Fact or Fiction?? ADD/ADHD Discussion.

[S.Daedalus]

Just wondering what people’s views on Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Do you believe this exists? Do you think it is just a fade or an excuse?

What are your experiences with ADD/ADHD? I'm trying to learn more and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Stephen Daedalus

-Posted well listening to Delerium

 

[littlekateyes]

I believe it is real, and I am dealing with it at the present time. I do not have much information at the current time. I am doing research via net, Google is a great search engine.

 

[*bratcat*]

 

[acitore_vuli]

ADD is real. The first symptom is an unnecessarily long sig line.

 

[CoolidgEffect]

It definitely exists but not as a single disorder or in the frequency it is being diagnosed.

The increase in the frequency of diagnosis is being driven by the pharmaceutical companies.

 

[Cristalyn]

Yes ADD/ADHD does exist and is very real.

However I can't stress enough the importance of getting second and third opinions.

 

[Mrs Christophe]

yes, have family members with it, but i still think it may be due to drug use during pregnancy........

 

[marksgirl]

My daughter has it and I don't give her the drugs the doctors and school wants me too, she's on the A/B honor roll now and doing much better with behavior modification.

 

[Mrs Christophe]

My daughter has it and I don't give her the drugs the doctors and school wants me too, she's on the A/B honor roll now and doing much better with behavior modification.

how old is your daughter, did you just take her off her meds or did you never need them, does sound like she is doing well in school.... my niece and nephew don't...have been threatened with being held back, meds seem to be the only thing that let them pay attention, otherwise they are like in their own world...

 

[miles]

It's very real. Contrary to popular belief it is more often undiagnosed than diagnosed in error. There is a huge amount of mis/disinformation about it, most of which is anectodal ("My kid's teacher said put him on Ritalin," it's a
disciplinary/parenting/nutritional problem, liberal/commie plot).

Then there are the pyramid scheming vitamin peddlers who say seaweed tabs will cure it. Just be careful with the info you get, especially on the Internet.

 

[miles]

My daughter has it and I don't give her the drugs the doctors and school wants me too, she's on the A/B honor roll now and doing much better with behavior modification.

That works for some, but not all.

 

[Lancecastor]

The Disorder Industry

I think there's a tendency to equate "disorder" with "disease", and I think the burgeoning Disorder Industry's Marketing and Ad people are driving new Porsches because of their fine work in this regard.

I think that for most of the 20th century medical science became more and more precise...and consequently, diverse... in its definition and range of human behaviors.

For various reasons, the gray area between Normal and Fucked Human Behavior has expanded.

In that big gray area are Disorders.

We could argue all month about ADD, as we could about various Personality Disorders, Environmental Illness and the expanding range of "Unwell Issues" that are being defined, discovered or simply created.

ADD? I'm on the fence. I suspect it's a precursor or indicator of something and can be dealt with in a number of ways depending on the individual case.

 

[littlekateyes]

I have learned to handle my son and his behavior issues. He is not currently taking med's, not will I put him on them. I have learn through trail and error what works best with him, and with his other issues I have found the best way for me and him. To me the med’s are a last restore when you have exhausted all of your other possibilities.

 

[marksgirl]

That works for some, but not all.

Agreed.

 

[Purple Haze]

I'm pretty sure I was an ADD kid, but that was long before anybody knew what it was.

The treatments were occasional beatings.

I still seem to have some of the traits, but I hate pills.

 

[alexandraaah]

That works for some, but not all.

Yep.

*still smiling for you and as usual unable to stay on task*

Heh.

S.- in my experience it's very real, yes. It's unfortunate that it has become such a catch phrase for a lot of people. (Someone spaces out and says, "oh yeah, that's my add, heh.")

One of the major problems with its credibility is that most people have 'symptoms' of ADD/ADHD, that are part of human nature. However, the disorder itself is having many or all of the symptoms with no reprieve.

Additionally, it's NOT just a disorder found in children.

http://borntoexplore.org/DSM.htm

 

[marksgirl]

how old is your daughter, did you just take her off her meds or did you never need them, does sound like she is doing well in school.... my niece and nephew don't...have been threatened with being held back, meds seem to be the only thing that let them pay attention, otherwise they are like in their own world...

My daughter is 12 now. She was in 2nd grade when they put her on the drugs and we did not see any improvement so after about 6 months I took her off and sought out alternative treatment. Our results have been good, as I know this does not work for everyone it did work for her.

 

[Mrs Christophe]

My daughter is 12 now. She was in 2nd grade when they put her on the drugs and we did not see any improvement so after about 6 months I took her off and sought out alternative treatment. Our results have been good, as I know this does not work for everyone it did work for her.

what alternative treatment worked for you?

 

[marksgirl]

A great book to read, may help some may not help others.

