Panorama on ADHD
The next edition of Panorama (Monday 12 November at 8.30pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ ONE) tackles the subject of ADHD. Half a million children in the UK are said to have this behavioural disorder, and at least 55,000 of them are treated with powerful medication. Last year, the NHS spent £28 million on drugs for ADHD alone. Reporter Shelley Jofre reveals that after a decade of rocketing prescription rates, new research shows that giving children drugs works no better, in the long term, than doing nothing. The programme contains powerful family video of 14 year old Craig Buxton from Stoke on Trent, who has been on medication for ADHD since he was five. He's still troubled by powerful outbursts of rage and as the film shows - not much has changed in his behaviour in the nine years since he last featured on Panorama.
Keep an eye on the for more details - and if this is a topic of particular interest and concern to you, be sure to visit our own Ouch! Parents board to talk about it, share experiences and seek advice.
Comments
My child has been medicated fir adhd since February 2005.
They work for herb BUT only in conjunction with behavioural support strategies put into place by us, her parents.
I will try and watch this programme tonight even though your description of it makes me want to tune out - too much negative media around adhd - most of it from people who do not have to live with it every day of their lives.
J:)x
I agree with JM - there is way too much negativity reported on adhd ...
My 19 year old son has add ... he was medicated from age 13-17 (he is now on no medication). He is now a qualified carpenter, has never been in trouble with the law, is not into drugs etc and in fact is way more sensible than many of his non-adhd friends of the same age!!
My first piece of literature on this subject was SO NEGATIVE ... it told me that due to add/adhd he was way more likely to be expelled from school, end up in Jail etc.etc.... If I had believed all of that I could have ended up losing my faith in him ..
but I never did ... and he has made me very proud of him!! ..
I too will watch this programme but I sincerely hope it isn't too negative ..
I have an issue with ADHD.
My child the eldest of four 9yr,7yr then just 4yr and just 2yrs.All four children have been dairy and soya intollerent.This has been proven in hospital with each child by blood tests.It was a very lenghty process with my first as it was not as recognised nearly ten years ago as it is now.He does have a concerntration issue,however i feel DYSLEXIA is more of an issue than ADHD he is not being taught correctly at school and therefor there is an overlap between symptoms.We had him and his 7yr old sister privateky tested this summer and they are both proven to be dyslexic.Our eldests has also worn glasses for Irlams.We do regular nightly homework ,however this seems to go unrecognised!On top of this we have paid for a weekly tutor fot nearly the last five years which is more or less from Reception Class.We are and have been with an EDUCATION PHSYCOLOGIST for two years.Her response to teacher parent and child meetings is lengthy and unresponsive,wishing us to reiterate basic phonics and speech therepy of which was reassed in school 18months ago and found not be an issue by speech and language so therefore dismissed.MY CHILD NEEDS STATEMENTING I HAVE I PRIVATE DIAGNOIS WE ARE THREE QUATERS OF THE AY THROUGH A PRIVATE REFERALL WITH A SENIOR PEADERATRIC DR FROM ALDERHEY WITH REGARD TO ADHD.
HOW DO I CHALLENGE MY CHILDS EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS,HIS SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER IS ALSO IN RECOGNITION OF THIS.SHE IS A WHIRL WHIND BUT HER TIME IS LIMITED,WE HAVE TO GET STATEMENTED.
UNFORTUNATELY WE WERE FINISHING READING AND I CAUGHT THE LAST FIVE MINUTES OF PANORAMA.
IS THERE A SITE I CAN REWATCH TONIGHTS PROGRAM PLEASE
FROM
A TRUELY FRUSTRATED PARENT
Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a form of speed and is in the most addictive class of drugs in medical use and yet this dangerous psychotic is doled out like sweets to our children.
Chronic use can lead to dependence with degrees of abnormal behavior. Direct effects: insomnia, hypersensitivity, skin rash, fever, nausea, dizziness, abnormal pain, weight loss and toxic psychosis have been reported during prolonged use.
Once on one has to come off and withdrawal from this type of drug can be horrific. believe me on this one I have done it. Five years of hell . I am an adult but I am not sure a child would be strong enough to do it. Careful supervision is required during drug withdrawal, since severe depression as well as the effects of chronic over activity can be noticed.
No one should be given this type of drug. Not enough is known about it. If Ritalin was Thamidalide which damaged some unborn children it would be taken off the market immediately. Because it is a major psychotic and although it is known to harm at least 2.5% of people who take it , it is allowed to be prescribed because the psychiatrists feel it may help the majority. So 2.5% have to suffer even to the point of their death.
No wonder the little boy shown in the Panorama programme is manic. Anyone would be on Ritalin. It is not his fault. He has been let down by his doctors and drug companies who ought to know better
I'm a 25 year old man whio has suffered from severe ADHD sinse i was 3. I have been medicated with Ritalin,Equasym and Concerta XL. Out of all of these tablets the only thing thats ever worked for me is cannabis. It not only takes away the frustration but allows me to think free of all stress clearly. over the last 7 years i have battled with drugs and booze,in a feeble attempt to end the ADHD and my attemps were feeble. All i succeded in doing was making it worse,i lost 4 stone and hurt alot of close people to me. What i'm trying to say is that a person with ADHD will proberbly take nigh on drastic measure's to to try and find a happy medium. This is the side that many parents will not see or just ignore.Anyway, Concerta made me feel as though i was a zombie the Ritalin made me feel as though i have taken half a gram of speed! and the Equasym are just as bad as the Concerta for making me feel like a zombie.
