title: Uses and misuses of treatments for ADHD. The second Birgit Olsson lecture.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medication in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is so controversial that in some countries many children go untreated, while in others the prevalence of medication has become very high, and possibly even higher than the rate of ADHD.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This lecture addresses the reasons for overuse and the obstacles to adequate use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and scientific literature is reviewed, with emphasis on published meta-analyses and national guidelines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The lecture suggests that overuse is associated with economic forces affecting prescribers, while underuse may come about in some European countries because we have overestimated the hazards of drugs, overestimated the value of non-pharmaceutical interventions or underestimated the severity of disorder.
authors.affiliation: Eric Taylor, FRCP, FRCPsych (Hon), FMedSci, Emeritus Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry , London , UK .
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants