Previous: Drug treatment for ADHD patients
Pharmaceutical Symptoms Management
Back to the document's frontpageBecause the symptoms expressions of ADHD leads to greater substance abuse behaviors, drug treatment for ADHD patients needs to incorporate appropriate pharmaceutical interventions for ADHD symptoms control.
Anti-depressants & stimulants like Ritalin
Both stimulant drugs and certain anti depressant medications can be used in the control of ADHD symptoms expression. Although stimulant style medications such as Ritalin have proven most effective, because these medications have an abuse potential, substance abusers seeking to control their ADHD symptoms have often been directed towards second tier anti depressant style medications. Although these anti depressant style medications do have a lower abuse potential, they have not proven as effective in adult ADHD symptoms control, and they have also failed to greatly affect substance abuse rates.
Recent clinical trials have indicated that Ritalin shows great promise both as a symptoms control medication, and also as a medication that seems to limit the severity of cravings and drug seeking compulsions, especially amongst ADHD stimulant addicts.
Because these medications can be abused, addictions professionals recommend that they be prescribed in very limited dosages, and that patients using the medications be closely monitored for any signs that would indicate an abuse of the prescribed medications. To further reduce the abuse potential, the longer acting slow release form of Ritalin can be used.
