Do Stimulants Have a "Reverse Effect" on People with ADHD?

Its one of the classic ADHD myths, that stimulants have a "reverse effect" on those with ADHD than on those without ADHD. How else can you explain that a non-ADHD person takes stimulants and gets "spun up" while a person with ADHD is actually on purpose treated with stimulants to make them "calm down"?

A recent study with MRI technology looked at how stimulant medications actually impact the brain in both those with ADHD and those without.

Children, teens, and adults with ADHD have problems with attention, self-control, and restlessness or hyperactivity. They also may show deficits in what is called "working memory functions."

These "working memory functions" are what maintain and manipulate the information that we take in from the world aroud us. This "working memory" is crucial for every-day functioning. Without it functioning well, we are total "space cadets."

Methylphenidate (MPH) is the stimulant medication that makes Ritalin, and a few other ADHD medications. It is a potent medication that may improve the performance in several areas of the brain, and in cognitive tasks.

Recently some researchers, using MRI technology, looked at the impact of MPH on "working memory functions" using a study group of six boys with ADHD, and also six boys without ADHD.

Almost Ready for Prime Time !

Our newly revised ADHD Information Library website at Newideas.net is almost finished! It will "go live" within the next month or two, and will include a Parent's section and eventually a Grandparent's section too.

In the Parent's section we will invite you, the parents of ADHD kids, to share your experiences, insights, and comments in a combined "book" that certainly will help other parents. Shared wisdom is a great concept, and it is made possible by new "web 2.0" technologies.

The site is working on a Drupal CMS platform, meaning that "registered users" can write and submit content to the website in the Parent's section (and future Grandparent's section).

We are working on the site as fast as we can, but it is a very large project and will still take a bit of time to switch from the old "html" webpages to the new "php" webpages.

But here is how you can really help us. Please visit the site, look around, and tell us what you think. And if you should find broken links or obvious mistakes, please let us know about those things as well! Finally, we need some creative ideas for the "home page" layout. The text that is presently on it will not stay there. We know there are several changes still to be made, that's why we'd appreciate your input!

Thanks for your help.

During the summer vacation and early in the school year is the best time to try the "alternative" interventions, such as "Attend," "Extress," essential fatty acids, the ADHD Diet, or EEG Biofeedback training.

During the summer and early school year there is less pressure and more time to try these treatments and give them a chance to work.

We believe that the "alternative treatments" like Attend, Extress, our ADHD Diet, and EEG Biofeedback, all work equally as well as medications. But the biggest problem with "alternative treatments for ADHD" is that they take longer to work (often 30 to 45 days) as opposed to medications that can work well in just 15 minutes.

See our comparison between Attend, Stimulant Medications, and EEG Biofeedback.

By taking the time to try these "alternative treatments for ADHD" when there is less pressure to perform in school often mild to moderate cases of Attention Deficit Disorder can be kept off of medication.

Children and teens live their lives saturated with media. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's most recent study of children ages 8 to 18: