It is known that ADHD is caused by dopamine disregulation in the brain. If you can’t acknowledge basic science on the matter, then this conversation is useless.

It is known that ADHD is caused by dopamine disregulation in the brain. If you can’t acknowledge basic science on the matter, then this conversation is useless. It would be like arguing with you over if the sky is blue or green. It is also known that typical symptoms of ADHD include poor performance in school, poor performance in work, poor performance in common life tasks like cleaning. These are real and affect people’s quality of life, income, and even their lifespan as a second order effect. Sure, we can say, to an extent, that we should instead design our systems better to better accommodate the ADHD brain. But ultimately, if people with severe ADHD cannot exist successfully in the society that exists today, then they should be medicated. And that includes children. It’s really not worth letting children flunk out of high school or develop life-long addictions to undermine the “danger” of stimulants. Like everything in life, it’s a cost-benefit analysis. Risk analysis. Yes stimulants have a risk, but so does not being on stimulants. So, we have to weigh it. If a child is currently failing school in elementary school and has ADHD, it’s unlikely they’ll spontaneously get better. Do we really want to risk their entire life, forever, because stimulants are scary? No. That’s a bad decision. I’ve known many people who threw their entire life away to avoid medication, out of fear. I’ve known people to refuse anti-psychotics and then subsequently be institutionalized. I’ve known people to reject stimulants and then never hold down a job and become homeless. And I’ve known people to reject chemotherapy, and then die remarkably quickly and painfully. Everything is risk analysis. There is no black and white answer. Its case per case, medication per medication.