ADHD: should we medicate? Let's get you ready for the conversation.
For any parent or carer weighing this for their child — you and whoever's deciding with you.
You've been told to "think about medication" for your child, and you've probably spent more than a few nights turning it over. This page doesn't tell you whether to medicate — that's a decision for you and your child's doctor, together. It hands you the questions to bring to the appointment you're already booked for, so you walk out having decided with the doctor, not been decided for.
It isn't a calculator and it isn't a screener. It doesn't score your child, doesn't diagnose ADHD, and never says "yes medicate" or "no don't". It never names a specific medicine, brand or dose. What it does is turn the fight in your head into a few clean questions a good doctor will actually welcome.
The four questions to bring (school-age template)
Benefits — In real numbers, how much is medication likely to help my child — with focus, with school, with home — and how soon would we know?
Risks — What are the common side effects, how often do they happen, and what do we watch for with sleep, appetite, mood and growth?
Alternatives — What support at home and school would we try alongside — or before — medication? (parent training, classroom adjustments, routines)
Nothing — What tends to happen if we wait and review in a few months instead of starting now?
If you need help sooner than an appointment: In an emergency call 000 · Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (24/7, kids and parents) · Lifeline 13 11 14 · Poisons Information Centre 13 11 26 (24/7) · 13YARN (First Nations) 13 92 76 · 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732.
Dr HB Lo
Integrative GP · ADHD: should we medicate? — decision-prep card for parents
Your decision
The real question to bring
The four questions that cut through — phrased for your child
Benefits
Risks
Alternatives
Nothing
Including your teen
Your notes to raise
The honest part
None of these questions mean you don't trust your doctor.
They're the questions clinicians ask about their own kids. Asking them out loud just gets you the real conversation faster.
Two honest things this tool can't do: it can't tell you whether your child has ADHD (only a proper assessment does that), and it can't tell you whether to medicate (only you and your child's doctor can, together). Medication helps a lot of children — for many it's life-changing — and it carries real, common side effects worth watching. Both are true. The point isn't to talk you in or out of it. It's to make sure you walk out having decided with your doctor.
Take it with you
Email the question sheet to bring to your appointment.
Your questions with room to write the answers, the key question boxed at the top — ready to put on the desk.
I'll also send the occasional drhblo email. Unsubscribe anytime.
Your answers stay on your device. If you email the sheet, only the question card is sent — not anything you typed about your child.
If you want to go a step further
This is the general version. The full Childhood ADHD decision kit walks through your child's exact situation — the real benefit numbers for their age, a side-effect tracker, and a one-page plan to take to the paediatrician.
None of these questions mean this parent doesn't trust their doctor — they're the questions a good clinician is glad to be asked, so the decision is made together.