As I wrote in my “Brady’s Laws of the Media”, Never believe a headline and When an article claims, ‘science says…’ or ‘new study shows…’, assume that it doesn’t, until proven otherwise. Melbourne’s Herald-Sun just gave us an object lesson in both.
The headline shrieks:
ADHD medication shock: Children taking pills such as Ritalin have a lower quality of life than their peers, major study finds.
Now, what are you going to take away from this? That ADHD medication like Ritalin is either ineffective or deleterious? But that’s not what the study found at all.
In fact, the Hun went on to outright lie about the study in their lede.
Children medicated for ADHD have a lower quality of life than those with the condition who are unmedicated, one of the world’s most comprehensive studies has found.
It literally didn’t. In fact, the study compared children with ADHD with children without ADHD. The study wasn’t investigating the impact of Ritalin and other drugs, but the impact of ADHD itself.
If you don’t believe me – and scepticism is encouraged – then do as I always urge: read the study for yourself. What you’ll find is:
Based on a large population-based sample of 4,194 Australian children aged four to 17 years, children with ADHD symptoms had a significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) across all domains compared to children without ADHD symptoms. You’ll also find that the number of children taking medication for ADHD symptoms were too small to draw a reliable conclusion: Only eight (2.8 per cent) children in the younger age group and 21 (27 per cent) in the older group were taking medication for ADHD symptoms. So, the study really said nothing at all about the medication – because it wasn’t designed to. The study was designed to compare children with ADHD symptoms and non‑ADHD controls.
Even the study lead author is properly cautious about the sample size:
She warned the small sample size, especially in the early years, could affect the study’s finding.
If only the Hun could practise such humility, instead of publishing gross malinformation: “Information based in fact that is manipulated, presented out of context.”
Lead author Ha Nguyet Dao Le, a Deakin University senior research fellow, said “those taking ADHD medication in our sample experienced more severe ADHD symptoms, which may have significantly impacted children’s functioning”.
Again, the deceit is to imply that ADHD medication is the problem. What, in fact, Le is saying is that severe symptoms require treatment, including medication, for what can be a lifelong debilitating condition. Which is not to say that medication is the only treatment, or should be the first treatment of resort.
Dr Le said the findings underscored the need for ADHD intervention and treatment to “comprehensively address the behavioural, psychological, and educational needs of the child to improve overall health and wellbeing, not just manage the underlying symptom”.
This includes family therapy or support to bolster the child’s home environment and also increase their physical activity, which has been shown to decrease symptoms. More neuro-affirming school environments are also critical to children’s progress and happiness.
Girls with ADHD, children with autism, depression or anxiety or other mental health conditions as well as ADHD, and those with parents who have mental health issues, were all found to have a lower quality of life than others.
The role of prescription for drugs like Ritalin does need to be examined, as well. Anecdotally, it seems that too often schools, especially, default to promoting Ritalin for behavioural issues which may not be ADHD-related at all. For some, ‘ADHD’ has become a convenient excuse, while genuine sufferers face an often lifelong struggle.
ADHD seems to have become yet another case where there is both over- and under-diagnosis. Children with behavioural issues are often over-diagnosed, while genuine ADHD sufferers often slip through the cracks. Part of the reason for this is that mendacious media have promoted a wholly unrealistic image of ADHD. They ignore the ‘AD’ (Attention Deficit) and over-focus on the ‘H’ (Hyperactivity), promoting an image of all ADHD kids as out-of-control brats.
As the saying goes: ‘ADHD, it’s as easy as… look, there’s a bird!’
In fact, a significant percentage of ADHD sufferers mostly or solely exhibit Attention Deficit. They’re the kid sitting lost in their own world, idly daydreaming, or distracted by any trivia that presents itself. Their relative inobtrusiveness means that they are too often overlooked and their ADHD condition goes un-diagnosed.
