emeraldkity4

I am not a fan of meds-
I don't like antibiotics and would be the last person to ask for them for a cold
I originally planned to have my kids at home with midwives- but older Ds emergency cesearan delivery at 30 weeks kinda put a stop to that.
We have used a naturopath for our primary caregiver for years- for all of us except my H.
I have tried many many things- to address various health concerns including ADD, without using pharmecuticals.
Medication was the last resort-
The people on this section of CC are looking for support & guidance for their child or themselves who have learning/behavior differences that may/will affect them in college.

Telling me- that ADD is over diagnosed is not news - I have read it before in the paper. It is a cliche to say that ADD is caused by our "societys need for a quick fix- for an individuals wish for an easy out"
The same thing is often said about other syndromes that can be at least partially managed with medication.

How difficult is it to tell someone, that they aren't trying hard enough, that it is the educational setting in which they have their children, combined with their parenting skills that have resulted in their child needing medication.

Parents, mothers especially, also used to be blamed for autistic behaviors in their children. Now, we know that there are genetic differences in people with autism, that it is not environmentally created.

Medical professionals around the world, recognize the diagnosis of ADHD to be legitimate and roughly the same % of incidence exists in countries where it is studied.
I wouldn't recommend that anyone pursue a course of treatment without research- but the articles and individuals that insinuate that those " with ADD "are taking the easy way out- are doing harm.
ADD/ADHD is way over diagnosed.

Why is this syndrome in particular so threatening?
lets move out of the dark ages- in blaming parents for biochemical/genetic disorders

jym626

ek4-
What link did you mean to put in your post? The link you posted is to THIS thread!

emeraldkity4

oops is there a full moon?

ucacheer2213

ADHD people are not lazy!!! I have it,and I have good grades ,and have been excepted at a great school!!! Yes, it may be over diagnosed , but don't call all of us lazy!!!

ClaySoul

accepted...accepted


sorry, can't help myself.

b'smom

I would say people with ADHD have to work twice as hard-I think it is underdiagnosed....I am a practicing clinician.

fiN01

Is ADD/ADHD overdiagnosed? YES! But it DOES exist, and to say that it does not is simply stupid and irresponsible...

Ever since I was a little kid I was always WAY more hyperactive than everyone else (an example, when I was taking swimming classes when I was 4 all the other boys would sit still while I simply could not). It wasn't due to caffeine, as I wasn't allowed to drink soda until much later in life, and I barely ever ate candy/chocolate. I lose things all the time and am EXTREMELY disoganized. It's not because I am lazy, but rather I think my organization skills are a reflection of how my brain is...I often lose my train of thought and get frustrated very easily. I would blurt out answers to the teachers very loudly and couldn't "read" social cues. I was a textbook case.

Yet, for MANY years after being diagnosed I resisted medication. From the age of 8 to the age of 15 I tried to go through school without medicine. When I finally decided to take medicine it literally CHANGED MY LIFE. My grades SKYROCKETED. For the first time in my life I could concentrate on someone speaking for more than 10 minutes, and I did much better socially. Of course not all the symptoms have gone away. I still blurt out inappropriate things in conversation, and I still lose things (I constantly check my pockets to make sure my wallet is there). I am currently going to a doctor weekly for neurofeedback (Neurofeedback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more info) and it has helped. I also got a brain scan (forgot what type) which basically confirmed the ADD diagnosis. I don't understand why so many people think ADD isn't real...telling someone with ADD to just "stop being lazy" is like telling someone with depression to "cheer up".

Shrinkrap

Pretty technical but for those who are so inclined


Why Does the Worldwide Prevalence of Childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Matter? -- Moffitt and Melchior 164 (6): 856 -- Am J Psychiatry

Interestingly, while the group of behaviors/symptoms may be relatively equal around the world, I believe the US prescribes way more in the way of stimulants.

