For ADHD, It's Better to Teach Skills Than Prescribe Pills, Meta-Analysis Shows

Hmmmm ... remember everyone.... Im the one who coined the term that ADHD should more accurately be called TBS... Typical Boy Syndrom.... treatment is not drugs, but proper teaching and discipline techniques.

Dr. Fabiano; Your article infuriates me! I am a 62 year-old Masters level psychologist who has ADHD Combined Type and I still take Ritalin. My job is with the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Children's Mental Health. What is wrong with medication AND!!! behavioral techniques. I have known of so many children who are victims of parents reading about the "dangers, the ill-effects" of medication and the result is a severely handicapped child, especially in school. Please do not further this myth that medication is bad for ADHD!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A very disgruntled psychologist

"Hmmmm ... remember everyone.... Im the one who coined the term that ADHD should more accurately be called TBS... Typical Boy Syndrom.... treatment is not drugs, but proper teaching and discipline techniques."

I'll be blunt. You sound like, and probably are, a moron.

Dr. Fabiano; Your article infuriates me! I am a 62 year-old Masters level psychologist who has ADHD Combined Type and I still take Ritalin. My job is with the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Children's Mental Health. What is wrong with medication AND!!! behavioral techniques. I have known of so many children who are victims of parents reading about the "dangers, the ill-effects" of medication and the result is a severely handicapped child, especially in school. Please do not further this myth that medication is bad for ADHD!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A very disgruntled psychologist

So just because you don't have side effects you think they are all imaginary? Do you think drug companies add false warnings to their own medication?

There is also another problem with your point of view - you can just as well claim that ALL children and adults are handicapped since everyone's cognitive abilities improve while on ritalin. So maybe it would be best to add it to drinking water?

A condition which affects 5% of the population and does not have any adverse health effects is not really a disorder any more then an IQ 80 is.

Dr. Fabiano; Your article infuriates me! I am a 62 year-old Masters level psychologist who has ADHD Combined Type and I still take Ritalin. My job is with the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Children's Mental Health. What is wrong with medication AND!!! behavioral techniques. I have known of so many children who are victims of parents reading about the "dangers, the ill-effects" of medication and the result is a severely handicapped child, especially in school. Please do not further this myth that medication is bad for ADHD!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A very disgruntled psychologist

So just because you don't have side effects you think they are all imaginary? Do you think drug companies add false warnings to their own medication?



There is also another problem with your point of view - you can just as well claim that ALL children and adults are handicapped since everyone's cognitive abilities improve while on ritalin. So maybe it would be best to add it to drinking water?



A condition which affects 5% of the population and does not have any adverse health effects is not really a disorder any more then an IQ 80 is.

I think you are missing the point of his post. He wasn't claiming that there aren't really any side effects, but rather for children and adults whose lives are adversely affected by ADHD the benefits outweigh the risks. Also your statement that everyone's cognitive ability improves on ritalin is wrong as well. Several studies have shown that stimulants do not improve IQ at all. They simply allow a person to focus long enough for their natural intelligence to be useful.

Finally, he was not advocating the use of medication instead of behavioral therapy. He was advocating the continued use of both which is what almost every expert in the field recommends. This meta study isn't actually news. Researchers have known for a long time that behavioral therapy can be very effective for people with ADHD; they have also known for quite a while that most people benefit even more from a combined approach which this study doesn't seem to address. In my experience which is purely anecdotal medication should only be introduced after puberty. Before puberty parents should rely on training and therapy.

"Hmmmm ... remember everyone.... Im the one who coined the term that ADHD should more accurately be called TBS... Typical Boy Syndrom.... treatment is not drugs, but proper teaching and discipline techniques."







I'll be blunt. You sound like, and probably are, a moron.

Why would you call me a moron, It is you who needs education. I have dealt with kids for a long time, simply put, normal kids are put on these drugs because parents and teachers dont want to put in the time or effort it takes to effectively teach and discipline these kids. I have seen a study which shows that if teachers are told that kids that they think are ADHD are placed on drugs, even though they werent, that the teachers perception of the kids behavior changes. These drugs are mind altering and therefore need to be used very carefully if at all for kids.

My guess is that you have a child and you feel guilty about giving your son (just a guess) the drugs. Some other guesses about you and your family:

Both you and the mother work,
The family situation is unstable,
You are a liberal,
You have are or have taken legal or illigal mind altering drugs.
Your kid is in public school,

If you want to give your kid drugs, you have every right to do so, as I feel every parent has the right to destroy their kids. You even have the right to call me a moron. But you are the one who is wrong. Statistically speaking and from my experience and observation kids from difficult home environments are the ones diagnosed with ADHD more often. Yet everyone denies that home environment has anything to do with ADHD.

Dr. Fabiano; Your article infuriates me! I am a 62 year-old Masters level psychologist who has ADHD Combined Type and I still take Ritalin. My job is with the State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Children's Mental Health. What is wrong with medication AND!!! behavioral techniques. I have known of so many children who are victims of parents reading about the "dangers, the ill-effects" of medication and the result is a severely handicapped child, especially in school. Please do not further this myth that medication is bad for ADHD!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



A very disgruntled psychologist

I have seen a kid who had disciple problems put on these drugs. What happened is that the kid still had discipine problems, but now was doped up, and the life zapped out of him.



If you really are a Doctor, you are one that I would stay away from. All the years you have been on Ritalin has damaged your thinking skills. Very few kids need these drugs, most kids need teachers who are willing to adapt to the childs needs not drugging a child to meet the teachers needs.

The risk to the child in using these drugs is that these are mind altering drugs given to kids whos brain is developing. Is it not better to have teachers and parents adapt to their kids, and then teach the kids how to use their personalities in the best possible way?

Disgruntled thefronz,
Maybe if you got off the drugs you wouldn't be so angry. The kickbacks from drug companies are the hardest thing to quit cold turkey...
I've had ADHD my whole life and have managed quite well without Ritalin. There's always a three-ring circus going on in my head, but if I turned it off with drugs I wouldn't be me anymore. I would only be what you want me to be. No thanks.

Let the circus continue...

Mike