For more information, including links to the scientific evidence base for the statements in this video, as well as further resources:
You the adhd story has a several threads one is the threat of just creating a market for these drugs and what you can see is starting from 1980 when the american psychiatric association published its dsm 3 they create this diagnosis and then with successive editions they make it easier to diagnose that’s one you just use it you have a diagnostic place 2 you have
People like joseph peterman saying it’s under-diagnosed and undertreated and if you don’t treat them these kids will do poorly and when they grow up that’s becomes the scientific story and then 3 the drugs do do a change in behavior at least over the short term that school teachers like the kids will maybe focus more intently on a certain task they’ll talk less
So engage less socially ok so you can see those three coming together in order to sort of create an increased use of this diagnosis increase use of stimulants the tragedy of the adhd story is is there any evidence that this benefits kids long term even in the early 1990s after a decade of doing this you’ll see the american psychiatric association saying we’re
Actually not seeing any benefits in school achievement we’re not seeing reductions in delinquency rates and we’re not seeing improvements in sort of job functioning once they graduate so they do a study called the mta study funded by the nih and since this is the first real important study of adhd that’s ever been done and this will help guide our care of use of
Stimulants what happened in that study was actually biased by design against behavioral therapy but ignore that for a second after 14 months they said the adh the kids that were medicated by experts had a little greater reduction in adhd symptoms than anybody else and we’re doing a little better on reading and that became the evidence base for long-term use of
Stimulants okay it’s still cited today the 14 month results but that study continued here’s what the rule researchers wrote that by the end of three year three being on medication was a marker of deterioration not at the end of six years the kids on medication had worse adhd symptoms and had some functional impairment problems and also they found increased risk of
Being diagnosed with another psychiatric disorder so what do you have from the study that was meant to to assess whether you should be medicating these kids poor long-term results some sort of minor benefit of 14 months which that witch study has cited today as parents try to figure out the 14 months study they never stunt sight the long-term data there’s just a
New article out in norwegian journal psychiatry they reviewed all the evidence they said there’s just no evidence that this helps kids grow up none so why are we prescribing these drugs to kids because there’s the belief it helps kids is the academic achievement there’s it does there’s a market for them and and finally that does cause kids to behave differently
At least over the short term in a way that teachers like that’s the story you
Transcribed from video
The Tragedy of ADHD and Stimulants — Robert Whitaker, Journalist By Medicating NormalliveBroadcastDetails{isLiveNowfalsestartTimestamp2019-12-29T000010+0000endTimestamp2019-12-29T000529+0000}
