ADHD doesnt exist

Originally posted by Vicodin
The officially ADHD Term does not exist and should not exist, they label it as a Decease, and thats totally utterly BS.

yeah, because you really know this don't you! The sad thing about threads like this, is you start getting people post two lines saying how crap it is and its all "BS" Basically they are only interest in pi**ing people off.

reply to post by PsychoX42

Diagnosis is only dependent on a psychiatrist's observation of a child's behavior and whether or not it fits the norm.

that goes for all psychological/psychiatric diagnosis

are you saying that none of it is real?

schizophrenia, bipolar disorder - none of it?

The only real input I can give, is to contrast the societal changes I have observed over my lifetime.
"Bright but scatterbrained" becomes "treat with drugs".
'Lazy and insolent" becomes "treat with drugs".
"Solitary and quiet" becomes "treat with drugs".
"Opinionated and stubborn" becomes treat with drugs".

I think you can tell where I am going with this. Undoubtedly there are a percentage of people with true issues. However (most especially in western culture) it is now the normal to immediately prescribe pharmaceuticals for any and all issues.

This is most heavily apparent where I now reside in the the grand old USA.

ADD and or ADHD, do they exist ? I'm sure they do. Are they as prevalent as we are led to believe ? I highly doubt it. They and many other acronyms are just very handy ways to prescribe a quick fix for any and all potential problems a person may have.

More than anytime previously, in at least my lifetime, I hear the phrase:

"It's not my/his/her fault. They have [insert convenient 3 or 4 letter acronym here]".
That is not an illness, it is an abdication of personal responsibility.

An excellent book on this subject is The Hyperactivity Hoax (How to Stop Drugging Your Child and Find Real Medical Help), by Sydney Walker III MD, who is a prominent neurologist. It is Dr. Walker's contention that, in his experience, there is always a physical cause for the symptoms of ADHD, if the doctor takes the time to find it. Most doctors find it easier to use the ADHD diagnosis and put the child on Ritalin or a related drug. It's easier for the doctor, but ill-serves the child.

I have noticed the disturbing trend of articles about ADHD on major MSM sites, with adverts for the prescription drugs on the same page. I surmise that these articles, as well as the ads, come straight from Big Pharma. Now they are targeting adults, as well. A recent article I read advised parents that, if their child has ADHD, then probably one or both parents do, too. Nonsense, of course. Just marketing. They also say that "the worst thing you can do is wait." Not true, in our case anyway.

My grandchild was extremely hyperactive from the age of three. I was determined that she would not be drugged. It was difficult, but I supervised her constantly and exhaustingly, and around her seventh birthday, the hyperactivity disappeared completely. She is now 12 years old and a very talented student.

As with all children, you will get from a hyperactive child exactly what you put into them. Happy endings are possible, and without drugs.

reply to post by Jay-morris


Well unfortunately, I am acting like a broken record.

Here's what we DO know about ADHD.

1. It is a VERY recent epidemic.
2. There are NO available tests that is used to diagnose it.
3. It is an inexact science
4. It requires the usage of hard psychotropic drugs which influence the seratonin levels in the brain. By the way, shouldn't it be an exact science if we are going to prescribe drugs that permanently manipulate brain chemistry?
5. The drugs prescribed for ADHD are ritalin, adderol, etc. And these drugs not only have permanent effects, but, have side effects and withdrawal symptoms similar to that of coc aine and heroin (seratonin)
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Many kids who take medications such as ritalin and seratonin also have to take anti-depressants to counteract the side-effects of such drugs. (such as: prozac, Zoloft.)
7. Over one million or more kids are misdiagnosed with this illness due to the lack of research and the foolishness of parents and the medical industry itself.
www.medicalnewstoday.com...

www.wrongdiagnosis.com...

www.keepkidshealthy.com...

