There's a boy living down the street from us who has the worst ADHD I've ever seen. During the school year, he lives at warp speed, talks even faster, and will twitch if he's made to sit still. And impulse control? Forget about it. I feel for the kid because the way his body acts is the way my brain feels. He drives me crazy, but he also makes perfect sense to me. He's nutty but manageable for 9 months of the year.
And then comes the summertime.
For some reason I do not comprehend, his parents take him off his medication for the summer. His mom says it's "to give his brain a break." His father says "That stuff is just too d***ed expensive." It doesn't really matter what the reason is. It leaves him a wreck.
His parents both work, and so maybe it's because they don't have to see what he lives with during the day. Yesterday, for example, he saw me outside and lurched in my general direction with his head in his hands.
"Do you have any Tylenol?" the 12 year old asked. (I went inside and got him some. His mom said it was okay last year and hasn't changed that.)
"Head hurting a lot?" I asked.
"It always does in the first weeks of summer. Don't know why though. Maybe it's the sun."
Maybe it's the withdrawals!
That's the part non-medicated people don't realize. When you go off these drugs, you go through painful withdrawals. So the first 2 weeks of every summer (and every weekend, because they don't medicate him then) are excruciating for him, filled with headaches, nausea, and confusion.
Then his summer begins, and his social skills deteriorate. He loses the ability to focus on one thing at a time. His frenetic behavior gets him into trouble. His poor judgement and impulse control mean that by the end of July he'll be banned from every house in the neighborhood as a protection for our own children.
August he spends alone. He's no longer welcome anywhere because he loses all filters when he talks.
School will come at the end of August and his medication will return. It will take a few weeks to get him back to being the boy he was in May.
Then Christmas vacation hits and the whole two weeks will be withdrawal.
Is it supposed to work this way? Really? I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until I was an adult, but I can't imagine being forced to give back my brain every weekend. I can't explain to you the fog of confusion which sets in when I first stop my meds. (It clears eventually and returns to the continuous commotion and chatter that is my normal brain function.) I just know how keenly I miss being able to think and function. I know my own son notices immediately if he forgets his pill.
If you are the parent of one of these great kids (one of us!) and you do this....please reconsider. Please don't take his brain away. Ask him how it feels to be unmedicated, and I'll bet he'll say the same thing. Please don't do this.
And if you're a medical person? Shame on you. You should know better.
16 comments:
That poor kid :(
As a teacher we can tell when kids aren't taking their meds -- particularly the ADHD meds. It is so sad that his parents are more responsible with his medications! Poor guy, I feel for him!
That makes as much sense as stopping insulin for a diabetic child to give her pancreas a rest.
I feel so sorry for that little boy.
Ouch! Our 7 year old boy also had ADHD, and takes 10 mg Ritalin for it (the minimum dose) during the school year. He doesn't take it in the summer.
However, that is with the knowledge and advice of the doctor that prescribed it. We wouldn't do something like this on our own expertise.
:( Oh, so sad!
I would never, ever unmedicate a child (as you know!) If they need it during the school year they need it during the summer as well. I would strongly STRONGLY question any doctor who suggests it's not needed during summer months. Last I checked you still have to get up in the morning and function, whether you get on a bus or not. If they don't need it during the summer time, then why do they need it during the school year?? I know my own son would be beside himself without his meds, he gets nervous when we go to the doc because he's afraid the doc will take away the medicine that allows him to think clearly and use better judgement. If you're doing it on the advice of the physician I would be asking why, and if they would do it to themselves. It's like asking a child to not wear their glasses during the summer because they don't need to see the chalkboard anymore. Insanity.
Peace,
Kara
My guess is they're doing it without their doctor's knowledge. I feel sorry for the poor kid. When my students miss a day of their meds, they suffer (and sometimes everyone around them does, too). I can't imagine how he goes through the whole summer feeling that way, especially since he's old enough to know how he feels/acts when he's on his meds. To get to the point where no-one wants you around to play with is just sad.
Oh boy, I've been one of those sorts that didn't think any "brain drugs" were necessary. This is so sad. I've learned to like and trust Rebecca, though, and believe I've been wrong. Hmmm. Lots to think about...
Allison - What a sweet thing to say!
Do I think ADD/ADHD is over diagnosed? Absolutely. But it is real, and for those who have it the medication can be a godsend.
Here's what my brain sounds like from the inside:
http://shovedtothem.blogspot.com/2012/01/eight-minutes-inside-my-add-brain.html
And here's when I was diagnosed:
http://shovedtothem.blogspot.com/2011/03/relief.html
I can certainly see lower doses in the summer time or not taking the "homework" dose some children need to finish out the day...like you though, I cannot understand completely medication free. If you need it, you need it. If you don't, then you don't, ever. I hate the way I feel without it, the way I don't function, and the scattered operation of my mind. Im sad for him
You've been on my mind lately because my husband and I suspect I might have adult ADHD. Probably should mention it to a doctor but I'm afraid they'll tell me I'm way off. I score really high on every questionnaire though. I might email you about it one of these days :)
Oh dear, I'm afraid I have to play the contrarian here.
First, I must concede that I do believe, like most of you, this child needs to be medicated through the summer. However, I vehemently disagree with several of you (Scottie, peaceandquiet) when you say that if one needs medication during school one needs it year round.
Now, I have relatively mild ADHD, and I take a low dose of Adderall XR. I take it year round now, because I need it to focus on work and whatnot. But, when I was a kid, I was not medicated in the summer, and I was just fine. You see, I wasn't sitting in a chair in a classroom for 8 hours every day during the summer. Instead, I was out playing Soccer or Football, I was hiking, fishing, camping, etc. all summer long, so much of my extra energy was wasted out there. Did it have its drawbacks? Of course! I was more scatterbrained, I battled my parents more, drove my Mom crazy if I was inside all day, but I didn't NEED it. And if there's a one of you who would say that I didn't need it during to school I would refer you to my mother and any poor soul who taught me during junior high and high school.
Patrick - You don't disagree with everyone. Ori agrees with you. I might if we were talking about mild ADHD. This kid's is severe. And the cold turkey is cruel. I don't know any other word for it.
Patrick- why not a lower dose during the summer? Not SO focused, yet still able to feel "normal-ish". I don't think he probably needs the full dose, I just know what I feel like without meds and how my 16 year old neighbor behaves when he is completely unmedicated. I like me with this medication. I feel like someone else without it. (yes, I do find this a bit ironic, especially since I am not one to take medications generally if they can be avoided)
Makes me sad for the poor boy. Have any of the neighbors tried to talk to the parents, intervention-style? If they are not ADHD themselves maybe they have no idea what they are doing.
I was a teacher of such a boy who was unmedicated over weekends. I dreaded teaching him on Mondays because the medication hadn't quite kicked in yet. Very frustrating to me and tragic to consider the other side of it. :(
Heather
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