Advice

• Be informed
• A dramatic difference
• Medication is key

Be informed

I think the advice that I can give is that people should become as informed as they can about what ADHD is, what the treatment options are, and how the medicines work. I think the more informed and the more people understand it as a medical condition the easier it is to do the treatment, to understand the treatment, and to understand what the choices are, so that they can better make informed decisions. I think that really the decisions do have to be based on understanding about the medicine and what ADHD is.

Frances Johnson, Advanced Practice Nurse,Outpatient Psychopharmacology Program

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A dramatic difference

What we look for when we treat ADHD with medication is a remarkable positive response.  We seek a remarkable positive response with essentially no negatives— that’s the objective.  If there is a subtle positive response, then it’s probably not a response at all.  If everyone scratches their heads during a trial of medicine and says “it seems a little better,” that’s not a positive response.  That means the medicine, for one reason or another, is not working.  Either it is not the correct diagnosis, or it’s not the right dosage of medicine, or it’s not the right medicine.

Leonard Rappaport, MD, MS, Director, Developmental Medicine Center

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Medication is key

The primary advice I give parents is that the treatment of choice for ADHD includes medication!  We talk about other strategies that can also help the child with organizational skills, social skills, etc.  For this reason I also suggest parents work closely with their child’s school.  However, it always comes back to a strong recommendation for medication; this is not so true for other psychiatric disorders, but we have a great deal of data regarding the usefulness of medication for ADHD.

Brigid L. Vaughan, MD, Medical Director, Psychopharmacology Program

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