Benefits of ADHD Medication Essay Example

Many misconceptions exist regarding medication of children with ADHD. ADHD is a condition that renders children almost uncontrollable in every facet of their lives. In this case, there is a need to control behavior whereby medication can be of great help to the respective persons. One misconception comes with the diagnosis regarding the condition whereby some medications such as psychostimulants are thought to determine whether a child has the condition or not (Ko, 2017).

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Moreover, the presupposed drugging through the taking of the drugs is seen to be associated with the medicines for the ADHD treatment. Such misconceptions bring about confusion among the parent regarding the treatment of the condition. Another misconception is the notion that there is overdiagnosis of the ADHD through the many drugs present in the market. Furthermore, there are others of the opinion that medications do not work after puberty. Such misconceptions are not only dangerous but also misguiding particularly if they are not accurately true. Since the condition comes with a lot of pain, some medicines have been found to ease the pain. The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) condition can, therefore, influence every aspect of a child's life particularly their behaviors, social interaction, and even education. A parent seeing such difficulties in their children may opt for alternative methods which may still work, but medications are the best approach in dealing with the condition.

Other alternatives seem better than medicine include the change of diet sufficient to alleviate the condition together with behavioral therapy. Behavior therapy entails rewards, which children receive when they show exceptional behavior or avoid undesirable actions. Moreover, parents can focus on the nutrition of their children and not necessarily on medications. Such control of behavior is not enough as the child usually has the different bouts, which may not help the situation since in some cases the child may get into trouble. Changes in diet play an important role in lessening various symptoms in children mainly those who have allergies. Certain foods, in this case, may worsen the condition of a child and ensuring that they are removed from the diet helps in mitigating the condition (Pelsser et al., 2017). Many children lack access to a balanced diet, particularly where there are a lot of snacks and fast foods. Various foods that have essential nutrients include healthy fats, protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables among others. Many foods have artificial coloring, which affects children chiefly in boosting hyperactivity. Various additives in food alter attention in children, and thus parents should be on the watch out regarding certain processed products. Therefore concentrating on the diet is quite important since it enables reduced on manufactured products that can bring about attention disorders or hyperactivity in children. As a result, behavior therapy and diet become important alternatives in dealing with ADHD in children apart from medication.

The benefits of using medication remove the misconceptions available particularly since they improve on a person's concentration and raise their ability to manage their behavior. ADHD has many symptoms, which are lessened particularly with medication. Some of the signs that are alleviated by the medicines include concentration difficulties and reduced frustration tolerance among others. The drugs are made to deal with the specific varieties of ADHD, which further increases their effectiveness in managing the disease. As such, children have properly defined medications as opposed to alternatives like foods and other forms of mitigating the ADHD condition (Flood et al., 2016). In this case, the misconceptions that people are drugged when using the medicines become erroneous if the patients use the drugs in the required dosage. The benefit of the medication is thus it helps the person to be in control of behavior and thus prevents undesirable actions. Parents should take into consideration that the effective use of any drug will lead to desired results. As such, they should focus on giving their children medicine according to dosage and ensure that the abuse of drugs does not take place to ensure that they benefit from the drugs.

Another benefit of medication in ADHD children or persons is the short-acting nature of the stimulants. The medicines, in this case, do not remain in the body for as long as they are eliminated after a day. Another advantage is that the drugs do not remain active when the person stops taking medication. Once the drug is cleared out of the body or the dosage, stops the related side effects stop altogether (Hwang & Bhang, 2017). Thus, children can still have their appetites and normally sleep after a day. Many studies show that the use of medication is quite effective in dealing with ADHD for a long time. The comparison of the different treatments found out that treatment using stimulants were more effective than behavioral therapy. In this case, the children who were on medication had fewer or reduced symptoms when compared to those lacing the medication.

Moreover, the reduction symptoms further help in reducing undesirable consequences such as crimes and further bringing about the high self-esteem of the children or adults which further decreases failure in the studies of the children together with alleviating anxiety and depression. Most teens who do not receive great treatment from the condition usually are at risk of engaging in risky behavior like premature sex together with abusing drugs. Such activities can lead to bad results in their lives, and thus the medications play an important role in both the children and their future together with the society where they live in.

Conclusion

It is quite important to note on the use of medication in treating ADHD. The different medications are quite important in managing ADHD. More people, in this case, benefit from the use of the drug through regular dosages, which help control their behavior. Though research is being done regarding the long-term effects, the drugs have proved effective in ensuring that children have a positive outlook on life. Children, in this case, develop better since their erratic behaviors are controlled largely specifically when the parents monitor their medication closely. As such, the benefits of medications in preventing undesirable behavior together with decreasing lessening side effects through the short times they are in the body system. Parents, in this case, will have more benefits for children who will be able to obey the instructions given to them and further develop normally (Wehmeier, Dittmann, &Banaschewski, 2015). As a result, parents should consider using medication to ensure that their children have better behavior and perform better in their undertakings mainly education, which mostly determines the future, they will have.

References

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Flood, E., Gajria, K., Sikirica, V., Dietrich, C. N., Romero, B., Harpin, V., ...& Chen, K. (2016). The Caregiver Perspective on Paediatric ADHD (CAPPA) survey: understanding sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, treatment use and impact of ADHD in Europe.Journal of affective disorders, 200, 222-234.

Hwang, J. W., & Bhang, S. Y. (2017). 6.20 Factors That Affect the Adherence to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Medications During a Treatment Continuation Period in Children and Adolescents: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study Using Korean Health Insurance Data From 2007 to 2011. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(10), S283.

Ko, M. (2017). 6.25 Medication Adherence Monitoring in Pediatric and Young Adult Populations on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Stimulant Medications.Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(10), S284-S285.

Medscape Education | Multispecialty. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.medscape.org

Pelsser, L. M., Frankena, K., Toorman, J., & Pereira, R. R. (2017).Diet and ADHD, reviewing the evidence: A systematic review of meta-analyses of double-blind placebo-controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of diet interventions on the behavior of children with ADHD.PloS one, 12(1), e0169277.

Wehmeier, P. M., Dittmann, R. W., &Banaschewski, T. (2015). Treatment compliance or medication adherence in children and adolescents on ADHD medication in clinical practice: results from the COMPLY observational study. ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders, 7(2), 165-174.