Lots of parents ask why it is necessary to medicate a mental disorder such as ADHD! Especially when the medications in question are psychostimulant drugs . The main ingredients are a cocktail of amphetamines and dextroamphetamine. To medicate or not to medicate ..... that is the question which has plagued parents for a long time.

But, and it is a very BIG but, amphetamines are addictive. they became widely popular in the 1930s and they were enormously popular in treating ashtma, hay fever. Later they were used for depression, epilepsy, obesity and a host of other conditions. The GIs were given them for fatigue during WWII and asked for them when they got back home. Newer, safer types of drugs like Valium and Librium were prescribed in the 1960s for depression and anxiety and enjoyed a new nickname of 'mother's helpers' among housewives !.

There are also innummerable problems (apart from the side effects listed below) with giving such drugs to our children. As these are mind altering drugs they stimulate the brain for a few hours and are thus called 'uppers'. It is when the child 'crashes' as the effects wear off, that causes even more problems.

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Research bodies now tell us  ( frankly !) that up to 20% of teenagers on ADD drugs  will become drug users and abuse substances themselves. Partly because they are addictive as I said above but also because they have a ready supply in that they may not have used up all their ADHD meds. They are lying around at home and they fetch a good price on the drugs market.  The phenomenon is widespread in Western Australia ( as indeed in the USA) where the so- called 'dexies' can sell for about $2 a tablet. In the USA, prescription meds are sold on the college parking lot and is called 'shopping' or 'pharming'. There is a very casual atttude to the misuse of these substances because as they are 'medicines' (sic !), then the whole thing seems a bit safer and even has an air of respectability about it !  

Doctors widely prescribe the following drugs for ADHD - Ritalin, Clonidine, Adderall, Risperdal, Strattera and Dexadrine are the most well known.

Children have to be monitored for heart problems before being rpescribed these drugs as there is a risk of 'cardiovascular events ' (ie heart attacks) if they are predisposed for this sort of problem.

The other side effects are very well known. You can look up any of the numerous ADHD blogs to get an idea of some of them :-

* Weight loss

*Insomnia

* Irritability

* Stunted growth

* Hallucinations

*Suicidal Thoughts 

Experts in the field of ADHD such as Dr. Gregory Fabiano and William Pelham sustain that ADHD drugs are not the definitive answer and that the only effective and long lasting treatment is behavior modification.

Watch the video below and see how the Total Transfromation Program can change your child's life and your life for the better.

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