When Parents Disagree About ADHD Medications
Disagreements over ADHD medications are common, but they can still be challenging for families to overcome. Here's what to do when you say yes to meds, but your spouse says no.
6 Comments: When Parents Disagree About ADHD Medications
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This article makes me extremely angry. Look at the statistics and one will see that boys are disproportionately diagnosed with ADHD and that medication has caused many issues for these young men. We are taking issue with the way young men are naturally wired in order to try and fit them into these contemporary idea of education. It’s sickening. My son was diagnosed with high functioning autism and then with ADHD. One doctor diagnosed one way. One school diagnosed one way. I think the reality is my son is unique and the schools and many of these women teachers cannot handle that. He is smart and capable and gets a bit bored with sit down work. Nothing to me out of the ordinary. They keep marking his behavior chart for not paying attention. I mean does that need to be reported daily? How often did I not pay attention in school and I’m a college professor now. School is boring. Most teachers mean well but aren’t very good at what they do or holding a child’s attention. This article also shows a bias against fathers which gets old. Fathers are just as invested in their children as mothers. It just that society uses female propensity for fear and the wildness in boys to push medicating children.
And also, it was very obvious that the article was biased as it presented that there would anything be wrong with a child not taking medications while on vacation with the other parent.
If anything, that would be great.
It would give the liver a break and as the child is on vacation and may not stress, may not need any ‘control’ for behaviour.
Giving drugs to children so that they ‘behave’ is highly questionable.
Actually, regardless of the need for medication in the first place, it is incredibly damaging to the central nervous system to suddenly quit taking it. Even people who have decided psychoactive drugs are not for them advocate tapering off the medication gradually. Skipping doses or going on and off is risky.
This is another article pushing the Big Pharma agenda. There are so many reasons not to take these pills it is silly to be arguing. The bigger issue is parents are too busy (or frustrated) to be parents. Rather than deal with the challenges of life, many are choosing to drug their children. A drooling zombie is certainly more likely to “behave.” What will we do when our kids go to college or join the workforce? What message are we sending the kids? You are not good enough as you are. You need medication to operate in the world. If you have a problem, take drugs. Let me know how that works out for you.
I agree totally with your comment. A friend’s son was diagnosed with ADHD decades ago. The doctor wanted him to take meds, but my friend has a ‘thing’ about any and all medication unless vital for life. Plus, it is crazily expensive. Plus Ritalin is a controlled drug – for a child? For heavens sake! So, the doctor talked to her about how to manage and raise her son, including things like diet and exercise, while accepting that he had certain difficulties that needed help. He was never easy to bring up. She and her partner called him their greyhound, who needed walking twice a day! But she raised a fine man, who is now in his late 30’s, and runs two successful businesses. He is not formally academic, but he is happy to admit that to anyone, because he does not regard it as a shortcoming. He speaks his mind, which can be disconcerting – but he is a wonderfully genuine person, and he readily acknowledges his mother’s role in getting him to where he is. And he shares her view of medication.
There are some good suggestions here. My husband is an ex special ed instructor, and refuses to believe that his son has anything wrong with him. In spite of 3 diagnose’es, in spite of learning that there are brain scanning tests that prove that a person with ADHD’s brain functions differently, and in spite of actually seeing the improvement of our son’s attitude and behavior with the proper medication. It really just boils down to my husband wanting the best for his son, and fearing the stigma that he knows is attached to ADHD. So many people love to say that it’s the parent’s fault, and that the parent just doesn’t want to do their job. Yet, a parent of a diabetic child who refuses to give their child insulin would be charged with neglect.