Have you thought about marijuana as one of the alternative treatments for a child with ADHD? Dr. Lester Grinspoon, author of the book called 'Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine' has no doubts at all about this. He is an emeritus psychiatry professor at Harvard, and recently hit the headlines when he said he would have no hesitation in giving a child with ADHD some oral marijuana as a trial.
There has been much praise for his book and one doctor who lives in a US state where marijuana is allowed for medical purposes stated that there were many gaps in his knowledge and these were filled when he read the book. Actually the book really does sort out the myth from the fiction so it is very useful for that.
But can marijuana really help with ADHD? There are loads of teens now using marijuana for their ADHD and in fact it is estimated that about 7% are finding relief for various medical ailments including ADHD. But there are many doubts and question marks about its use. The first is that many of these teens are self medicating and although they might persuade you that it is really working as well as the official meds, they should bear in mind the following facts.
• marijuana is highly toxic
• it is addictive and there are many proven cases where users have to move on to harder drugs. People tend to suffer withdrawal symptoms when they have to give it up.
• users claim that their memory and attention improves but research shoes that it damages the brain. There is sufficient scientific literature to suggest that it actually damages the memory leading to even more problems with attention and concentration.
• it can reduce anxiety as witnessed by clinical observations.
• it is a hallucinogen and that means that sensory experiences may be distorted
• just like conventional meds can mask symptoms, marijuana actually tends to masks the co morbid disorders that tend to accompany ADHD. That is really harmful in the long-term.
• there is evidence that it can cause various cancers.
So, there we have it. Giving a child with ADHD some marijuana seems to be even more risky than giving them conventional meds such as Ritalin, Vyvanse and Adderall., These drugs are controversial and do have some nasty side effects but they are considered to be reasonably safe in the long term, unlike marijuana.
But most experts are agreed now that the behavioral therapy is really the best option of all and that it can be used with some medication, when necessary. This is when you should consider trying homeopathic remedies where there is no risk to your child's health, no addiction worries and above all no side effects. Why not discover how this could be the answer for your child with ADHD.
Matthew Gant has written extensively on ADHD and Mental Health for many years. Experts now tell us that child behavior modification combined with a natural treatment for ADHD is by far the most effective treatment for a child with ADHD.
No comments:
Post a Comment