ADHD Medications' Long-term Effects Not Worth It

(The following column has been authored by a non-clinician.)

I well-remember the day my mother confronted me about my use of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) drugs.

I was on the phone with her and she told me to slow down.

I was speaking so rapidly that she could barely understand what I was saying.

This writer took the medicine prescribed by her doctor — Adderall — to help with her  ADD.

At the time, I was in a Ph.D. program and felt that I needed that medication to concentrate.

What I didn't know, and my doctor did not explain, was that the drug was addictive.

Very addictive.

So much so, my husband didn’t want me to take it.

Yet, over the years, I was able to wean myself off it.

I was quite tired and suffered from some of the side effects of the drug, like tics and muscle tension. Some of those side-effects have never gone away.

That's one reason why it's so important to avoid ADHD drugs, especially for those who are not prescribed them!

However, According to a University of Michigan study, as many as one in four student-aged persons are abusing ADHD drugs.

"The drug supply has rapidly changed, and what looks like medications — bought online or shared among friends or family members — can contain fentanyl or other potent illicit substances that can result in overdoses," Dr. Nora Volkow said in a statement to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The NIH partnered with the University of Michigan for the study.

Six million children in the U.S. ages three to seven are diagnosed with ADHD or ADD.

While those who are diagnosed can get the medication, it should be carefully monitored by parents or guardians. According to the New York Post, "Prolonged misuse can lead to cardiovascular conditions, depressed mood, overdoses, psychosis, anxiety, seizures and stimulant use disorder."

According to AddictionHelp.com, several statistics show that there is prescription stimulant misuse among adolescents:

• In 2011, 1.1 million Americans aged 12 or older used prescription stimulants nonmedically in the past year.
• In 2020, 4.4% percent of high school seniors surveyed reported past-year nonmedical use of Adderall, up by .5% from 2019.
• Also in 2020, 1.7% reported past-year nonmedical use of Ritalin, up by .6% from 2019.
• In 2017, 60% of youth that reported abusing stimulants said they either bought or received prescription stimulants from a friend or relative.

Further:

• In the cross-sectional study of 231 141 students in 3284 secondary schools, school-level past-year prescription stimulant nonmedical use ranged from 0% to more than 25% across U.S. schools. Students attending schools with the highest rates of stimulant therapy for ADHD had 36% increased odds of nonmedical prescription stimulant use compared with students attending schools with the lowest rates.

Finally, the study found that there is a significant link between "legitimate and illicit ADHD drug use."

ADHD drugs can be a wide-open gateway to illegal drugs.

Fox News has reported, "The study associates using both stimulant and non-stimulant ADHD medications with greater probability of experimenting with cocaine, methamphetamines, and other prescription stimulants, compared to students who were never prescribed these medications.

"This highlights the potential gateway effect of ADHD medications and the importance of preventing misuse and addiction."

The bottom line?

Parents, don’t put your children on ADHD drugs if at all possible.

They can be misused and may lead to other drug use. If nothing else, they have side effects that can last for years. In addition, teachers, medical professionals, and parents must monitor their kids’ use of ADHD drugs.

Dr. Sean McCabe, the study’s author, told the NIH that "The key takeaway here is not that we need to lessen the prescribing of stimulants for students who need them, but that we need better ways to store, monitor and screen for stimulant access and use among youth to prevent misuse."

Nancy Flory holds a Ph.D. in Communication and a Master of Journalism degree. She has written for local business journals, The Dallas Morning News, and The Colony Courier-Leader. She is a senior editor at The Stream where she writes stories of hope and faith. She lives with her family in Texas. Read more of Dr. Flory's reports — Here.