learn like the other children. We studied with him every night. I was always against medication and got advice for alternatives, tried different diets, and strategies with no success. I have done a lot of research. I resulted to a medication that helps with his focus issues, but does not affect his behavior, good or bad. I struggle with this every day. I think that when parents take it lightly, use it as a crutch, or don't try other things first, it is wrong. Thank you for enlightening me to more research and I look forward to looking into it.

There are so many misconceptions regarding ADHD and children diagnosed with it. As a mother of a special needs child (ADHD and CAPD) I find it incredibly offensive when people make blanket statements like "you must not be parenting properly" or "you are giving him too much sugar" or "adhd is a misdiagnosis" or "he's not getting enough exercise".

I can only speak for MY child, and I am telling you that his ADHD is not a PHYSICAL disorder, it is a NEUROLOGICAL one. He can run around until he is blue in the face and passes out from exhaustion, but his brain is still not able to slow down enough to process information properly. When I first knew my son had challenges he was around 2 yrs old, and like a lot of other ignorant (meaning uninformed or informed by word of mouth) people, I was anti-drugs. I modified different parts of his diet for two years (no progress). I read every book about ADHD I could get my hands on and tried behavioral modification techniques (some helpful but not to the extent necessary). I cried myself to sleep a lot of nights as a single mom filled with stress and worry that I couldn't parent properly. You can see why this might be a touchy issue with me.

When my son started school, he could not pay attention for more than a couple of minutes. Forced to sit still he would as best as possible, but his eyes would dart around quickly, unable to stop or slow down enough to process information properly. His impulsiveness led to classroom disruptions and him being removed from the room. He has never been defiant or mean spirited, rather, he is a kindhearted and sweet little boy who hates the thought of hurting somebody's feelings and sticks up for the underdog. After he was officially diagnosed ADHD and I had exhasted all efforts (he was failing school) I finally broke down and agreed to try medication.

My son takes Concerta, which is a time release form of Ritalin. Since being on it, he has been able to focus and concentrate in his classroom. He is finally progressing at learning. He is able to make friends (he was too hyper and spoke too quickly before so no kids wanted to play with him, which also translated into low self esteem). He started gaining confidence to try new things. He also had very little of the short term side effects some children get on medication. He was not a zombie, rather, he suddenly transformed into the 'normal' little boy that could have a conversation and interact with the rest of the world that hadn't been there before.

So, nobody can tell me that allowing my son to take medication for his DISORDER or you can call it DISABILITY (that is what it is) was the decision of a lazy or bad mom. ADHD does exist (3-5% of school-aged children). There is scientific research to back this up. I don't need the science though. I KNOW my own struggles with this issue, and I know how damaging it can be to spread misinformation without knowing what parents that have children diagnosed with this disorder go through on a daily basis.

I'm not saying the above study has no merits, as I haven't read it, but I just caution people about their comments and reactions to children with ADHD.

I see it sort of like ear infections/antibiotics, from a medical standpoint.

There are a lot of ear infections that will go away on their own without use of antibiotics. Antibiotics have side effects that can be problematic, and there are greater societal issues with overuse of antibiotics (like resistant strains developing). A lot of kids would do just fine if they were allowed to heal on their own.

BUT...two key points to look at in this light. The fact that your child might be able to get better eventually without an antibiotic doesn't make the ear hurt any less, and for some kids/infections, antibiotics are really required, or at least, will make things a WHOLE lot better in a way that "watch and wait" can't. A severe ear infection can cause lots of complications, including and up to hearing loss, bone loss in the jaw, etc. Telling a parent that "Well, lots of kids get better WITHOUT antibiotics" can be 100% factually accurate, but completely useless to that parent...not all kids are "most kids".

I tend to think about ADHD in this light - are drugs necessary for everyone? Probably not. Are they overprescribed? I think probably. But are there kids out there that ABSOLUTELY need medications in order to function normally? Yes. And telling the parents of those children that, for a lot of kids, medications aren't necessary may, again, be factually accurate, but can also be dismissive of the real children and real experiences and real medical condition that some families face.

mandallin-I really liked your analogy.

