What is the Reality of ADHD Adults Medications?

ByShaun Snapp

Executive Summary

  • ADHD diagnoses continue to rise.
  • What tends to be undiscussed regarding the medical establishment of the implications of ADHD Adult Medications.

Introduction

If you search for the term ADHD Adult Medications, in most cases, you will be taken by Google to some of the biggest medical information websites. The problem is that all of these websites have undisclosed financial conflicts with pharmaceuticals that make ADHD Adult Medications. Reading these websites will promote ADHD Adult Medications, and following their advice will, in many cases, result in being prescribed ADHD medications.

We have no financial conflicts or other connections to drug companies or medical establishments. We will use our independence to review some of the information from these websites.

How Does Adult ADHD Differ from Childhood or Teen ADHD?

The following explanation of adult ADHD from an article at AdultADHD would greatly expand the number of adults diagnosed with the condition.

Adults with ADHD are likely to show more restraint due to their higher level of maturity and social conditioning, but the inner restlessness remains and may be re-channeled into activities like thrill-seeking behavior, alcohol, drug abuse, reckless driving, incursions with the law, overspending and other socially unacceptable behaviors.

Under this description, virtually any impulsive behavior could be related to ADHD. The explanation around adult ADHD is that it is nearly any performance issue, from poor organization to being forgetful.

About ADD or ADHD Medications

The medications available break into two basic classifications: stimulants, which are either amphetamines or similar drugs like methylphenidate or antidepressants.

ADHD Drug Category #1: Simulants

The problems come in when scientific claims are made about how many of these drugs work by pharmaceutical companies. Amphetamine and amphetamine-type drugs cause not only those with attention issues to concentrate more, but they will also cause any person to concentrate more and increase their motivation. Using the effect of these drugs, we would increase (in the short term at least) the performance of everyone by placing them on amphetamines.

However, amphetamines or similar types of drugs can be considered blunt instruments, which have short- and long-term side effects and never actually address the ADD but provide short-term concentration increases while the drug is taken.

ADHD Drug Category #2: Antidepressants

The second category of drugs uses various antidepressants. Antidepressants were originally based on the low serotonin hypothesis but continue to be used years after this hypothesis has been disproven. The logic and evidence for using antidepressants to treat attention issues are weak. Still, antidepressants keep expanding their use, going as far as recently being submitted to treat covid.

What a Diagnosis of ADHD Means And How ADHD Diagnoses Massively Increased

The information on the growth in ADHD is better for children than for adults, so let us review the growth for children in the US.

Look at the growth in ADHD diagnosis and drug treatment in less than 20 years. If ADHD is being diagnosed broadly, why hasn’t research determined the reason for ADHD?  Adult ADHD diagnoses are also greatly increased in the past 20 years. 

Remember that a positive diagnosis for ADHD will, in the vast majority of cases, lead to amphetamines, Methylphenidate, and or an antidepressant, and often drugs to control the symptoms of these drugs, which include mood stabilizers and sleep aids. There have been scandals related to professors at the most prestigious universities that influence the DSM and ADD medications levels for money, which I cover in the article What is the Problem With Medically Defined ADHD Symptoms? (Subscription required)

I never see any explanation of these scandals in these pharmaceutical-funded articles on ADHD.

Article Example #1: From Johns Hopkins

The following quotes are from the website of Johns Hopkins.

False Claim #1: It Should Be Considered Normal to Have Diagnosed A Disease That The Medical Establishment Does Not Know What Causes It?

ADHD is one of the most researched areas in child and adolescent mental health. However, the precise cause of the disorder is still unknown. Available evidence suggests that ADHD is genetic. It is a brain-based