British Docs Advised To Stop Ritalin, Adderall In Kids

Yesterday, Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) issued new guidelines for the treatment of ADHD in kids and recommended that kids with ADHD be given therapy and their parents be given training before doctors prescribe stimulants.

What's more, NICE recommends that ADHD meds only be used in severe cases--approximately one-fourth of cases of ADHD diagnosed in the UK--and never be given to children under 5-years-old. NICE advised the British national health service. Obviously, there would need to be a huge uptick in psychological services available to British children, and the same would be true in the States were such guidelines adapted here.

This marks the second time in recent years that NICE had taken a look-see at standard treatment paradigms for mental health issues, which were imported from the US, and decided that their country was relying too much upon meds and that the benefits of the same were somewhat dubious. In 2004, NICE issued guidelines on the treatment of depression and anxiety and advised a therapy-first approach along with exercise and watchful waiting in advance of prescribing anti-depressants. The move came after a decade of SSRIs-first in the UK which produced spotty results and loads of problems for patients.

It's worth noting that in the wake of NICE's move on depression and anxiety, guidelines in the US were not altered one bit. It kind of makes you wonder if British and American psychiatrists are living on the same planet and looking at the same evidence. It will be interesting to see if the groups' ADHD recommendations have any impact on these shores.