Stimulants

Increased frequency of digital media use can increase symptoms of ADHD among adolescents, study finds.

The youngest children in a class are more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis than their peers.

When it comes to ADHD, some researchers suggest that medical textbooks provide inaccurate and misleading information.

Daniela Drake, MD, writes on Salon about her son's misdiagnosis of ADHD - later found to be an auditory processing disorder and an allergy...

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,...

Citing reasons from weight loss to housecleaning, there has been a 750% increase in the use of Adderall among women in the U.S. aged...

A small study of 30 participants in Germany claims that cannabis can be used to treat “ADHD” because it increases the availability of dopamine. "This then has the same effect but is a different mechanism of action than stimulants like Ritalin and dexedrine amphetamine, which act by binding to the dopamine and interfering with the metabolic breakdown of dopamine." According to the report, 22 of the 30 participants opted to discontinue their prescriptions in favor of medical marijuana.

Authors of a 1999 paper that promoted medication over behavioral therapy for A.D.H.D.,  in fact dismissing behavioral therapy as unnecessary in light of the apparent...

Salon.com points out that "While data point to at least some over diagnosis (of ADHD), at least in boys, the extent of this problem...

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...

It's common for children and adolescents to take prolonged "drug holidays" from their ADHD medications during summer months away from school, and there appear...

The New Republic assays into the the ripe fields of debate over the ADHD diagnosis. Article →

In an opinion piece in today's New York Times, Richard A. Friedman notes the increase of PTSD in the miliatary from .2% in 2002...

Esquire discovers that "By the time they reach high school, nearly 20 percent of all American boys will be diagnosed with ADHD. Millions of...

Street drug dealers and stimulant-peddling doctors both get clients high and addicted for profit. So there is really no difference between what they do except that doctors are more ‘successful’ at it, since they enjoy many advantages over illicit dealers and can get away with doing it legally.

"Diagnosis: Human", a New York Times op-ed, deftly and stirringly captures the paradoxes of the ADHD medication explosion: "My son was no angel (though...

-Roy Poses critically analyzes the research and concludes that "uncritical media reports that parroted drug company executives" have led to "overenthusiastic promotion of the latest wonder drug."

The Melbourne Herald Sun reports that "The prescription of some atypical antipsychotics has more than doubled . . . Psychiatrist Dr George Halasz who has been vocal about...

The abuse of ADHD drugs on college campuses has reached epidemic proportions, according to the authors of a recent review in the journal of Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. ADHD drugs, like Ritalin and Adderall, have become so commonplace on college campuses that students abusing these drugs for studying, weight loss and partying have underestimated their risks. As a result, we have seen exponential increases in emergency room visits, overdoses, and suicides by students taking these drugs.

"Sleep-focused treatment improves mood and quality of life in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," reports Psychiatric News, covering a presention by Dalhousie University researcher Penny...

A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...

In the Boston Globe, Sarah Schweitzer tells the story of a young boy brutally abused by his parents then given to his grandparents who struggled with extreme poverty and homelessness. “Researchers now understood that trauma could alter the chemistry of developing brains and disrupt the systems that help a person handle stress, propelling a perpetual state of high alert. The consequences could be lifelong. As an adult, he’d be more likely to suffer anxiety and depression and heart disease and stroke. His ability to hold a job, manage money, and make good decisions could be compromised. And there was evidence, controversial but mounting, that he could pass on these traits to his children.”

From CounterPunch: Although people are often pathologized and shamed for feeling hopeless, hopelessness is sometimes a natural reaction to an oppressive political climate. George Carlin...