ADHD and “The Merchants of Speed”
Pediatrician and UCSF professor Lawrence Diller has issued the fourth of a four-part memoir on Huffington Post, recounting the rise of ADHD medicating and...
“ADHD Drugs Could Harm Kids’ Sleep”
Children diagnosed with ADHD who are prescribed stimulant drugs have more sleep problems than those with ADHD that do not take these drugs.
Most Preschoolers with ADHD Stay on Meds for Years
About 65% of preschool children who were diagnosed with ADHD and given stimulant drugs were still taking those drugs six years later.
Adderall Use Associated with Increased Risk of Psychosis
Twice as many teenagers with ADHD experienced severe psychosis when taking Adderall, as compared to Ritalin, according to a new study.
Study Finds ADHD Drugs Alter Developing Brain
A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...
“United States of Adderall (Part II)”
Writing for Huffpost, medical doctor Lawrence Diller looks at the effects of the ever increasing diagnoses for ADHD and the addiction and abuse issues...
“A.D.H.D. Rates Rise Around Globe, but Sympathy Often Lags”
For the New York Times Well blog, Katherine Ellision writes about how the rise in ADHD diagnoses globally is sparking “debates about the validity of the diagnosis and the drugs used to treat it.”
Amphetamines Have Long-Term Effects on Adolescent Brain, Study Finds
A new study published in the journal Neuroscience finds that rats given regular doses of amphetamines during adolescence have brain and behavioral changes in adulthood....
Large Increase in Poison Control Calls for Children Taking ADHD Drugs
New data shows that calls to US poison control centers have increased significantly for children taking stimulant ADHD drugs.
“Tasty and Easy to Take, A New ADHD Drug Alarms Some Psychiatrists”
For STAT, Meghana Kashavan reports on a new, candy-flavored, chewable, fruity, amphetamine drug on the market for children diagnosed with ADHD. “It’s a move...
“’Psychiatric Survivor’ Wilda White Says She Is Ready to Lead”
When Wilda White recovered from a manic episode triggered by her ADHD medication, she had lost her relationship, her home, and her dream job as a public interest lawyer. She reached a turning point when, she told Seven Days newspaper, "in the course of trying to figure out what had happened to me, I went on the website Mad in America.” Through the site, she connected with a job listing from Vermont Psychiatric Survivors, a non-profit dedicated to empowering and protecting the rights of people labeled “mentally ill.” She is now their executive director.
Children Diagnosed with ADHD Younger are More Likely to get Multiple Medications
New research demonstrates that children diagnosed with ADHD at younger ages are more likely than those diagnosed later to receive multiple medications within five years of their diagnosis.
Unnecessary and Accidental Use of ADHD Drugs Increases
From CNN: According to a new study, exposure to unprescribed ADHD drugs has increased by more than 60% among U.S. children since 2000.
"The study, published Monday...
The Poison We Pick
In this piece for New York Magazine, Andrew Sullivan traces the history of the use of opiates in the U.S. and explores the social, economic,...
“ADHD treatment market value to reach $9.9 bn by 2020”
According to business intelligence firm GBI Research, the ADHD medication market will rise in value from $6.9 billion in 2013 to $9.9 billion by...
“Here’s 1 More Map That Should Outrage Southerners”
The recently released report from Express Scripts showing a dramatic rise in the use of stimulant medications, often prescribed for ADHD, also shows that...
Medicating ADHD: Diagnosis and the Long-Term Effects of the Medications
Robert Whitaker appears on Science for the Public on March 20, 2013, speaking about how the ADHD is diagnosed and why users of medications...
Despite the Evidence, Overprescription of Stimulants Continues
A new study finds that stimulant prescribing rates to children continue to rise despite the well-established evidence documenting overdiagnosis of ADHD and overprescription of stimulants.
Stimulants and Food
The FDA recently approved lisdexamfetamine (LDF) for the treatment of the newly minted DSM-5 diagnosis of Binge Eating Disorder. This caused me some consternation and this blog will be as much about my reaction to this news as to the news itself.
You, Your Kids, or the Doctor… Who’s Running the Show?
Let’s face it, as our kids slowly developing brains wrestle with behavioral and maturity issues while also trying to juggle expectations related to academic and social challenges, some of the behaviors they display can be quite concerning. Understandably, after trying what seems like everything in the books plus the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room sinks, caring and often exhausted parents are actively looking for help, resources and answers. But guess what? Without any need for pharmaceutical intervention or “drug therapy,” for centuries parents have been quite capable of helping challenged children overcome semi-annoying and concerning behaviors that some “experts” want to label today as symptoms of a mental disorder. Behaviors that a billion kids worldwide display every day.
Poor and Foster Care Children More Likely to be Diagnosed and Treated with Psychiatric...
Study details Medicaid-insured birth cohort’s exposure to psychiatric medications and mental health services.
“CDC Warns that Americans May be Overmedicating Youngest Children with ADHD”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data indicating that as many as 75% of young children who are diagnosed with...
Rise in Psychiatric Prescriptions With NOS Diagnosis
A “not otherwise specified” (NOS) diagnosis is often used when an individual may have some symptoms related to a psychiatric diagnosis but does not meet enough criteria to warrant a particular diagnosis. A new study, published online ahead of print in Psychiatric Services, reveals that the proportion of mental health visits resulting in such NOS diagnoses rose to nearly fifty percent, and that these diagnoses do not result in more conservative psychiatric drug prescriptions.
