Wolfe 1

Jason Wolfe

ENGL 1302

Ulysses Mack

1 June 2018

ADHD’s Treatment and The Effects Towards SUD

ADHD, which also stands for Attention Deficit and hyperactivity disorder, is one of the

most diagnosed disorders for children in the growing world. This is disorder is prevalent in

children because it is a condition that has trouble with attention difficulties and their limited

control on hyperactivity. There has been so much research done on this disorder for two reasons

being that it has a unknown cause plus it effected a huge rate of the population in this world.

There has been a huge controversy on this subject matter just because of the ongoing rates that

are being kept seen and whether clinicians and doctors are over diagnosing children with ADHD.

For this reason, articles by scholars have found effects from these diagnoses at an early age and

seen how it translates to their adulthood. For instance, a huge controversial topic is diagnosing

Substance Use Disorders (SUD) from the treatment of ADHD and if the way medical staff are

treating this condition is actually leading to them having SUDs. ADHD early on symptoms are

basically aggression, physical anxiety that is persistent, and having short attention spans. These

symptoms from some studies show how it can translate to their adulthood and how it leads to

them having an SUD. This research involves the explanation of the prevalence of ADHD in the

world, and mainly the topic of treatment of ADHD leading to be diagnosed with an SUD in their

adulthood.

Knowing that there is options for treatment, there are ways for the parents to cope with

this mental disease for their children. Talking about treatment is important regarding to the cases
 Wolfe 2

of SUDs seen with these children to know whether the treatment impacts them in the long run.

An important treatment when discussing with the family is realizing the positive effects that

happen in the brain such as exercise, good sleep, having healthy parenting, and providing them

with good social interactions around them (Hall 17). Outside of giving medication, it is at great

importance to tell the parent this so that they are not misguided and can implement a healthy

environment for their children. Without doing any of these things properly, then the medication

would not be used to its fullest.

Dr. Hall specified in her plan what she would recommend a parent in wanting to treat

their child with ADHD. The first she looked at was exercise and how in the pathophysiology of

ADHD, the mechanisms regarding exercise allows for the release of neurotransmitters from the

brain which are important towards this disease (Hall 17). Allowing exercise can release all of the

hyperactivity from the children and can feel all the extra excitement can be kept down.

One of the biggest problems when coping with ADHD is the children not wanting to fall

into sleep. Second one to her plan is being the importance of sleep and how much it can

disappear the ADHD symptoms (Hall 17). Treatment in this without having them take any

medication at first is to address early sleeping habits, as well using cognitive-behavioral therapy

techniques (Hall 17).

Last one being addressed is having healthy parenting towards their children in order for

them to combat their struggles through the disorder. Cases of ADHD being diagnosed at such a

young age, it is important for them to have good role models in the household and show how

their good behavior can be reflective towards them. Through parental training on ADHD, hoping

in using that as well with good parenting can be a good influence on them and show that

regardless, they have that love for their children.

 Wolfe 3

In doing this without the medication, the non- medicated treatment has to be at the core

when caring for children when diagnosed with ADHD. This type of medication has been very

controversial since people and children have been abusing the drugs. There is a statistic there

where it says eighty-nine percent of students reported with ADHD have gotten Adderall from

others that received this legal prescription (Rigney, Notre Dame Law Review. 88.2). This has

created into a legal issue where it came to a point where students are eventually trading away

these prescriptions and drugs illegally (Rigney, Notre Dame Law Review. 88.2). Controversy in

being how with the high rates of over diagnoses and prescriptions being handed out so easily, it

effects how the children perform in their academics as well (Rigney, Notre Dame Law Review.

88.2). Problem being as mentioned before how there is not a real explanation to why ADHD

occurs, therefore, it allows for these over diagnoses and created habits for people who seem they

can get off the drug (Rigney, Notre Dame Law Review. 88.2). There is a problem where people

would go to the fact of wanting these prescriptions just for the fact to can have the edge or be on

the same playing field in the academic world. There are treatment plans that can benefit to these

students who have to actually with this disorder and can have a behavior modification (Rigney,

Notre Dame Law Review. 88.2). This is why the non-medical treatment is so important before

taking any of the medication first to only see if the non-medicated treatment works perfectly and

only then when it fails, these modifications will then have to be made.

With this in mind, this brings up the question of the ongoing cases of substance uses

disorders in adulthood because maybe there is a fact that as they were growing up, they may

have depended on the drug too much.

