The Cost of Treating ADHD

The goal of treating in childhood is to try to prevent the adverse outcomes that characterize ADHD and adolescents and adulthood. Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity don't determine how you're going to turn out when you're an adolescent or an adult. Peer relationships, parenting, and school functioning are the three key domains that determine who's going to be doing well and who's still going to have problems down the line. The field is moving more and more towards focusing on the impairment or problems in daily life functioning rather than the DSM symptom list.