I'm sorry, but, until this becomes an exact science...every diagnosis of this "disease" is a misdiagnosis.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Everybodys talking about the big "Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder" that has now become a "worldwide Epidemic". If a child cant sit still all day, if it cant suppress its natural urge to play and move, the child is labelled "mentally ill". If a child is unwilling to be indocrinated by boring and useless information all day it is labeled "mentally ill". And then medicine is prescribed, parents asked to accompany their child to a therapist, weird treatments developed and Billions of Dollars wasted because the child wont CONFORM to the collectivist indoctrination-centers we call "school".

How ridiculous is that? If you show a kid "suffering" ADHD something interesting and relevant, he/she will get interested. If you let the kid move a little more, play a little more, enjoy a little more, it will get relaxed. Maybe a bit less ultra-violent-video-games and rapid-movement movies for the six year old. Maybe a bit less sugar for the youngster. And get some Humor into the classroom for goodness sake. As a teacher you need to look at the kid before you look at the Schoolbook. Too many teachers are underpaid and undereducated, staring at books and curricula instead of making a heart-to-heart connection with the kids.

Its not active, energetic and playful kids that need curing, its the deadbeats who think it is an illness to be alive.

[edit on 21-8-2010 by Skyfloating]

My wife has been diagnosed and lives with ADHD and I get to see it first hand and have for a long time. You don't have a clue what someone with the disease has to go through just to make it through 1 single day. Until you have been right there and can appreciate what those of us who have spouses who are ADHD live life like daily, I would not be so quick to make stupid uneducated remarks about something you don't have a clue about.

Yes, this is PERSONAL with me because of my experience with it.

It is a sort of desease I think but it is like "stress"
it is made by our western world, our concrete jungles
and not surviving like the oldies did 60 years ago, we were survivers
Nowadays we are just consumers, living our routined life with work
and live by the rules.. teach us what's wrong and what's wright...

ADHD and stress is just a sign for us doing something wrong with our lives.

Double Trouble

[edit on 22-8-2010 by Vicodin]

You all are talking like the officials.. the "Disorder" the "Disease" and so on, its sad... you think you need medications ... it breaks my heart how misled some of you are...

[edit on 22-8-2010 by Vicodin]

Originally posted by PsychoX42
reply to post by Jay-morris

 

Well unfortunately, I am acting like a broken record.

Here's what we DO know about ADHD.

1. It is a VERY recent epidemic.
2. There are NO available tests that is used to diagnose it.
3. It is an inexact science
4. It requires the usage of hard psychotropic drugs which influence the seratonin levels in the brain. By the way, shouldn't it be an exact science if we are going to prescribe drugs that permanently manipulate brain chemistry?
5. The drugs prescribed for ADHD are ritalin, adderol, etc. And these drugs not only have permanent effects, but, have side effects and withdrawal symptoms similar to that of coc aine and heroin (seratonin)
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

Many kids who take medications such as ritalin and seratonin also have to take anti-depressants to counteract the side-effects of such drugs. (such as: prozac, Zoloft.)
7. Over one million or more kids are misdiagnosed with this illness due to the lack of research and the foolishness of parents and the medical industry itself.
www.medicalnewstoday.com...

www.wrongdiagnosis.com...

www.keepkidshealthy.com...

I'm sorry, but, until this becomes an exact science...every diagnosis of this "disease" is a misdiagnosis.

Well, i had no medication when i was a child, but as an adult with ADD, ritalin has help me a great deal. I have been taking ritalin on and off for about 10 years. The only side effect i had was sometimes headaches. No depression, nothing! Actually i was more depressed before i started taking ritalin, so that should tell you something.

Unless you suffer from ADD, you will never know what a person goes through with this condition. And what makes it even more upsetting are the people, like the people on this site who say its complete BS, and enjoying saying that!

Originally posted by Matthew Dark
reply to post by Skyfloating

 

ADHD doesnt exist!

I've been saying that for years.
Just too much sugary cereal and television.