Going in depth of this research, there are people like Jeffery Wilson who look at ADHD

and the core symptoms and the developmental aspects. There is a statistic that he provided
 Wolfe 4

indicating thirty to fifty percent of these symptoms start to persist into their own adulthood

(Wilson 5). Wilson experimented with seeing what statistics found in treatment plans and found

thirty-five percent of those people were found to have ADHD, while being treated for cocaine

abuse (Wilson 5). The argument he poses is children who are diagnosed with ADHD at their

young age, are more likely to engage in introverted or drug-activities (Wilson 6). Looking at this

remark Wilson made, it seems to be too vague and see that there is no evidence to back this up

whether or not ADHD adolescents engage in drug-related activities in their childhood. Wilson in

page six wants to make the connection between the two disorders by looking the causes of SUD

and saying that it is due to disruptive behavior and their behavior impulsiveness. Believing that

the hyperactivity in ADHD has a correlation and the long-term consequences leading up to drug

usage.

There are three different subtypes of ADHD and professor Leanne Tamm looks at

whether any of the two subtypes have an increased effect on SUD. Tamm wanted to see if any

“subtype differences in regard to the risk for developing SUD and substance treatment response”

(Tamm 93). The two subtypes that were being characterized are combined and inattentive based

from the treatment plans (Tamm 93). At the end, the experiment resulted in there was any

difference between the subtypes from the response in treatment (Tamm 99). The only differences

it encompassed was the antisocial behavior and the substance use (Tamm 93). After looking at

this problem at the experimental level, it still leaves the mystery of why there is a substantial rate

of SUD cases coming from people with ADHD. There is not proven evidence on why once these

diagnosed people grow into adulthood, a percentage fall into SUDs.

This is where different subjects are brought whether or not ADHD is an actual fallible

reason for predicting into a future SUD for them. The claims and the ones that counter them have
 Wolfe 5

discussed whether the treatment of ADHD has a considerable effect going into their adulthood

concerning substance abuse. Brian Kean wrote this article in memory of the late professor

Nadine Lambert and her studies and theories of the treatment of ADHD. Lambert’s theory was

treatment being handled at an early age will then result in being addicted to more heavily

substances such as smoking tobacco early on, then on to abusing cocaine in adulthood (Kean 65).

In other words, those who were administered amphetamine drugs are more probable to be

addicted or dependent on that drug growing into adulthood. Although, the counterclaims prove

otherwise saying that “adequate treatment of ADHD may reduce the risk of substance abuse”

(Kean 66) coming from a major pharmaceutical company.

The Bradley study experimented with the amphetamine drugs and the response that

children with ADHD received after taking them (Kean 68). Bradley realizing at the end of the

experiment that the children elicited a emotional response and raised the question whether this

had potential of having the drug being addictive more long-term (Kean 68). This experiment

claims along with Lambert’s theory, there are however counterclaims that disprove otherwise.

These counterclaims do have their limitations and certainly use different groups that will make

all of these experiments come at fault. Those that disprove Lambert’s theory have a reason that

she needed to be able show age of the patients (Kean 72). Reason being is that in order to find

evidence with SUDs in adulthood, the age group of the people being experimented is needed to

be taken into account to see if they had started the addiction to the substance (Kean 72). Overall,

despite the counterclaims, Lambert seemed to be having good evidence in supporting her theory,

although the complaints are reasonable and important in her wanting to prove this to be correct.

ADHD being one of the most prevalent disorders, it would cause studies such as the SUD

because of how common it is in the world. The importance of the non-prescription treatment is
 Wolfe 6

essential for the fact if it does work on the child early on, then the prescription treatment is not

necessary seeing of all the negatives it evokes in the future. Those negative effects being trading

drugs illegally as the children grow older and people taking advantage of the drugs. This is why

cases such as SUDs arise because of the possible over diagnoses leading to people being

addicted to drugs as a result of this case. A possibility of the growing number of cases of SUDs

coming from people from ADHD is that with the ongoing issue of it being over diagnosed at

such a young age. For it being over diagnosed these days, it allows for people to depend on

medication being given. Substance abuse can take over in adult hood with this treatment being a

habit at that point. An issue that may never be solved, or an issue that we may find and hope it

can reduce the increasing rates.

 Wolfe 7

Works Cited