Unless someone experiences these things personally, it is hard to understand. I know this because I was easy to inappropriately judge others prior to having the personal experience. Now, I often have to explain my decisions to others and plan to use your analogy. Thanks!

I realize that my post definitely didn't really represent my entire opinion, and it came out sounding way more anti-medication that I meant to imply. I worked in social service with young children and teens for most of my career. I've seen alot of kids helped by ADHD medications, and I've also seen teachers and parents wanting to medicate an inconvenient child. I was onced asked by a mom of a toddler how she could persuade their pediatritian to prescribe ritalin. She wasn't really very happy with my recommendation that she not consider medication until school age (which at the time, at least was the common consensus, that the risks outweighed any possible benefits before school age).

I'm not sure if I agree with general practice physicians prescribing psych and behavior drugs, but it's relatively common. General practioners rather than psychiatrists are prescribing antidepressants and attention deficit medications, not only to adults, but to children. Some doctors that do so are very self-educated, but some don't even know how the side effect profiles differ between children and adults.

The pendulum so often swings to the extremes when the topic of ADHD diagnosis and medication comes up. It seems that there's usually a tendency to want to medicate everyone, or no one. I don't think it's that simple.

Some ADHD kids do amazingly well with alternatives to medications, and some don't. Medication helps some kids with ADHD, and some kids the medication is more helpful to the teacher than the child.

My concern is much like my concern with the weight loss "industry," in that too often a "one size fits all" approach is pushed. I've also worked with kids whose parents were being pressured by the teachers and even school boards to put the kids on medications. One case in which the school expelled a child, and refused to accept him back in class until he was on medication, despite the child's parents and doctor being against the idea.

It is a decision to be given alot of thought, and I really do think that most doctors and most parents are NOT making snap judgements. It's just that some of the extreme examples are so sensational, it tends to give people very polarized opinions on the subject. It is easy to have an extreme opinion, when you don't have to live it 24/7.

Carrie77, I know just where you're coming from. My 15-year-old son has been different since birth and, while not hyperactive, is incredibly inattentive still with a very abnormal processing speed (60th percentile) despite having a well above average verbal IQ. The pain that his school problems have caused him (and, therefore, me) is immeasurable. We tried all sorts of things before trying medication and, unfortunately, he couldn't tolerate the two meds that were tried (one of which his father is on) in second grade. Because of the stress of trying to manage in a regular classroom, he went to a special ed school for three years for a respite -where he didn't need medications due to their extraordinary teaching methods - until he became bored, tired of being with a lot of kids with serious emotional/behavioral problems, and was ready to take the stress of being in a mainstream school again.
Now he's a teen and doesn't want to try a stimulant medication, because - like some of us - he thinks these are over-used, etc. Unfortunately, I think he could really benefit from another trial and I'm really concerned, not so much about school - since he's learned how to advocate for himself and knows his strengths and feels pretty good about himself -, but about how he's going to negotiate the rest of the world safely - like driving and later living independently.
It is hard to understand if you haven't lived it. I know I struggled for years to understand it in my husband and now in my son. But I do believe it's a very real physiological difference that has a huge impact on how one functions in school, work, socially, etc. I think in a different family and/or different time, my son could have felt like a real failure, been at greater risk for illicit drug and alcohol use, dropped out of school, gone to prison, etc (all things that have happened to my brother whose ADHD went unrecognized in the 1960s/70s).
Kaplods - I agree with you that there are great strengths that come with thinking differently. Both husband and son have amazing artistic talents and ways of looking at the world. But, I don't think my husband's lost that since he's been on Ritalin. I'm not sure how it would have affected him if he had started it as a child; but I'm inclined to think it would have given him more choices in life. As it turns out, he's been very happy and successful, but again he had an incredibly supportive family (and a mother who was just as scatter-brained and creative) who didn't mind that he got Cs in school, etc.