Wow! Bold lettering and an exclamation point. And such voluminous and convincing research from our moderator/member. Notice all the cites to medical texts and studies.
I wonder what the OP knows that is not known by the following:
American Medical Association (AMA)
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Psychological Association
Canadian Psychiatric Association
Surgeon General of the United States
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)

OK, let's weigh the competing evidence.
On the one hand, we have skyfloating with a hunch, or gut feeling. WOW. I'm already overwhelmed.
Then, on the reality based world side, we have:
a. Published clinical findings that boys diagnosed with ADHD had significantly smaller anterior regions of the corpus callosum (the rostrum and the rostral body) see, findarticles.com...
b. Data from brain imaging studies showing a correlation of anomolous findings with the diagnosis. Psychiatric Times August 2004 Vol. XXI Issue 9.
c. New high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of the brains of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder indicate significant and specific anatomical differences within areas of the brain thought to control attentional and inhibitory control systems, compared with brain scans of children without ADHD. pn.psychiatryonline.org...
d. A New England Journal of Medicine study showing a Global cerebral glucose metabolism deficit in adults with the diagnosis.
e.Journal of Child Neurology. 2002 Dec;17(12):877-84 Schrimsher GW, Billingsley RL, Jackson EF, Moore BD 3rd. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Shows a right to left caudate asymetry in children with the diagnosis.
I'm running out of allowable characters but you get the picture. I hope.
Ignorance, and particularly hypervocal ignorance, doesn't need research or reality. It feeds on its own arrogant egoism.
The shame is that denialism such as shown in the OP heightens the stigma already attached to mental disorders, whether psychological or organic
Skyfloating can now join Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carey, Tom Cruise, Casper Schmidt, Harvey Bialy, and Ernst Nolte as a vociferous denier of reality based living. Hopefully, the readers of this thread will reject his "hunch"-based rant as the unresearched, unsupportable dangerous diatribe against people with an objectively diagnosed condition it is.

reply to post by irishchic


Excellent post. I'm not sure that anything else needs to be said.

Star from me.

Namaste and Love


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[edit on Sun Aug 22 2010 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
But chemically restraining a child unnecessarily and without absolute justification, is not the answer.

And of course I know that teachers don't write prescriptions....doctors do, and parents have them filled.

To be fair to parents, many are forced to fill those prescriptions or their children are not allowed to attend school. In this state teachers are making these diagnosis and being backed up by the administration, the doctors are listening to the schools and not the parents or the children.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by Aquarius1]

Originally posted by Skyfloating
And again: Im not saying suffering doesnt exist, Im saying that "ADHD" is the wrong label leading to the wrong "solutions", in at least 80% of the cases.

I think some may misunderstand the point of the thread. I am 45 years old, when I was a young child, I was called a hyperactive kid, today they bundle up every child into one big lump group, these children may very well have many different reasons they display unusual social, emotional, and cognitive differences. This should not mean the first thing a parent or teacher should do is seek out medical pharmaceutical or psychological solutions, humanity is such a gregarious social condition, we often forget it’s just plain ok, for a child to be different. I learned thru trial and error, what kind of learning techniques I could use to help me concentrate, focus, and over a period of years learned to live with the idea I am hyperactive.

A little over a decade ago, when our culture began to slip into this idea there is a “magical” pill for everything, I was quite bothered how aggressive the school corporations were forcing various ADHD pills upon children. I remember George Carlin once back in the 70s making a joke about hyperactive children, saying he wished they had a “valium” type pill to give to kids. I bet he was surprised when they really started doing it!

However, I think the condition is very much a genetic condition, out of my five children, 2 are like me hyperactive, (I refuse to self-describe my condition as Attention Deficit Disorder). Why? For one it’s not a deficit, I am also a school teacher, I teach social studies. I help other children to learn the techniques I have come to use, in addition, hyperactive children tend to actually learn things faster, comprehend, and contemplate questions quicker than other children. A good teacher just has to keep up with their fast paced learning skills, or they will become bored, while seeking out alternative reactions, which can lead them into causing a problem in school. I have always thought and employed the idea every classroom is unique, some have more hyperactive children than others, hyperactive children are mostly kinetic learners, you got to keep them interested in various ways, such as having different learning stations within the classroom where once they have mastered one concept they can move on to another on their own.

