Gettin By:The ADHD Scenario
Gettin’ By: ADHD drugs make life easier and harder
The pharmacy says your kid’s ADHD drug is no longer covered by your health plan.
You either. . . .
A. Get the doctor to prescribe something the plan covers, but it is one you have tried that has more side effects and doesn’t work as well. Lose Home/Family
B. Research how to get the drug directly from the drug maker. Lose Time/Energy
C. Start a side hustle to pay for the drug yourself. This is the only way to be sure your kid gets the better medicine and can stay in the after-school care program. Lose Money/Debt + Time/Energy
This is one of the Gettin’ By game cards, and IRL, it’s no fun for parents of the 4.7 million U.S. children who take medication for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder. We select topics that are more common in low-income than in high-income households, and ADHD is one of them.
Twice as much ADHD, half as much “wiggle room”
Children in families with income below 200% of Federal Poverty are almost twice as likely to have ADHD as children in higher income families. Other studies confirm a link between lower social economic status and greater ADHD prevalence. One theory is that the chronic stressor of scarcity shapes the child’s physical brain development. For example, one study found that children who grow up in low-income households have less surface area in their brains.
Whether scarcity physically rearranges the brain, or a stressful home environment paves the way, the higher rate of ADHD for children in low-income families is clear. And the family’s ability to cope with it is less than ideal.
Managing a child’s ADHD treatment is hard for anyone, but the toll is higher on the low-income family’s fragilely balanced life. A middle- or upper-income earner could negotiate flexible work hours – giving him/her time to deal with the problem or allow the child to skip the after-school program for a few days. An hourly employee has no such leeway. For them, a change in ADHD meds could lead to loss of income and loss of the childcare slot.
The child is likely not the only family members with ADHD. One strong predictor of a child’s ADHD is having a parent with ADHD. These adults, because their brain’s executive function is impaired, tend to have problems holding a job.
Scarcity overloads everyone’s brains. Even if we do not have ADHD, we cannot make careful, cost-benefit choices with scarcity crowding our “bandwidth.” We’d love to have you play and see how your brain copes with scarcity