Wow this sparked quite the little debate.

There are a lot of kids that need the meds...and there are those that don't. I'll give two examples

1) Hubby's friend : He was on a megalo dose of ritalin for ADHD all through grade school and high school. He would go to school, then come home and lock himself in front of a compie. Well...round about 19, he headed off to enlist. Those weeks spent at boot camp...we'll just say he no longer needed meds. He said after spending the entire day outdoors or in physical activity, he never felt more "focused".

2) Friends : I had a few friends in grade school who lived on farms. Back breaking, awful work that would have them dragging their feet to bed as soon as the sun went down. All of them still needed ritalin. They would flit from project to project throughout the day - at school and home - and couldn't learn to read or do math.

Anyway, the current number is 2 million kids are on ritalin. Someone else mentioned that parents want to medicate "inconvenient" children - which is true. In grade school, I remember how many kids were on the 5 on-2 off schedule.

The really unfortunate thing is that, as a culture, we usually jump to medication before we look to simple, free, non-drug related solutions - like telling a hyperactive grade schooler to read or do their homework in the back yard. The kids sit in front of TVs or computers for hours on end, rather than enjoying nature, something that is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of our bodies.

We also try to force children to be calm, when, seriously, what 8 year old is calm? They're little balls of energy. But a lot of parents {not pointing fingers to anyone who has or will post here, just speaking from experience with my daughter's peers} assume that if their 8 year old never sits still they NEED medication before trying to divert the energy into something else.

When I did an internship as a senior (so 1987) in a residential children's home for developmentally delayed children and adolescents, we had a lot of kids on ritalin, but they also periodically had the medications stopped (drug holidays), to make sure the drugs were effective. At the time, I thought this was routine for all patients on such drugs, that even a kid at home would be put on drug holidays (not only to see what happens, but because these drugs stunt growth, taking the summer "off" could allow the child a much needed growth spurt).

As an adult who had an accidental drug holiday from NSAIDs when I ran out of prescription drug coverage, I found out that they were causing my asthma symptoms (a fairly common side effect), and yet all those years, a doctor had never suggested a break from the NSAIDs to see if they were causing the asthma symptoms (they just kept adding more and more asthma drugs).

I'm on several medications that I'm very grateful for, and yet I don't understand why taking away the NSAIDs weren't considered before prescribing asthma medication. I mean arthritis pain is bad, but not being able to breath is very much worse. By giving up my NSAIDS, I was able to stop taking three medications for asthma and stop taking allergy medication daily, and now only use a few days during season change.

It bothers me that medication isn't always monitored very well. I think alot of the "horror stories," do make some people very leery of medication at all. And having had the experience with the asthma meds, I definitely do understand the reaction. I mean, even the pulmonologist I had to see to get the CPAP for the sleep apnea, didn't catch the possible NSAID/asthma connection, and I wonder why on earth not?

If I hadn't made the connection, I'm sure I'd still be on a lot of unnecessary
meds, and still having nearly year-round bronchitis and my yearly bout of pneumonia.

Wow, this sounds exactly like what I went through with my son Nick. I knew things were different for him from even earlier on. He was smart, but very inattentive. I had trouble with him being in day care while I was trying to go back to school when he was 2 or 3. I eventually just took him out of there after they told me they couldn't do anything with him. I too would cry myself to sleep worried about how he was going to go to school. After the first few weeks in Kindergarten it was worse that I imagined. There was no way he could focus or sit still and was being a constant distraction in the class. I had to come get him early so many times. It's very frustrating when you do everything you know how to teach him and it seems like it never registers for more than a few mins. I blamed myself too, I was a horrible mother blah blah. I finally had to break down and get him checked out. He was tested for Autism as well as ADD/ADHD. He was diagnosed with ADHD and we started on the painful journey of finding the right meds for him. After about a year of trying different kinds, we ended up on Concerta as well. It was like night and day once we found the right med. He was actually able to make the A and AB honor roll the past two years in school. Our relationship has improved so much as well. He still has some social issues but he is working on that, and gaining confidence. I am not saying he has it easy. He still has extra classes at school to help him catch up and stay on track, but I can't image where we would be if it weren't for the meds.

