Bart Simpson
Posted on 12/18/2006 6:44:16 AM PST by shrinkermd
Newly minted grown-ups are carrying out a massive natural experiment by choosing to do without the drugs that profoundly affected their experience of childhood.
...American society remains deeply ambivalent about the diagnosis of ADD, a catch-all term used more commonly in the past that includes today's more well-known attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. (Children diagnosed with ADD typically have difficulty focusing and paying attention. Those with ADHD are physically frenetic as well.)
Almost three decades after the psychiatric profession first detailed the condition in its diagnostic manual, nagging questions remain: Does medicating a child with ADD help that child's well-being in the long term? Are there any negative consequences? And must it be a life-long prescription?
Although most mental health professionals believe that about 2 in 3 children with ADD will continue to contend with the condition as adults, the truth is that "we have very few firm numbers," says Dr. Xavier Castellanos, a leading ADD researcher at New York University.
In short, "There are more questions that are unanswered than are answered," says Lisa L. Weyandt, a psychologist at Central Washington University who studies college-bound kids with ADD. Nobody, she says, knows how these fledglings will fare away from home and neighborhood schools, and whether the medications that appeared to help them in grade school will continue to be of use to them as adults. "They are," Weyandt says, "in uncharted territory."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
"In 2005, they reported that the young adults with a childhood ADD diagnosis were more likely to have dropped out of high school and to have been fired from jobs. They were more likely to have had sex earlier and became parents at a younger age than their non-ADD peers. They had higher credit card debt and fewer savings, and were far less likely to attend college.
"Young adults with ADD also appear to have more motor vehicle collisions and traffic citations and are more likely to experiment with illegal drugs. But the data suggest that ADD sufferers who took prescribed medication were less likely than those who did not to use illegal drugs.
This article is not of general interest, but for those dealing with the problem it is a good review of the disputes. There is a lack of evidence clearly documenting the need to continue Ritalin into adulthood.
Funny, seems to me the pyschobablists who are drugging a generation of children are the ones doing the experimenting on children.
My stepmother was just diagnosed with ADD (at the age of 58) and I think I liked her better before she went on meds for it.
Now she just seems high all the time. It's very hard work being around her. She talks a mile a minute.
But she's happier, so I bite my tongue.
"Massive natural experiment"?
What an absolutely idiotic choice of words.
There's no such thing as ADD!!! It's called BAD PARENTING!!If you're an adult and have been diagnosed with ADD, it's called BEING SUCKERED!!
If you tell your kids they are screwed up..and give them drugs....then they will BELIEVE they are screwed up....and will get screwed up...
Bart Simpson
Here's the red meat about ADD - some kids need drugs to fit them into that monster called school. When the same kids are allowed to learn in a manner better fitting their personalities and drives, there is no need for drugs.
Any parent of such a kid needs to homeschool or use a tutoring service that works with high energy kids. In fact, I consider it bordering on child abuse to drug a child into submission.
It won't be long before the meds-bashers come along. I'd bet those people don't even have any kids, and if they do, have not faced one with real ADHD. My daughter probably wouldn't have survived without ADHD meds.
It's a shame you are so ignorant on the subject. I'm sorry, but you are dead wrong.
I was put on Ritalin as an adult, believing the shrink when he said I had adult ADD. After two days I dumped the entire bottle. I hated the way it made me feel...spacy and loopy. On that day I swore I would never drug my future children with it.
Oh, and I dumped the shrink too.
Looks to me like diagnosing kids as ADD stigmatize them and makes certain that they have problems later on in life.
Perhaps the dearth of sleep experienced by these overdiagnosed and overmedicated (like my son)children could account for later problems?
Ritalin is easy for the teacher, seductive for the parent, disaster for the child.
As a parent of a child with ADD, let me be clear.
You're a moron.
"This article is not of general interest, but for those dealing with the problem it is a good review of the disputes. There is a lack of evidence clearly documenting the need to continue Ritalin into adulthood."
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
please give this site a read, it really opens eyes
http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm
I thank God that there was no such thing as Ritalyn when I was in school. I may have had some bad days, bit at least I was still me.
Amen... and bad teachers and bad schools have a hand in it as well. A lot of this starts in the schools where the teachers are "diagnosing" ADD.
-jw
You're an idiot, you shouldn't post if you don't know what you are talking about.
You're an idiot too, don't post when you are completely ignorant of the subject!
 |
ADD |
The feminist movement has succeeded in branding normal boy behavior as ADD or anti-social and suppressed it with drugs. As a result, they are not able to learn to control and use their God-given gifts and abilities.
I would like to see the percentages of Boys to Girls being "diagnosed" as ADD.
My parents wouldn't allow me to be meidcated. I had to learn how to cope on my own. Considering I have an Advanced Degree and I am in a job I love, I think I've done ok for myself. On a personal note, I've been happily married to a wonderful man for over 11 years now.
Yes, there IS such a thing. Unfortunately, it's too often improperly diagnosed and treated. But it does exist.
Not to mention, most all public school systems receive approximately $20 / pill per day from the gov. to just to hand the pills out and keep count of them. Of course, the student has to supply their own meds....for whatever the merry occssion.
I have, and it is chilling just how many objectives they've acheived.
Several teachers suggested I have my daughter tested for ADHD when she was in school. I refused because I didn't think she needed to be psychoanalyzed or medicated. I had people accuse me of being a bad parent because the child acted like she had ants in her pants all the time. She was a total livewire. Still is, but at 22, she has learned to focus her energy. Consistent parenting can help a lot. But sometimes medication is needed. I kept a little boy who had to be medicated. One time I was late getting him back home to get his medication. He nearly jumped out of the car into traffic. Some children need medication for their own safety. But not all medicated children actually need it.
