Pills vs. Skills: A False Dichotomy for ADHD Management

00:00 Introduction
02:03 What’s wrong with this idea: implies mutual exclusivity of these approaches
03:02 Insinuates one (skills) is better than the other (pills) – It isn’t
05:10 It implies that people with ADHD are stupid – that they lack skills and knowledge, which is untrue
08:00 It reflects a stunning ignorance about the very nature of ADHD – it’s a performance disorder
11:20. It doesn’t distinguish skills from accommodations – the latter is better
13:25 Conclusion

This video addresses the common criticism of ADHD management (skills vs. pills) that treatment should be more focused on training people with ADHD in skills to address their deficits rather than giving them pills. The latter implies that one is simply papering over or covering up the problem rather than addressing it. In fact this dichotomy is false for several important reasons that I address in this video.

References:
Barkley, R. A. (1997). ADHD and the Nature of Self-Control. New York: Guilford Publications
Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. New York: Guilford Publications.
Barkley, R. A. (2022). Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. New York: Guilford Publications
Barkley, R. A. (2021). Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. New York: Guilford Publications