The effectiveness of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD medications vary from person to person. ADHD medications do have positive impacts, but these positives may not be true for a limited number of people. Some people experience significant positive changes to their symptoms, while others see a limited reduction in symptoms. The benefits of medications will be heightened if psychotherapy is also a part of the treatment process, notes the MayoClinic.com.
Basics
Medications used to treat ADHD have been established as effective at reducing the symptoms, notes the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry or AACAP. A benefit of ADHD medication is it potential to effectively treat the symptoms throughout a person's lifespan. Children may need to remain on an effective medication well into adulthood.
Stimulant Specifics
ADHD stimulant medications such as Ritalin, are effective because of the way they impact a person's brain. Stimulant medications do not have a calming effect in people with ADHD, though it may appear that way. When stimulants are effective at treating ADHD, they cause the person's brain to increase the production of specific neurotransmitters, which allows her to be able to increase her level of attention, notes Family Education.
Significance
This increased level of attention does not improve a child's ability to learn, but it provides him with the skills to be able to learn, reports Family Education. The increased focus can provide him with the ability to improve his performance in the workplace.
When stimulant medications allow a person to increase focus and attention, his ability to listen more fully; hear and follow all the directions given; read instructions thoroughly and remain focused on one task until it is completed increases. This can positively impact the person's overall success in his school or career performance.
Considerations
Non-stimulant medications are also used to treat the symptoms of ADHD. These medications are generally used when stimulant medications have not been found to be effective, or if the person's health warrants the avoidance of stimulants. The positive aspects of some of the non-stimulant medications, such as bupropion, are their anti-depressive qualities, reports HelpGuide.org.
Often times, people with ADHD experience depression symptoms in addition to their ADHD. Therefore, having a treatment medication that can be effective at reducing the symptoms of both these mental health illnesses at the same time can be beneficial to the person in many ways. She will only have to remember to take one medication, there will be reduced risk of negative interactions and she will have to pay for one medication.
Potential
ADHD medication can help reduce a person's symptoms of ADHD and prepare him for success in therapy. When medications are effective at increasing a person's attention and reducing hyperactivity it will provide him with the ability to focus and learn in psychotherapy.
Therefore, although ADHD medications do not sustain behavior changes because they only reduce the symptoms of ADHD when a person is taking them, they can build a basis for behavior change in psychotherapy. Also, medication has the potential to allow a person to achieve at a level beyond what psychotherapy on its own would have allowed.