"A Mind at a Time" by Mel Levine, M.D.

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

As the parent of 4 kids, I will tell you that ADD/ADHD is very real.

My oldest daughter has ADHD and is bi-polar (with violent tendencies)...bordering on schizophrenic. We have had a very hard time dealing with her problems, and it often takes away from the quality time we need to spend with our other kids. One of her violent outbursts directly caused harm to our second oldest daughter, resulting in slight damage to the part of her brain that deals with attention span. So now my second daughter has all the classic signs of ADD, but even though it's not true ADD, the treatment is the same for her, and she is responding well.

Oh yes, ADD/ADHD is very real.

** edited to add - my oldest daughter takes Trileptol, Concerta, Rittlin, and Vitamin B every morning...and Trileptol before bedtime. She also has a prescription for Benadryl which the principal is allowed to give her if she becomes violent at school.

My other daughter is just on a minimal dose of Concerta every morning. We missed a dose one day, and her teacher definitely noticed.

 

[CoolidgEffect]

It's very real. Contrary to popular belief it is more often undiagnosed than diagnosed in error. There is a huge amount of mis/disinformation about it, most of which is anectodal ("My kid's teacher said put him on Ritalin," it's a
disciplinary/parenting/nutritional problem, liberal/commie plot).
...

The sharp rise in the frequency of diagnosis correlates with the availability of drugs on the market.

Finding a measurable correlate in behavior is difficult to find. There are several possibilities for this. One is that there are several disorders or causes for what is labeled as ADHD/ADD. Another is that it is being over diagnosed.

I am not sure about a communist plot, but the pharmaceutical companies do put great amount of pressure on physicians to push the drugs and on researchers to find ways to increase the frequency of diagnosis. Doctors don’t want to lose their trips to Hawaii and scientists don’t want to lose their funding.

 

[miles]

The sharp rise in the frequency of diagnosis correlates with the availability of drugs on the market.

Finding a measurable correlate in behavior is difficult to find. There are several possibilities for this. One is that there are several disorders or causes for what is labeled as ADHD/ADD. Another is that it is being over diagnosed.

I am not sure about a communist plot, but the pharmaceutical companies do put great amount of pressure on physicians to push the drugs and on researchers to find ways to increase the frequency of diagnosis. Doctors don’t want to lose their trips to Hawaii and scientists don’t want to lose their funding.

That's like saying marijuana is linked to sitting around and getting high.

What do you mean the availabiltiy of the drugs on the market? Ritalin and Dexedrine have been around 30 + years. You could apply that statement to just about any disease/condition.

This is the old "Ritalin is overprescribed" mantra. Well guess what? Most drugs are overprescribed.

It is not being overdiagnosed! It's being underdiagnosed.

 

[dickE]

I'm pretty sure I was an ADD kid, but that was long before anybody knew what it was.

The treatments were occasional beatings.

I still seem to have some of the traits, but I hate pills.

Have you ever done any self-research on dyslexia??

I think some ADD is mistaken for dyslexia.

 

[CoolidgEffect]

That's like saying marijuana is linked to sitting around and getting high.

That's not very insightful and not at all what I said.

What do you mean the availabiltiy of the drugs on the market? Ritalin and Dexedrine have been around 30 + years. You could apply that statement to just about any disease/condition.

Well not really. What drives the diagnosis? good tools for proper diagnosis or drugs that might treat some of the symptoms. Better tools for diagnosis will lead to an increase in proper diagnosis, but they will also lead to a decrease in the amount of drugs being prescribed.

This is the old "Ritalin is overprescribed" mantra. Well guess what? Most drugs are overprescribed.

So you agree.

It is not being overdiagnosed! It's being underdiagnosed.

Actually the argument might just be semantics. It is hard to claim over or under diagnosis for a syndrome that is a complex manifestation of several different neurological disorders. The symptoms are not the same in all patients and the diagnosis is imprecise, since you have to rely primarily on teacher and parent perceptions of the child's behavior

The prescript of a particular class of drugs to cover the varied causes and symptoms is in my view over prescribing. The medical world is most likely not catching all patients with these or similar symptoms, but and you can claim that for almost any disease.

 

[miles]

The symptoms are not the same in all patients and the diagnosis is imprecise, since you have to rely primarily on teacher and parent perceptions of the child's behavior

Partially incorrect. There are diagnostic (and very expensive) tests to assist in the diagnosis.

This isn't necessarily directed at you, but when people say non-ADD/ADHD children are mistakenly prescribed Ritalin or other meds they are being "drugged," as if the ADD meds were tranquilizers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most meds used to treat ADD are stimulants. Give someone who doesn't have ADD Dexedrine or Ritalin and you'll see mega hyperactivity from hell.