ADHD  [ back to Glossary Index ]
ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a chronic condition which usually manifests itself in childhood or adolescence, and tends to linger through adulthood. ADHD children exhibit a collection of behaviors including difficulty maintaining attention; hypersensitivity to stimuli with "flooding" or confusion when too much is going on; incessant talking; impulsivity, such as blurting out answers when another child is called on; incessant movement which disrupts schoolmates such as foot tapping, fidgeting, squirming or running around in school; ignoring or tuning out teachers or parents who try to stop these behaviors; and a mixture of anxiety, frustration and irritability which relate to conscious awareness of the difference between their potential and their performance. Kids diagnosed with ADHD are treated with behavioral therapy, stimulant medications such as Ritalin, and sometimes nutritional therapy. Is ADHD a biochemical defect in the brain or one endpoint to the spectrum of  "normal variation" in childhood behavior? This continues to be debated. So is the helpfulness vs. the harmfulness of Ritalin.  

While Ritalin certainly can cause appetite suppression, weight loss, insomnia, tics and even delayed growth in some children, it has helped a lot of ADHD children (estimated at up to 70%) to pay better attention, gain self control and stop or curb disruptive conduct, with improved classroom learning and decreased conflict at home with parents and siblings. Doctors agree that Ritalin should not be given to "normal" kids in hopes of boosting their academic performance. Ritalin has been tried at times with children and even with adults after a TBI to focus wandering attention and to speed up or sharpen cognitive processing.   Too few scientific studies exist to draw confident conclusions on efficacy and safety of Ritalin in this population. Because Ritalin may lower the seizure threshold, caution should be used with TBI patients who have risk factors for post traumatic epilepsy. Conflicting studies exist on whether Ritalin increases or decreases craving for drugs in persons with a history of struggling against addiction prior to their TBI. A TBI cannot cause ADHD, but can certainly aggravate pre-existing ADHD.