Controversy on the Use of Stimulant Medication to Treat ADHD, Essay Example

The concept of ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder being more of a behavioral issue than a physiological condition has created a particular course of debate that medical and psychological experts specifically discuss about. Some experts even impose that the said situation is more neural than physiological; considering this matter, it could be analyzed how the concept of utilizing stimulants to treat the situation has been noted as a probable treatment for the said condition. Being the most commonly prescribed type of treatment for sufferers of ADHD, the NIMH [National Institute of Mental Health] specifically determines the safety of utilizing the said medication. However, just lately, studies on identifying the contribution of stimulants in the occurrence of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia among ADHD sufferers have been identified accordingly. Although it has not been confirmed yet, the condition of it being continuously used for treating ADHD has been questioned accordingly.

To be able to understand the core reason behind the issue, it is important to know what the drug is made up of and what it is actually made for. According to basic definitions, it is evident that psychoactive drugs such as stimulants are expected to stimulate the mental and physical capacities within a particular span of time. Usually, patients who are given stimulants undergo an enhancement on some of their specific functions such as being alert, remaining awake or being better in performing locomotors. The main target of stimulants is to power up the function of the central and peripheral sections of the nervous system. For sufferers of ADHD, it is most often than not used to redirect the attention of the individuals thus imposing on the better aspect of being alert and focused in their work. It is also expected to provide a practical source of balanced moods and behavior as the individuals deal with other people around them.

Sufferers of ADHD are most often than not irritable and out of focus. As seen from the definition of stimulants above, it could be analyzed how such conditions of imbalance among human individuals could be addressed by the intake of stimulants. However, stimulants could also be highly addictive; this is the reason why it has become a high concern for medical and psychological experts as to how stimulants and its specific abuse could actually result for the future of the patients. Misconception of ADHD and its existence among children at an early age has become the boiling point of such debate. Apparently, parents who see their children to be having overtly unfocused behavior and at times even damaging attitudes towards themselves and the others immediately jump into the conclusion that these children are suffering from ADHD. Behavioral therapies are then requested and at times, medication and treatment follow through along the said process; thus involving the intake of stimulants in the said condition of development. In this case, it is highly expected that patients without ADHD or who have been mistakenly diagnosed with the disorder are at a high risk of becoming abusive of stimulants given to them for medical therapy. This is the reason why experts in the field specifically require the evidence-based diagnosis that is able to identify the real existence of ADHD in an individual, especially among children. Only through this manner that the utilization of stimulants as treatment for the disorder would actually be considered practical and less dangerous to administer to the patients.

Understandably, it is the highest concern among experts today how stimulants are administered and who are being allowed to take in such administration of medication. Knowing the effects of the said substance among human individuals [both young and old] should define the need for a more constructive process of diagnosing the situations that individuals being suspected to have ADHD are suffering from. With a constant distinction on the proper application of good diagnostic practices for ADHD patients it is expected that the provision of stimulants as treatment would be given only to the right people thus treating only the right and legitimate disorders.

References:

Erkulwater, J.(2009). Medicating Children: ADHD and Pediatric Mental Health. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 146.

Dopheide, J. A. (March 16–20, 2001). “ADHD Part 1: Current Status, Diagnosis, Etiology/Pathophysiology”. American Pharmaceutical Association 148th Annual Meeting.

Cortese S, Castellanos FX (October 2012). “Neuroimaging of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: current neuroscience-informed perspectives for clinicians“. Curr Psychiatry Rep 14 (5): 568–78.

Denney, CB (March 2001). “Stimulant effects in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: theoretical and empirical issues”. J Clin Child Psychol 30 (1): 98–109.