Often children with ADHD are prescribed stimulant medication. Most children that take stimulant drugs end up taking them over a prolonged period of time, even up to many years.
These stimulants cause the brain to release increased amounts of neurotransmitters that help with attention and focus. Unfortunately, these stimulants often have undesirable side-effects while children are using them. Some side-effects include: loss of appetite, insomnia, stomach problems, irritability, headaches, and heart palpitations.
Additionally, the longer a person uses a stimulant the less effective the dose of the stimulant becomes. Then a person will often increase the dosage to receive the same effect. This has been described as how dependency occurs.
Stimulant use in children has been shown to help students academically. However, long term effects of prolonged usage of stimulants is not well known. And it has been reported that people who used stimulants in their youth have a higher incidence of depression, alcoholism, anxiety, and drug use later in life.