Is this really want people want for their children? A nation of zombie's?
ADHD kids have alot of energy, this isn't something to be taken lightly as the energy can be let out in more ways than one. ADHD is still well mis-understood and there's too much contraversy surronding it, stuff contraversy more should be done. If there was help around 10 years ago then maybe some of us would have had a better start in life. Mike.
Euphobia - My son had no problems stopping Concerta (slow release ritalin). It was never ever addictive to him ... whilst he was on it he took it Monday-Friday and then happily came off at weekends with no problems at all .... When he stopped it completely again it was just as easy as stopping taking a vitamin tablet!! ... These meds are NOT addictive in prescription sized doses and do not in any way equate to the speed which is sold on the streets .... and in fact are NOT speed at all !! ... (contrary to "some" propoganda out there) ... they are made from Ritalin which has been tried and tested for well over 40 years ...
There is also a lot of evidence to suggest that taking this medication prevents kids from looking for "alternative medication" i.e. the street drugs.
As for the programme I found it interesting ... although I personally think that the 14 year old boy they featured had a lot more going on than just plain adhd !! ... in which case he shouldn't have been taking ritalin at all!! (IMHO) ... since Ritalin can make many other things (such as bipolar etc worse!).. and I (personally) think this could be a case of that !
This program was very very poor! It failed to take in to consideration all the facts and investigations into the long term benefits of medicating ADHD! It has the potential to mislead parents via its one sided approach! This opinion about the program is echoed across the net in forums by people who have experience of ADHD.
For example, what happened to the the research that ADHD reduced long term potential for drug abuse?:
(https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/664.html)
(https://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_notes/NNVol14N4/ADHD.html)
I, myself was treated with concerta, and can safely say that the drug works fine after four year with no decline in its effectiveness over that time!
I have ADHD and speak from experience when I say its a chemical condition, and people that say you can treat it with behavioural therapy alone are not speaking from a position of realism! They are ignorant in a way, and don't understand what its like to have ADHD. Correcting ADHD isn't just about learning to behave in a different way, its about what is felt inside that is making a child behave they way they do, and that can be hard to cope with believe me!
The long release drugs are not addictive if the right ones are chosen, I can come off my drugs without any withdrawal or ill affects.
The child featured in the program was an atypical case and the program got it wrong about GP proscribing concerta/Ritalin, they don't; qualified psychologists proscribe the drug carefully and then the GP administer it!
This program was really very very bad, and used obviously flawed logic:
It was said in the program that there was no evidence that medicating children with ADHD in the long run would help, however, its perfectly obvious that if a child was medicated during a period of vital learning, in which, if that child were not medicated they would perform very badly, that child would gain a LASTING benefit from having the medication administered during that phase in their life.
The fact that not everyone reacts well to the drug is true, as some people have other conditions at play that can affect how the drug performs. For example, when someone has bi-polar (often mistaken for ADHD), the child can have a mania like the one on the program, when they are given concerta/ Ritalin!
The program could easily leave the impression that a high proportion of children that take medication for ADHD have mania brought on by the medication - and this is very misleading to parents that want the best for their children!
I would urge any parents not to follow the advice in this program, and instead to seek professional advice about the condition, its treatment and the true effectiveness of those treatments!
"Ritalin (dimethylglyoxime ) is a form of speed and is in the most addictive class of drugs in medical use and yet this dangerous psychotic is doled out like sweets to our children.
"
I'm sure you feel strongly that children should not be taking drugs you associate with drugs of abuse, but most of what you have written in not accurate at all I'm afraid:
Firstly, they don't dole out these medications like sweets, they are highly controlled and only proscribed by a qualified psychologist (NOT GP s). The drug has not be known to be addictive in its prescription doses, indeed - it has been shown to reduce the long term possibility of drug abuse in ADHD sufferers, not increase it.
All the negative affects you referred to are extremely rare, and under the supervision that is always present when this drug is given, it is unlikely they will have the chance to occur, in fact Ritalin is chemically different to speed and has a lower abuse potential, particularly when administered in slow release tablets.
There is hardly ever been any cases of the terrible withdrawal symptoms you mentioned when people stop the long release versions of the medication.
Plenty is known about the drug, since it has been used to treat ADHD since the 50's. And the little boy on panorama was atypical of an ADHD sufferer.
There are plenty of people that benefit in the long run from this treatment, unfortunately there are also plenty of people that fall victim to an irrational media sensationalist association between medical drugs under supervision that have been shown to help and hard drugs of abuse, there is hardly any comparison!
I would strongly advice people that they seek medical advice from qualified psychologists and ignore everything else!