ADHD Meds Work

Children who are diagnosed with ADHD are significantly less likely to get sexually transmitted diseases, to have substance abuse problems, and to experience accidental injuries if they are taking ADHD medicines than they are if they do not do so.

Eleven percent of children in the United States ages 4-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD and almost 70 percent of them are treated with medications. . . . Compared with children who were diagnosed with ADHD but did not receive medication, those who took medication were 3.6 percentage points less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease, 7.3 percentage points less likely to have a substance-abuse disorder and 2.3 percentage points less likely to be injured.

Needless to say, these results are not direct, but flow instead from behavioral changes that occur when ADHD symptoms are controlled.