A lot of my friends take medicine to help them concentrate because of their ADD (Attention deficit disorder) or ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). They either take adderall or
vyvanse. I have asked them what the medicene does to them and every time I get the same response. “It makes me focus” or “I don’t it just makes me do well in school”. And now that I am at Penn State it seems like every other person has “ADD” and takes these pills. So that got me thinking about ADD and what the disease consists of.
After doing research about ADD I found out that ADD is caused by a chemical imbal
ance in someones brain. There is an imbalance in the neurotransmitters which control how people behave. A study by The National Institute of Mental Health showed that the brain uses glucose at a slower rate in people who have ADD and ADHD. This is a problem because glucose is the main fuel for the brain. So if the brain is not getting its fuel it can lead to issues in school and other formal situations. Since the disease is neurological scientist know that it is not caused by a boring teacher or bad parenting. Since the disease affects the brain how does a pill suddenly turn a hyper kid into a scholar?
Most ADD medicine is a stimulant. It seems weird to treat a hyperactivity disorder with a stimulant but studies done by the NIMH have shown that the stimulants actually have a calming affect on kids who have ADD and ADHD. Although ADD is a real disease I think that when a parent sends their child in to get tested variations of the sharp shooter issue arise. This happens because in todays society as soon as something is wrong with a child their parents assume they are sick and in need of help.
An MTA experiment tested around 300 children around the country who were diagnosed with ADHD. The children were split into 4 different groups and each group got a different treatment for their ADHD. The first group was given pills to see if they would change the child’s behavior. The first month the scientists used a double blind placebo to see how the child acted. Once this was over the kids got different variations of medicine treat their ADHD. The second group got behavioral training to treat the ADHD. It consisted of a combination of group sessions and individual meetings to teach the child and their families was to treat the ADHD. The third group got a combination of medicine and behavioral training. And the final group got community care. In this case the child’s parents looked for resources available in their community to help with the ADHD. This experiment worked well because the sample size was large enough to not be offset by a confounding variable. Also the children were taken from all across the country so they are subjected to different family lifestyles and environments. The double blind placebo also strengthened the study because it showed how a child acted when they thought they were taking medicine. This study showed that each treatment was helpful in combating the ADHD. The study also showed that each child responded differently to the treatments which is a reason why there are so many different ways to treat ADD.
Works Cited:
http://www.add-adhd.org/ADHD_attention-deficit.html
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml#part3
http://www.helpforadd.com/mta-study/
I actually never knew the difference between ADD and ADHD, and I don’t think there is a big difference. My friend suffers from minor ADHD and he takes pills daily to help regulate his attention span. He says it does help him focus easier in school and do all his work, but there are many drawbacks he says as well. He says that he doesn’t get hungry sometimes, one time going three days without eating a full meal. Did you read anything about that? I’m also curious to know if everyone has a little bit of ADD or ADHD in them, because I’ve highly considered it in myself! This article sort of confused me with that question: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/may-i-have-your-attention/201209/everybody-has-adhd-no-they-dont
Great post!
I am glad you wrote about this topic! I feel like more and more people are being diagnosed with ADD every year. It is a bit concerning. It is very common for high school students and college students to take Adderall even when they are not diagnosed with ADD. This is more dangerous for students than they might think. They can easily become addicted to the drug without even knowing it. Addiction is very serious and although many students would not even link adderall with addiction is possible and more common than people think. It is very important that students do not take these drugs unless they are prescribed for them. http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/366
I have read several places that there has been an increase in the cases of ADD and ADHD in the past few years. More cases means more prescription drugs out on the market. These days it seems pretty easy for a teenager to get prescribed adderall or vyvanse because “they can’t focus”. These study pills definitely make their presence known at colleges. Many people who are not prescribed the pills take them anyway to study for a test or to get a lot of work done. I never knew the true science behind ADD and ADHD and how the brain was effected. Its strange how a stimulant can make kids focus and make them relax, but hey thats science.