Risk of Addiction to ADHD Therapies

Risk of Addiction to ADHD Therapies

4 years ago

As a Maryland and Ohio physician who has dedicated most of his professional career to treating addiction disorders, I’m always cognizant when evaluating a new patient for potential of developing tolerance and addictions to therapies that are offered. I do believe that most patients with ADHD are misunderstood and maligned as to being prone to abuse their treatment. Once the proper screening is done at the onset most patients are not prone to abuse their therapies and in fact are reluctant to take the appropriate doses of medication such as stimulants prescribed to them. Amidst the pandemic, our current culture of hyper alertness on developing addictions from prescribed medication‘s at times seems to inhibit proper seeking of treatment and solving problems. Daily, I face patients that I have been shamed and put down by relatives,  coworkers, and even pharmacy staff when they are trying to fill their prescriptions, as if they are doing something wrong!. Many studies starting from childhood do in fact demonstrate that a proper diagnoses in addressing the range of ADHD disorders reduces the risk of substance abuse later in life.

The real problem with the diagnosis of ADHD
The real problem with the diagnosis of ADHD
3 years ago

It’s become a familiar scene now in headlines: Some person misuses a prescribed stimulant medication (usually Adderall) which ends up in a severe tragedy. The news channels pick it up and the s...

Telehealth Medicine for Adult ADHD: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly !
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4 years ago

Telemedicine has been a wonderful format to offer proper medical care and has become indispensable to our healthcare system since the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently there have been outfits...

How Social Media Hooks the ADHD Brain—and How to Break Free with Kindness
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8 months ago

As a psychiatrist who works closely with people living with ADHD, I often hear the same frustration: “Wh...