- ADHD medication is sometimes abused, for example, when university students without the condition use it to study better. The reality, however, psychiatrist Renata Schoeman tells Mia Malan in this podcast, is that the medicine doesn’t work for people without ADHD. In fact, it can worsen their performance.
- The results for the first medicine to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was released in 1937, and over the years, many other medicines have been tested and come onto the market.
- People with ADHD find it harder to concentrate and control their emotions than people without the condition, and they often also struggle with time management, are disorganised and can be impulsive.
- People with ADHD often also have other mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or autism spectrum disorders.
- Like all other medicine, ADHD treatment has side effects, of which appetite suppression and insomnia are the most common.
- In the last of Bhekisisa’s two-part podcast series on ADHD, Malan asks Schoeman: how does ADHD medicine work, what it can and can’t do, what happens if ADHD is left untreated.
In today’s newsletter, Mia Malan asks if ADHD medication works to cram during exams. Sign up for our newsletter today.
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Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
