Did you know that amphetamine drugs such as Dexedrine, Adderall and Dextrostat have been approved for children of three years and upwards? I cannot believe that such drugs could be used on a three year old.
Could this be the best treatment for ADHD at such a tender age? Given that one in 16 children has ADHD and that more and more children are being diagnosed earlier, this is alarming news as treatments for ADHD are mostly psychostimulants and nothing else.
Is this the best we can do? According to the blurb on the box, amphetamines can reduce restlessness in hyperactive patients or who cannot concentrate or might have unstable emotions.
Have you ever seen a three year concentrate and what is his attention span supposed to be anyway? As for unstable moods, I cannot see how on earth one would establish whether the mood of a three year old was stable or not! Are these the only treatments for ADHD we can offer in the third millennium? Raising the age limit The second thing which strikes me is that the drug companies recommend that this treatment with their mind altering drug should form part of a wider treatment plan which includes social, psychological and educational elements.
Even at six years, this would be difficult.
Experts are now saying that the minimum age at which ADHD might be considered as a mental condition should be raised to 7 years.
This will probably be one of the new features of the DSM Edition V which is due to be published in 2013.
Behavior modification is the key So, what is the best treatment for ADHD? Most experts now agree that some form of behavior modification must be an integral part of any treatment.
Doctors at the Center for ADHD at Cincinnati Hospital have discovered that after children were treated with the psychostimulants, there was no improvement at all in their grades at school.
It just goes to show that pills cannot teach skills.
That can also be applied to behavior and that is the key.
Behavior issues will never be taught or learnt by swallowing an amphetamine pill.
What is the best treatment for ADHD? It is a behavior modification program as the first option.
It may be combined with some form of medication but that medication must not destroy the health and well being of a child.
The best treatment for ADHD which will do that is a homeopathic one.
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