Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD as it is more commonly known as, is a diagnosis many people and teachers like to give children who are very over active and have a hard time focusing on something for very long. There are people on both sides of the fence about this disorder -- caiming that it is a diagnosis that is over used by lazy parents and teachers who can not handle the normal behaviors of children. Others claim that ADHD is a true disorder that keeps children from thriving in the school setting because they cannot sit still long enough to learn the material required. Recently, scientists have been conducting more studies on the various medications that have and are being used to correct ADHD behavior.

The Study Started

Recently scientists gathered a group of children and parents from Nova Scotia to study different possible side effects. The study took children  who had at least one parent with a diagnosis of a major depressive disorder such as bipolar and schizophrenia. Scientists then did psychiatric screenings on the parents and children of the group. Then they received records from pharmacies to confirm whether stimulant medications have been given to the children in the group. Close to seventeen percent of the children had received the stimulant medications including Ritalin, Vyvanse, or Dexedrine, which are all used to help control hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsive behavior that comes with ADHD. Then the children were interviewed to determine if the children receiving these medications had ever had any drug-related side effects that could be associated with a psychotic episode.

What The Study Found About Stimulant Medications

After doing this carefully studies the scientists discovered that the risk of psychotic side effects are much higher than previously suggested. Discovering this means that doctors have been advised to more closely monitor the children and teens that are under their care that receive these stimulant medications. An assistant professor from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle stated that these findings are very important and that doctors need to know these risks. However, Professor Schoenfelder believes that a more through investigation needs to be done to determine the different levels in severity of mental illness that is involved compared to the findings. She believes that it is pertinent to determine if children with higher levels of mental illness have the same risk are other children or if the risks are elevated due to the medication and children with lower levels may not be given medication at all. Dr. Andrew Adesmen who works for Cohen Children's Medical Center in Hew Hyde Park New York believes these findings make sense because of the association between the stimulants and the parents with mental disorders. He also knows that regardless of the findings that a Pediatrician needs to monitor all children that they treat for side effects due to any prescribed stimulants that the children are taking. Especially, if the one or both of the parents have ever had problems with any kind of mental disorder.