My friend was reading the news during class. I glanced over because the term ADHD caught my eye, and I read a most disturbing title.

“A.D.H.D Drugs Linked to Higher Test Scores”

I have no problem with the article or with the scientists who conducted the study the article discusses. It simply states that children with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) who are being treated with medication are shown to have higher test scores than those who are not.

As a journalism major, my teachers have stressed the need for word choice and critical thinking. A title like that is very disturbing to me, someone who suffers from ADHD. It makes it sounds like people with ADHD who are medicated somehow have a better chance in school. In my mind it is like its implying that ADHD drugs are to students as steroids are to athletes.

This simply isn’t true. I can speak from personal experience. People who have ADHD are all very different, but for me personally, if I don’t take my medication, I am a post-toastie.

I fidget, I waste time. I glance around, I forget things. I will set a timer, tell myself that in 15 minutes I will start on the massive piles of homework that accumulate when a person double majors. I will tell myself every 15 minutes for over 6 hours that I will do my homework. When it doesn’t happen, I experience irritation, anger, shame, self-doubt and self-recrimination. Not to mention that I still have to do the homework.

If I take my meds, it gets better. Sort of. Of course, with ADHD, half the time I forget my to take my meds.

The fact that the headline is ambiguous already is bad journalism. I should know, because I suck at writing headlines, which means I’ve had plenty of instruction on bad headlines in professor’s efforts to improve them. I would rather people get the right idea from the headline. Perhaps this is an overreaction on my part, but I expect more from the New York Times website. It serves as a model for aspiring journalists everywhere in terms of writing. If someone just read the headline, it could have a detrimental affect on that person’s opinion on ADHD.

I mean, I know all about ADHD. If I got the wrong impression from the headline, how many other people could? Biojournalism must be precise.

As I’ve said, the article is very good. It simply explains that studies show medication works to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Actually, it just shows a causal releationship. Like good scientists, the authors of the study point out that other factors could be a reason for the relationship. Good for them. For me, personally… I already knew that medication helps.