We see that parents are worried about the use of drugs for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, which is the most common patient group among childhood psychiatric diseases, although not intensely.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; having organic origin, that is, caused by insufficient stimulation of the relevant parts of the brain, not working; In fact, it is a problem that starts in the mother’s womb, not later. In solving this problem, child and adolescent psychiatrists, who are medical doctors, know where and how the problem originates, how the drugs given affect what kind of change it creates.
However, sometimes there is a prejudice against drugs because we do not adequately explain these mechanisms to parents. This bias is also due to the fact that the patient group is children and the drugs given are psychiatric drugs. In our society, a distanced stance against psychiatric drugs is also valid for these drugs. In addition, due to the fear of folk doctors (!) (neighbors, relatives, etc.), unfortunately, children and young people are deprived of drug treatments. One of the false beliefs is the information that drugs are addictive, numb the brain, make children dizzy, this information is completely made up by non-experts. There is no evidence that the drugs given are addictive, on the contrary, they have benefits such as preventing possible addictive substance and alcohol use, especially in children with concomitant Conduct Disorder.
Sometimes there are side effects of drugs, these are mostly loss of appetite, insomnia, stomachache, headache and rhythm disorder. For this reason, necessary analyzes should be done before the drug is started, and if necessary, it should be directed to the relevant branch physicians. Among the side effects, especially anorexia and insomnia decrease over time, these side effects improve with regular medication.
Our current knowledge and scientific opinions for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder are that there is no more effective treatment method than drugs for this. Recommendations of non-experts, irrelevant people other than drug use; Neurofeedback, behavioral therapy, or many other methods that we do not know the names of, which we can call a fabrication, are unfortunately shown to be attractive to families. Thus, it causes delay in the treatment of children and young people, thus causing irreversible situations.
The thing to know is that wherever one goes in the world, the first choice in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is drug treatments. Of course, additional measures to assist drug treatments will be therapies for comorbid psychiatric problems. However, it is completely unscientific approaches to say that only Neurofeedback application can be corrected with Behavioral Therapy.
Especially Things to Know;
· The most common side effects; loss of appetite, insomnia, stomachache, headache, sometimes arrhythmia.
· The drugs used are usually hourly effective (4-12 hours effect), some of them are effective all day long.
· Medicines do not numb the brain, on the contrary, they stimulate the brain.
· Drugs are not addictive, they can be stopped at any time.
· There is no such thing as a lifetime use of drugs. If there is improvement, they can be stopped.
· It is wrong to say that non-drug treatment approaches are sufficient on their own and can be cured without the use of drugs. It just means a waste of time and money.
· Medicines, like all other drugs, are of course a substance given to the body from the outside and will have a harmful effect like other drugs.
· Medicines should be considered as the use of antihypertensive by a hypertensive patient, or the use of insulin by a diabetic.
