Reply To: Medicating vs Spanking

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bsharg2
Participant

I work in health care & have worked in Psychiatry.

Yes, there are children who have ADHD & need medication. However, ADHD is vastly overdiagnosed, and many children are started on stimulant medications that they do not need.

There are other things you have to look for. If a child is not getting enough sleep (should be 10 hours for a younger child), they will have symptoms that are identical to ADHD & hard even for psychiatrists (who don’t have the time!) to distinguish from actual ADHD. Electronics use in children also causes many of these symptoms.

I suggest waiting and seeing if behavioral approaches work before rushing to put the child on medication.

When my brother was 7, the school wanted him on medication & my parents said no. The school had to find another way to manage his behavior. Which they did, and after a few years, he was doing just fine & learning well.