Chapter 1
A Case Study: Driven by Fire
All individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will
not have the same experiences, nor will they all have the same reactions to
the use of respective ADHD medications. Some individuals with ADHD will
be prescribed a particular ADHD medicine, begin to use it and find, perhaps
within a short period of time, that it makes a tremendous difference in how
they feel and function. Other individuals may be administered the very same
medication but experience far less satisfactory results or even experience
adverse side effects. However, it is quite possible that if those individuals tried
using other ADHD medications, they might experience much more favorable
results. We will briefly consider a fictitious case study of an individual with
ADHD to explore some of the many varied types of interactions that can occur
in the course of searching for ways to help that person through the course of his
or her life, both with and without the use of ADHD medications.
INTRODUCTION
Anthony G. is a white male, now aged 42 years. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall
and weighs about 187 pounds. Anthony had a somewhat difficult childhood;
he was always getting into trouble and had few childhood friends—a phe-
nomenon that is shared in common with many children who have untreated
ADHD. He was not diagnosed with ADHD until at a relatively late age, which
means that he did not begin to receive appropriate treatment for this serious
neurodevelopmental disorder until he was older than most individuals who
initiate treatment for ADHD. The fact that Anthony had ADHD as a child
should not be too surprising. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and
