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ADHD Drug Holidays: Should Your Kid Get One?

Experts debate the pros and cons of giving kids a break from ADHD drugs.

By Katrina Woznicki
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Summer camp is in full swing, which means more than 11 million children and adults are having fun at the 7,000 resident and 5,000 day camps across the U.S.

For some kids living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), summer camp is a time when their parents give them a break from taking their ADHD drugs.

Those drug holidays are controversial. Are they a much-needed break from treatment and its side effects, or a risky and potentially harmful practice? Here's what experts told WebMD.

Slideshow: ADHD in Children

Pediatrics and Camp Groups Take a Stand

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is revising its guidelines about drug holidays at summer camp. Back in 2005, the AAP said that drug holidays "should be avoided" in campers who are taking psychiatric medications for a long time.

The American Camp Association (ACA) agrees. On its web site, the ACA states that giving children drug holidays is "a personal choice," but parents should "discuss medication decisions with the camp director and family physician."

How many kids are taking medication holidays during the summer isn't clear. It's an "impossible number to figure out, because some kids can go without their medications and you wouldn’t know and [in] some kids it becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly, " Edward Walton, MD, an ACA board member and pediatrician, tells WebMD.

Tell the Camp

Another major problem, Walton says, is that some parents don't tell camps that their kids are on a drug holiday and may also give their children breaks from other mood and behavior disorders, or even allergy or asthma medication.

These breaks can put kids at a disadvantage at summer camp, Walton says. Experts note that parents probably wouldn’t allow their kids who have diabetes to take extended breaks from their insulin treatment, but that conditions associated with mood and behavior may be perceived differently by parents.

"What camps ask from parents is to just be honest so we can do what’s best for your camper," says Walton, adding that parents should discuss any treatment holidays with their physicians and camp staff. "Camps have the same problems that exist at home. Parents don’t feel like camp is a place where their kids need to be on medication and need to focus, and I think that’s a misunderstanding."

Camp activities-- such as swimming and other sports, boating, or rope climbing -- require kids to focus, not struggle with symptoms, Walton notes.

The Effects

Kids' summer drug holidays haven't been studied much, but going off treatments doesn’t let children feel and perform at their best -- and it may be risky to going off and go back on treatment, says Scott H. Kollins, PhD, director of the Duke ADHD Program in the department of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

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