Study: Adderall Doesn't Help Kids Get Better Grades

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/02/study-adderall-doesnt-help-kids-get-better-grades/283841/

?n0zvol

***SNIP

When the researchers in that study asked parents and teachers to evaluate ADHD children’s scholastic performance before and after medication, they found that though the children’s grades stayed the same, adults believed they improved, reports Nature.



Worse, parents’ and teachers’ inclinations to mistake manageability for academic improvement could actually be exacerbating children’s academic problems. A recently published long-term study of ADHD medication in Quebec (pdf, p. 25, registration required) found that, despite consistent Ritalin dosages, there was “little overall improvement in outcomes” in the short term—and in the long term, more of these kids dropped out of school and reported unhappiness.

“By making children less disruptive, ADHD medication could decrease the attention that they receive in the average classroom and reduce the probability that the child receives other needed services,” wrote the study’s authors.

Again, that’s just a possibility. But as Princeton economist Janet Currie, one of the study authors, told Nature, the tendency of adults to overlook struggling students who seem to be doing okay might explain why medicated students in her study ended up performing worse than their distracted-yet-unmedicated classmates.

[sorefeet]

1. Well, the meth heads love them

around here. They have even talked the town quack into writing prescriptions for them.

[Packerowner740]

2. Our society is over medicated

What did we ever do back in the 50s, 60s and seventies without medication for our add kids?

[Brickbat]

4. In Mr. Brickbat's case, he didn't get into a college he really should have, and didn't finish his

degree. He now self-medicates with extensive amounts of coffee. He has talked to his parents and our doctor about his suspicions, and all agree he probably should have been screened in childhood, and his outcome -- while he is currently a successful person -- would have been different.

[JoeyT]

7. In the 50s?

They were treated with stimulants, same as now. It wasn't called ADD or ADHD, but it was basically the same.

Prior to that? We ignored the minor cases and sent the more serious ones to institutions to be beaten, tortured, and sometimes lobotomized. Prior to that? It was considered a moral failing and the parents were instructed to beat them until they behaved.

[ananda]

3. I wonder how aware people are of the dangers of Adderall...

... especially for kids.

[kcr]

5. This was one study from the 70s

I don't think this means adderall doesn't work. These single studies that come out do not mean instant paradigm shift, but that doesn't stop our media. Same thing with the study that recently hit the news about mammograms that got everyone in a tizzy. It was based on data from the 80's. Imagery has improved vastly since then, and mammograms are still recommended.

[jsr]

6. “This is a concoction to justify medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/health/the-selling-of-attention-deficit-disorder.html
The Selling of Attention Deficit Disorder
The Number of Diagnoses Soared Amid a 20-Year Drug Marketing Campaign
By ALAN SCHWARZ | December 14, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/30/health/adhd-experts-re-evaluate-studys-zeal-for-drugs.html
December 29, 2013
A.D.H.D. Experts Re-evaluate Study’s Zeal for Drugs
By ALAN SCHWARZ

[Jesus Malverde]

8. I heard it's the closest thing/feeling to doing coke.

From urban dict...

Adderalls an addicting supplement used to cure the symptoms of ADD.I started taking adderall in the 11th grade.I was failing out of school not atending and blaming it on because "I cant concentrate."

You start taking them by mouth and let me tell you it feels great.But then you cant stop,I started railing them.I did lines in the bathroom of my work everyday.whenever you don't have you don;t even wanna get out bed,something as simple as going to the bathroom is hard.But you still cant stop because your brain depends on it to make you energy.You could sleep for 3 days and you still feel like shit cause you ran out of your pills.

If your reading this and want to experiment with adderall dont do it,you might as well be a coke head.Its not something im proud of but take my word.Im broke my girlfriend left me and i still cant stop.