Tilly (11) takes stimulant medication to help manage her ADHD. Photo \/ Heath Waugh<\/p>\n
Despite that growth, many still feel uneasy. The word \u201cstimulant\u201d still carries weight, and decisions about medication, particularly for children, are not easy ones. Professor Dave Coghill, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says the concerns are understandable, but the idea that we\u2019re \u201cdrugging\u201d kids is misplaced. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole continuum of stimulants from coffee at one end to methamphetamine at the other,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ones we use to treat ADHD are much closer to coffee than they are to the drugs that are abused and misused. The nice thing about the ADHD medications is they can do what we want \u2026 And actually, you don\u2019t get a high from them \u2026 they\u2019re pretty poor party drugs \u2026 they don\u2019t work in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coghill has published dozens of research papers on ADHD and his work has helped shape global treatment guidelines. Coghill has published widely on ADHD and helped shape clinical practice internationally. And, for him, the evidence base is clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stimulant medications for ADHD are among the top performers of any medications we have,\u201d he says. \u201cNot just medications for mental health difficulties, but medications for pretty much anything. They can punch above their weight against most other medications around. And so they are really, really effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coghill cautions that effectiveness is reliant on careful prescribing and ongoing adjustment to treatment as required. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese medications are only as good as the people giving them, and the way they\u2019re being given.\u201d <\/p>\n
Professor David Coghill specialises in ADHD, disruptive behaviours and psychopharmacology. Photo \/ supplied<\/p>\n
While prescription treatment can be life-changing, it is not a cure-all. Research consistently shows the best outcomes occur when medication is part of a broader treatment plan \u2013 one that might include things like environmental adjustments, coaching and school or workplace supports. <\/p>\n
For some people with ADHD, effective treatment doesn\u2019t involve prescription stimulants at all. But for many, the right medication can reduce impulsiveness, improve focus, and ease emotional volatility, creating space for children, adults \u2013 and families as a whole \u2013 to function more consistently.<\/p>\n
Professor Coghill says we still don\u2019t fully understand every detail of how these medications work in the brain, but new research is beginning to clarify the picture. <\/p>\n
In a recent international study<\/a>, researchers analysed thousands of brain scans and found something unexpected. Despite ADHD being defined as an \u201cattention disorder\u201d, stimulant medication doesn\u2019t appear to directly target the brain\u2019s attention networks. <\/p>\n Instead, it seems to boost systems linked to alertness and motivation. In practical terms, this suggests that when the brain feels more awake and more willing to engage with a task, sustained attention is a natural consequence.<\/p>\n As ADHD diagnoses rise and access expands, the conversation around the pros and cons of medication is unlikely to fade. With its third season, No Such Thing As Normal steps into that debate with nuance \u2013 and the voices of the families living it.<\/p>\n No Such Thing as Normal<\/a> is an NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Sonia Gray, with new episodes available every Saturday. <\/p>\n Made with the support of NZ on Air.<\/p>\n You can listen to it on iHeartRadio<\/a>, Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s more calm now,\u201d Tilly says, describing the shift from a brain where \u201ceverything is happening at once\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1443,3867,806,1052,8608,28903,51370,134,524,111,139,7805,12909,69,17146,6443,6302,6102,167514,122502,9100,4728,223,4468,1961,61,2766,9840,60721,24358,102,80],"class_list":["post-306406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-about","tag-adhd","tag-as","tag-benefits","tag-comes","tag-effects","tag-gray","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-no","tag-normal","tag-nz","tag-questions","tag-returns","tag-safety","tag-side","tag-sonia","tag-stimulant","tag-such","tag-surged","tag-the","tag-thing","tag-this","tag-to","tag-treatment","tag-truth","tag-uncover","tag-wave","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}