In the New York Times (2/3, Ellison) “Well” blog, author Katherine Ellison writes that an increasing number of physicians “who treat the estimated 6.4 million American children diagnosed with” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “are hearing that stimulant medications not only help treat the disorder but may actually be good for their patients’ brains” and may even be “neuroprotective.” Other experts on AD/HD suggest that stimulant medications for AD/HD “may change the brain over time so as to undermine the long-term response to the medication and even exacerbate symptoms when people aren’t taking them.” Meanwhile, “Dr. Peter Jensen, the former associate director of child and adolescent research at the National Institute of Mental Health, cautioned that parents should not try to force children with” AD/HD “to take medication when they don’t want to, adding that ‘most kids don’t want to.’”
Related Links:
— “Can Attention Deficit Drugs ‘Normalize’ a Child’s Brain?,” Katherine Ellison, New York Times, February ,2 2015.