Overuse of Prescription Stimulants for Children reported in new Duke Study
(kind of old)
ADHD & Stimulants

Shrinkrap

Psychotropic Medication in Children: A Study From The Netherlands

Psychotropic Medication in Children: A Study From The Netherlands -- Schirm et al. 108 (2): e25 -- Pediatrics

Sigh..guess these belong on a different forum....

ClaySoul

I'm gonna make one more shout out that ADD/ADHD are not the only things that stimulants are prescribed for.

Currently, the only treatments for Narcolepsy, what I have, are adderall, provigil, and ritalin. And to a lesser extent, sleep meds like ambien which do little, or drastic sleep meds like GHB.

So until you find a medicine that treats the cause and not the symptoms, do shut up.

bandnerd88

On the subject of meds vs no meds, I will just say that I have ADHD and I have never been medicated. I wish I would have been.

I struggled so terribly all through school. It took me ages to do homework that took other kids no time at all because I simply couldn't focus. Everything is stimuli to someone with ADHD. A program on TV, a book nearby, a hangnail, food, the clicking sound a mechanical pencil makes... everything. I would even flip around in my textbook reading different sections when there was nothing else around to distract me. The problem was compounded by the fact that I often have a perfectionist mentality - if something's not done up to my standards, if it is not exactly right, then it's not done. But it took way too long to get everything perfect! So oftentimes I wouldn't even bother with certain assignments because I knew I wouldn't be able to finish them. I know that my boyfriend was really frustrated with me for a long time - he's the straight-A, super-focused type and he just couldn't understand why I couldn't just sit quietly and do my work like he did. I think he mostly understands my issue now (as much as someone without ADHD can understand, anyway) but it was a point of a lot of arguing between us for quite some time. He thought I was too smart and had too much potential to be so lazy and unfocused, while I tried to explain that I honestly could not focus to save my own life.

I'm in a CC now and doing much better but that's only because I have less busywork/homework to worry about. I'm also not spending as much time in class so I have more time to do work than I did in high school. But I can't get a job or anything like that like most of my classmates do because that would cut into my study time enough to where my grades would plummet and it just wouldn't be worth it. I would get meds if I could because I feel like it would make everything SO much easier than having to struggle all the time but I have no medical coverage so it's not an option right now, unfortunately.

Outofdirection

I'd like to provide a third perspective. It seems that everyone here either subscribes to the view that people with ADHD are usually just lazy or that it's not overdiagnosed.

I think that people with ADHD are well. It is just a difference that should be accepted rather than medicated away. We're headed to the point where every minor variation from the norm will be labeled as a disease. A long time ago people were aware of their flaws and they did what they could to work around them or to improve them. They didn't get a label slapped on them, and nobody tried to change who they were with medication. Capitalism demands that everybody be a well-behaved cog in the machine. As a result our educational system uses rigid teaching methods. Experiments with the unschooling method show a lack of learning disabilities. It shows when you give children more flexibility in their education they will learn, because they will use what ever works for them to learn.

We should also consider that many problems people have may be due to the kind of society we live in. Poverty is an often discounted factor, yet almost every mental health problem is more common in the poor than the rich. Even for those that aren't poor the way capitalism commodifies and depersonalizes everything is not good for the human psyche, especially that of a developing child.

TheMan777

I believe that ADD/ADHD is a condition, but I think the overhype about taking drugs is ridiculous. If you guys remember Adderall was a pretty big issue a few months ago on the news. Many kids have been using it to gain a competitive edge with others, but it got leaked onto people without ADD, giving them an edge on studying.

My doctors and parents tell me I have ADD, but I have never resorted to using drugs - I hope it stays this way as i head off to college. I try my best to keep a level head and not drift off, by organizing my work space to include as little clutter and distracting things as possible.

Its hard to deal with and i guarantee you that it exists in different levels.

pandem

Consider the fact that millions, billions of people have lived completely productive lives prior to the diagnosis of ADD.

mikek99998

as a person diagnosed with ADD i agree with this thread i believe many people are over diagnosed and that those who are actually "sick" use there illness as an excuse to cruize through life