ADHD's Hardest Question - Should I Medicate My ADHD Child?

ADHD's Hardest Question - Should I Medicate My ADHD Child?
by Tess Messer

I work in health care. I see patients every day with uncontrolled high blood pressure,
uncontrolled high cholesterol, and uncontrolled high blood sugar. Many of these
patients have not even tried to control their diseases with life style modifications.
Many of them continue to eat poorly, never exercise, and have made no
modifications to their lifestyles to try and control their medical problems. Many other
of these patients are doing EVERYTHING possible to keep their disease in check and
despite their best efforts are still seeing laboratory values and blood pressures that
are dangerously high.

The individuals described above should all be started on medications to control their
dangerous medical problems. For those patients who are unwilling to try lifestyle
modifications, medication is needed because these problems lead to great illness and
even death and without medication, these individuals will have a very poor quality of
life. For those patients who have tried everything and are still not controlled,
medication is needed for the very same reason.

I think that for ADHD we are required to take the same approach for ourselves and
for our kids. We need to exhaust every lifestyle modification measure available to
control the symptoms of ADHD. If we succeed with lifestyle measures, we will need
to stay vigilant and not stray from our daily regimen. If we do not succeed with these
modifications or are unwilling to try lifestyle modifications, we should seek medication.

ADHD causes low self-esteem, squelches the attainment of our full potential as
individuals, and isolates us because we can be difficult people to be around. While
none of these things will kill us like say diabetes or hypertension might, they can
make our lives sad and miserable. Studies done on young males indicate that the
rate of suicide is increased when there is a diagnosis of ADHD. Whether this is related
to the comorbidities of depression and Bipolar Disorder is unknown but the
imperative to medicate in these cases is still the same. Daily medication is never our
first choice. It is, however, our last resort because our lives and the lives or our
children may very well depend on it.

About The Author

Tess Messer

For more information on Primarily Inattentive ADHD please visit Tess Messer at
. There you will find
information on ADHD symptoms, ADHD treatment, alternatives to medications,
Information on ADHD vitamins and supplements and much more. Looking forward to
meeting you there!!

I think that anyone with ADHD would
choose to manage his or her disease
without medication if that were
possible. I think that there is not a
parent worth their weight in salt that
would give their kid a pill every day if
it were not necessary. There are
behavioral interventions and dietary
interventions that have been found to
help ADHD and classroom
modifications have also proved to be
very helpful for children with ADHD.
Parents are obliged to exhaust other
avenues of treatment before
resorting to a 'pill' cure. A 'pill' cure
however is sometimes inevitable.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The content on
this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician before using natural
remedies and before making any drastic changes to your diet or exercise program.