What are the effects of stimulants on ADHD?
Numerous studies have shown that stimulants such as Ritalin and Dexedrine improve the symptoms of ADHD for the overwhelming majority of patients who take them. The improvements are seen regardless of whether the patient is preschool age, elementary school age, adolescent, or adult. Stimulants improve attentiveness; reduce hyperactivity, restlessness, and distractibility; and improve the ability to follow directions and stay on task. By controlling aggressiveness and impulsiveness, these medications also have a dramatic impact on social relationships, both within the family and among peers. One study found that ADHD boys who started taking Ritalin were more likely to be rated as “cooperative” and “fun to be with” than they had been previously. Ritalin also reduces the incidence of verbal and physical aggression. And researchers find that when children are treated, parents and siblings respond with more warmth, more contact, less criticism, and greater cooperativeness. The results are si
