One minute you're bouncing off the walls and driving your coworkers nuts. A short time later, you're reading a complex report and writing an assessment for your boss.
Hyperactivity is caused by a biochemical abnormality.
Paradoxically, chemicals like Ritalin work to slow down the pace by stimulating the underactive part of the brain. Although inconclusive, a controversial 1996 study from the Food and Drug Administration linked Ritalin to liver cancer in mice. At this point, however, the FDA still considers the drug safe and effective for humans. Ritalin has also made headlines because of reports that kids buy it from their hyperactive classmates on the playground and take it to get high. Parents who demand that doctors prescribe the drug to improve the academic performance of children who don't have ADD have not helped Ritalin's reputation, either.