Today, I'd like to talk about a topic that may be sensitive to many individuals. Medication and ADHD. How many of you know someone you love that is being medicated for ADHD? A child that is being medicated for this. Or perhaps yourself?
Now how do you or this person feel about being medicated for this diagnosis? Since I speak on focus, I’ve had many individuals around the world tell me over the years how they detest being drugged for it.
Let’s start at the beginning by defining what ADHD is, its symptoms, and side effects of medication.ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children and adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States and the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom note that ADHD medications can cause side effects such as loss of appetite, sleep problems, irritability, headaches, mood swings, increased heart rate or blood pressure, digestive issues, and more. The CDC also states that U.S. healthcare providers use the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to diagnose ADHD, which defines it as a “persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity–impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.”
Inattention is one of the primary characteristics of ADHD, but it is not the only one. But let’s start with this. Being easily distracted and having trouble holding attention on tasks or activities are among the symptoms of inattention listed in DSM-5. Let me share with you something a father once shared with me at one of my events.
He shared that his child had been diagnosed with ADHD, and that this deeply concerned him.“I’m sorry to hear this,” I responded. “I’m not a medical expert, nor do I understand the details of what ADHD is, but can you share with me what the fundamental issue is?”He replied with a saddened look on his face, “He’s easily distracted, and he has lots of trouble paying attention at school and at home. He essentially can’t focus. This is what the doctor concluded and hence diagnosed him with ADHD. Now he’s on medication, and I’m simply not happy about that. He’s only six years old.”
“This question may be out of left field, but has anyone ever taken the time to teach your child how to focus?”“No,” he replied with a somewhat quizzical look.“Hmm. Interesting. Can your child play the piano?”“No, he can’t.”“What if we told him to play the piano and he failed to do so, and as a result, we took him to the doctor and had the doctor diagnose him with PPD (piano playing disorder) and drug him for it? That would be messed up, wouldn’t it?”“It certainly would be. I think I am starting to see where you are going with this.”“We don’t drug someone for not being able to play the piano, do we? No, we don’t. What do we do if they can’t play the piano? We teach them how to play the piano. We train them. If we don’t teach our children to focus, and don’t help them to practice being focused so that they can be good at it, how can we expect them to focus?”
There is nothing wrong with diagnosing a child or adult, for example, with inattention. All that this diagnosis does is say that this person has trouble holding their attention on one thing for a period of time. And this could be disrupting their life. The question is, if we choose to remedy this, how will we approach it? Drugs are one option. The other option is to choose first to teach them how to concentrate, then to help them practice concentration. Since inattention is the inability to hold awareness on one thing for a given period of time, can we not train them in how to do so? If after a few years of training in the art of concentration they still struggle to concentrate, then perhaps you may have a valid reason to medicate them.
But it is unfair, unethical, in fact, to do that without having given them the education and training they need to focus—and, similarly, the education and training needed to manage, harness, and channel their energy.
We can’t drug someone for not being able to do something they’ve never been taught to do!More in my next email.
If you know someone who will benefit from reading this email, please forward it to them. Thank you.
