Adderall is a commonly prescribed stimulant medication used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). This is a neurological disorder that causes the brain’s neurons to produce less dopamine than the average person, causing issues with the ability to maintain focus and executive function.
In an article from the University Wire, the child psychiatrist, Dr. Aditya Kumamoto Singh Pawar explains that Adderall is a stimulant medication consisting of amphetamines. When a person with ADHD takes Adderall, their brain is able to produce more dopamine; which allows them to gain the ability to focus for a set period of time.
As a result of rising demand, the physical supply of this stimulant medication is becoming increasingly inadequate to the surge of ADHD diagnoses, and their corresponding prescriptions. However, the FDA and DEA are limited in their ability to produce high quantities of controlled substances (such as stimulant medications).
Unsurprisingly, news of a nationwide Adderall shortage was released by the FDA in October of 2022. In the face of this shortage, Adderall, as well as other alternatives of ADHD medication, have become increasingly more inaccessible. The issue of obtaining this medication has caused many people who rely on the medication to struggle with maintaining basic function in daily life during its absence.
This shortage of stimulant medication reveals how ADHD care relies too heavily on the overmedication and overdiagnosis of its patients, and takes away from their ability to receive other forms of treatment that will benefit them in the long term.
Interestingly, in 2011, The CDC found that 11% of children were diagnosed with ADHD from childhood to young adulthood, a 7.8% increase since the year 2003. These rising numbers suggests that unreliable evaluations are leading to overdiagnoses.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a study conducted in 2000 found that ADHD diagnostic criteria for children was not met by a majority of those diagnosed during childhood and adolescence.
Despite clear evidence of overdiagnosis, the prescription of stimulant medication continues to rise. According to the article, How Attention Deficit DIsorder Went Global by Stephen P Hinshaw and Richard M Scheffler, the revenue collected from the sale of stimulant medication has risen to $8 billion dollars, or 26% per year.
Israel’s Maccabi Healthcare services revealed that 1 out of 5 Israeli children were prescribed stimulant medication, despite not being formally diagnosed with ADHD. In fact, a year before this study took place in 2011, there was a 76% spike of the prescription of Ritalin and Concerta in Israel.
With this seemingly unstoppable surge of medication use, some have questioned the motive of parents and teachers. According to the Ottawa Citizen article, Autism, ADHD Misdiagnosis by Lisa Evans, 30% of children with an ADHD diagnosis may be misdiagnosed and medicated due to the inability of the adults around them to regulate behavioral issues.
Additionally, behavioral therapies have proven much more beneficial to ADHD patients in the long term, whereas medication is temporary.
Fueled by an obvious lack of genuine medical evaluation and parental burnout, many patients are prescribed the same form of treatment. Ohio State’s 2014 study reveals that a majority of children diagnosed with mental illness are prescribed medication right after their diagnoses without considering other forms of treatment.
According to the CDC, 75% percent of 2-5 years olds with ADHD are prescribed stimulant medication, although, no more than half of these children take behavioral therapy.
The use of behavioral therapy before determining the need for medication has also proven to be a more efficient form of ADHD treatment.
According to the psychotherapist Erica Komisar, while medication is an efficient way to temporarily manage the symptoms of a disorder, the absence of therapy in a psychiatric patient’s treatment disallows them to learn how they can develop stills that allow them to adapt to their environment and develop without the assistance of medication. She emphasizes that the sole use of medication in treatment only teaches the patient how to block out their feelings, instead of accepting and processing them.
The beneficial effects of behavioral therapy to the long term health of ADHD patients is also emphasized by the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology’s 2016 study of ADHD treatments. In this study, ADHD patients aged 5 and 12 who were given behavioral therapy before medication turned out to be more efficient in managing their symptoms than those whose treatment consisted of only stimulant medication.
Furthermore, a similar study conducted by Dr. Erika Coles, of Florida International University, found that students of a similar age range who received behavioral therapy before taking medication also had a reduced amount of medication needed. Ultimately, 37% of these children ended up not needing medication at all.
Instead of using medication as the sole form of treatment for every ADHD patient, doctors should collaborate with their patient and discuss various forms of treatment and therapy. Not only this, but behavioral therapy should be made more accessible to the ADHD population, because it will benefit them more in the long term.
As people continue to struggle managing ADHD without medication we are reminded how important it is that ADHD treatment needs to move its focus to benefiting the patient in the long term by teaching coping skills which allow them to manage their lives with or without medication. This is especially important in the event that this medication is not available.