So while I do believe there are plenty of parents that put their kids on meds
as a convenience, I know there are just as many that struggle with the decision every day. Even as well as he is doing, I still worry what the lasting effects of the meds will be and if he will ever be able to function without them

The biggest problem I have now, is that he hates most foods. He was picky from the day he was born, wouldn't even take the breast. It's gotten worse as his gotten older and the meds really don't help(that's the one side effect I have noticed) . Even off the meds he doesn't like different foods, but he will eat a little bit more than he does when he is on them. It's a constant struggle to get enough good food in him and keep him healthy. I try to get him to eat new foods but he hates it so much that by the time he gets it in his mouth he is already gagging and puking it out. So that's kind of pointless. People say he will grow out of it, but I don't think so.

Ok, I need to get to bed. It was nice to hear from some other mothers that have been through and are going through this. It's a thing I don't really talk about much because it's a touchy subject and I rather avoid other peoples judgement.

I find the op incredibly insensitive. I'm going to go call my aunt right now to ler her know she is overmedicating my cousin. She should just send him outside to play - that will fix him right up!

Makes me furious - watch something on TV and then decide you know my aunt is just a lousy parent. Nice to know she's being judged by people that don't know her or her child!

*shock* Tact is not needed for messageboards!

Regardless of any scientific study, nothing is going to be true for 100% of the population. Although I do think our culture tends over medicate (everything!), I also think that some people really need medication. Nothing is really cut and dry when dealing with the science of the human body. We're all a bit different.

I saw an interesting opinion piece the other day about ADHD on Reality Sandwich (I think.) The author was talking about the THEORY that ADHD is an evolutionary reaction of the brain to technology. So much information is thrown at us these days and at a rapid pace. So much more then 100 years ago. The author felt that ADHD was not a disability or disorder, but the brain evolving to deal with all this information. The article really made me think. Maybe we are looking at ADHD the wrong way?

I do not want to pass judgment on parents who medicate vs. those who don't. I have friends who medicate their kids. I have a child w/ ADHD and I don't medficate him because he also has other issues. I have been a teacher who had students that didn't learn without meds and I have seen students medicated to the point of zombiehood (when I was student teaching and volunteering) and it was very sad.

Here's what I have found with my own son, and I don't want to spark any anger, criticism or controversy. It is just my own experience with him.

He is 9 years old and our school has been pressuring us for 3 years now to put him on adhd meds. After tons of research, this year, we did some testing on him and found out he actually has a huge problem with yeast, heavy metal toxicity (mercury) and some other issues. He has been on Diflucan, which is an anti-fungal medication, many vitamins and a gluten free, casein free, mostly organic, free from preservative/color/additive, artificial flavors diet. He is doing SO MUCH BETTER. Our school finally has seen the light! We still have other issues and problems to tackle, but he is no longer the same child he was before. A have seen a major advance. Much of what I do is "natural," but the antifungal meds are meds, but I feel like they treat his medical problem...the reason he is unbalanced. Again, I'm not criticising children w/ ADHD. It's so easy to offend others when posting in black and white. If you heard my tone, you would hear me saying this in a very nice, kind, gentle way. I just know my son is healthier and that if I gave my son adhd meds, I would just be masking the actual problem, rather than treating it.

The reason I post this here is just in case anyone is interested in more information. It took many years for me to find out about it and I know I would have liked to know about this a long time ago!

No parent wants to give their child meds. Nothing is easy in what I'm doing. It's tough, but not impossible. We all do the best we can though and my heart goes out to anyone who has a child with special needs, because I understand the struggle.