A good example of drug therapy to treat behavior problems is the use of stimulant in children with DHDA. There has been an ongoing debate around it, and the big question is whether or not it is safe to prescribe drugs, especially stimulants to children.
There have also been questions on whether or not drug therapy is effective on the long run, and if they bring any side effects. Those against drug therapy say that the other behavior techniques can provide better results in the long run. After all, there has not been a full agreement about whether the cause of DHDA is biological or environmental. The debate is between nurture and nature.
Finally, there is another debate going on in regards of the money and conflict of interests: the number of drug prescription for DHDA behavior modification has been increasing, and it is said that there is much money involved in that particular market; thus it makes it very difficult to be resolved.
It is also difficult to resolve because in most cases it is very difficult to change the environment and thus hard to provide enough evidence to support that indeed DHDA is caused by the environment. There is also plenty of evidence about the short term academic benefits about drug therapy.
While much research has been done about the side effects of drugs and many bad side effects have been reported, the evidence is still not as solid as to encourage parents and doctors to stop prescribing the drugs (32).
One of the methods used to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of drug therapy for the treatment of DHDA is the evaluation of children who died of sudden death and who were under drug therapy at that time for DHDA (32). This study shows many limitations and does not encourage the suspension of the drug therapy. So far, the only the only consistent evidence available shows that the side effects of drug therapy are that children do not grow up to full height. But this side effect is not as severe when compared to the effectiveness of good academic results in a short period. Thus, most evidence up to this moment indicates that it is safe and effective to use drug therapy to treat this particular behavior disorder.
Work Cited
Aschenbrenner, Diane. “The FDA Reviews Safety of Stimulant Medication for ADHD.” AJN, American Journal of Nursing 109.10 (2009): 32. 6 May 2014