As far as the problems within the education system, some have mentioned in this thread the main problem as I see it is, most teachers are undereducated and undertrained to deal with various emotional conditions of children. The reason why is never addressed. I graduated from Indiana University with a Humanities major and Communication minor, probably 99% of all teachers graduated with Education majors. I started as an Education major, but quickly realized all the classes were repetitive, while, for example a Education major with a Social Studies concentration would graduate with a very low percentage of Social Studies credits, most of their credits are in the Education department. I wanted to be an expert in my field. When I was young my Science teacher was a Science major, my Math teacher was a Math major, my English teacher was a English major, teachers need to once again become experts in the field they are teaching, I see the difference everyday, I always know when I’m speaking to a Education major. Now, because of No Child Left Behind and the monopolization of the teachers union to only easily accept Education majors as teachers, it becomes very hard for other majors to become teachers like myself, however once I finish my Masters that will change. Science, English, Math, History, Communition and Humanities majors should be as easily able to become teachers as Education majors, they should be welcomed even in a greater way, because they have more expertise in their fields of study. While if they have chose to teach, more than likely possess the same skills to be able to teach as any Education major!



[edit on 22-8-2010 by AmosGraber]

The drugs they are giving your kids, wife and so is Amphetamine. if you didn't know.

reply to post by Jay-morris


Maybe you missed the earlier post where I clearly stated that I WAS DIAGNOSED with ADD.

As it turned out...it was a bunch of B.S.

My parents, being intelligent and prone to critical thought, refused to put me on mind altering drugs because THEY KNEW THE RISKS.

I turned out to be a straight A student without ever having to listen in class whatsoever. I was aware that the teachers were spewing out regurgitated garbage and it only takes a parrot to repeat the drivel that they were trained to teach me.

So, if you like your pharmaceutical grade coc aine, then, more power to you. But, this shouldn't be prescribed in mass the way that it has been. Especially when there are NO TESTS whatsoever to prove the existence of ADD or ADHD.

When the numbers aren't exact, and when science and mathematics are not involved, prescribing psychotropic drugs is dangerous and irresponsible.

I think you need to read the book Brave New World where they medicated an entire population via "Soma," in order to keep the people focused on work, docile, at the will of the government, and completely inept of critical thought.

What is happening to our children right now is nothing short of this.


[edit on 22-8-2010 by PsychoX42]

reply to post by 4nsicphd


Grest post The problem is, people will not change there mind on this thread. This is not about ADD/adhd existing on not.Its about arragonce and ignorance.




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[edit on Sun Aug 22 2010 by DontTreadOnMe]

Having a child with ADHD when your on benefits in the UK is a great money spinner as you get more money from the goverment.

Also the number of kids in my part of Scotland diagnosed with austium is crazy its just another way to get more money from the goverment and for big pharma to sell more meds, everyone benefits except the poor shmucks that raise there kids right and work for there money.

reply to post by Spiramirabilis


Thats not my point.

American children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new U.K. study.

That was years ago

I understand what you mean. I myself am skeptical as to the existence of ADHD due to personal experience. When I was little I had all the basic symptoms of it; I was very hyperactive, I was impulsive, I couldn't pay attention. I ended up being taken to a psychiatrist, misdiagnosed, and put me on all the different medications for it. What was interesting was that nothing worked. The medications that were supposed to calm ADHD children down and mellow them out just made me worse. Eventually the medication stopped and I just grew out of it. Now I'm the exact opposite of this disorder or whatever you'll call it. I'm very calm and controlled and have no attention problems. I haven't been on any medication since I was very young. I'm a rather firm believer that people with "ADHD" can grow out of it and learn to calm themselves and maintain attention. I think in alot of cases the symptoms of ADHD can be attributed to other things rather than this particular disorder, and I do fully agree that it is very much over diagnosed, if it exists at all.

Also to add, in case it seems relevant to anyone, while very young I was exposed to an extremely large amount of fluoride. It's also possible that I have been exposed to too much lead.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by trollz]