Let me jump in here and enlighten a few who think that ADD/ADHD is just "bad parenting."
As a parent of a child with ADD (he's 17 now), let me just say that blaming it all on bad parenting is a full bucket of Bull-Clinton.
ADD/ADHD are real.
However, they are also grossly overdiagnosed and grossly over medicated. For many it is used as an excuse.
Unfortunatetly that makes it very difficult for those of us whose children really do need additional help.
Ritalin worked for our son, and he was quite happy about how it helped him get his school work done. It did not negatively affect his personality. But, when he hit puberty, it stopped working. The doctor prescribed a different drug and I watched him for a week and said "that's enough." He hasn't been on drugs since.
But he still struggles with the issues of ADD.
Saying it doesn't exist is just pure ignorance.
The bottom line is it's the parent's responsibility to do research and ask the necessary questions.
To imply (or flat out say) that ADD is bad parenting just shows that you haven't done the necessary research and you haven't asked the necessary questions.
From the study:
...The percentage of boys as compared with girls with only ADD was almost 3 times greater and the percent with both [ADD and LD] diagnoses was over 2 times greater...
Looks like ya might have found the smoking gun.
I'd wager that 98% of parents who medicate their kids would make that statement. I'm just guessing...
An EXCELLENT point! I remember once when my little hyperactive darling heard a local news reporter say that over active children are more likely to get hooked on drugs (illegal ones). She asked me then if that meant she would get hooked on them. It was a great opportunity to talk about personal responsibility. I told her all of us have a proclivity toward something that is not good for us, and all of us as well have a responsibility not to allow natural tendencies to control our actions. I think that soothed her fears a great deal, because it never came up again and she's never again expressed such fears. But I shudder to think if she had heard that and I had not been there to talk with her about it. It's the same with children of single parents. You hear over and over (often on FR, too) that these kids have so many extra problems. I raised my child by myself for 12 years and was always concerned that she would hear this stuff so much that it would provide her an excuse to turn out bad. Fortunately, she had too much sense for that. But we, as a society, help enable these kids and give them excuses for their bad choices.
As a homeschooling mom of three, I believe wholeheartedly that many kids these days are WAY over-medicated, boys aren't allowed to be boys, often the meds are for the benefit of the teacher rather than the student, etc, and despite how crazy he can be, I can't imagine putting my 5 yr old son on any drug to curb his behavior.
That said, after years of struggling with focus and memory (it's been incredibly frustrating for him at work, not to mention for us at home) my husband was diagnosed with adult ADD this year, is on a med for it, and it has improved things. There's no doubt it my mind that he has it.
The shame of it all is that the many abuses of reckless diagnosis and prescription overshadow the kids (and adults, for that matter) who really do need help.
exactly
My mom's China-berry Tree Switch and bolo paddle taught me that ADD was just my imagination.
Principal John Taylor Leath's, 54 inch, 1950's belt taught me that education is Autocratic and Authoritarian. Terror and fear will cure many disorders.
You sound a lot like my daughter. She's the reason that I got a lot more tolerant about different teaching strategies in the classroom. My daughter was simply unable to sit still in a classroom and receive instruction like I had done. And to this day, she hates to read. But she came alive with projects where she could work with her hands. She just soaked up the information she needed to learn when she work working with the information. That doesn't work for me worth anything. And today, she will soon graduate from college with a degree in Interior Design--something where she works with her hands along with her mind.
I have heard that if the amount of sugar, fast food is carefully watched and more natural nutrition is given, the ADD problem may not be as bad as it could be otherwise.
My guess is she's on the wrong dose.
One of my kids went on medication at around 8. The doctor never increased the dose and he was eventually weaned off the meds. He is very bright and still has more trouble concentrating than most people at times, but the meds really helped him. He never seemed high or acted differently. I asked him how the meds felt and he said the only way he could tell he was on them was that he could keep his mind on a task better.
ADD has been described as trying to take the SAT test in the middle of a cocktail party.
Again, probably the wrong dose. It shouldn't make you feel weird.
Some children may, in fact, need the medications. Others who are medicated probably do not, and their parents may be responsible for "bad" parenting.
When my son was young, we briefly considered the possibility of his hyper-activity needs. We spoke to the (private)school principal, who discouraged use of Ritalin for him, stating he's just being a boy. Now he's a college senior and doing well.
There are many anecdotal examples of the problems of children "needing" ritalin. IMO, neither extreme is correct. Based on my experience, I do believe the drugs have been overprescribed, however.
ping
If beating you made your "ADD" go away, you didn't have ADD.
I read an article not too long ago about a couple who tried everything BUT medication for their son. When nothing else worked he went on Ritalin and excelled in school...and was a much happier child. I wholeheartedly believe that there are many cases in which ADD drugs are necessary AND helpful.
I agree that saying it's all about bad parenting is ignorant. Throwing pills at a child to alleviate a problem isn't an excuse, but neither is not researching and considering all the options. It sounds like you did what you thought was best for your son and I commend you for that!
Parenting is hard work. Those who are quick to judge us seem to either not know this (from lack of experience) or just plain forget.
Not to mention the loads of school psychologists and special ed teachers feeding off the overdiagnoses.
It's also my opinion that a lot of the ADHD cases are simply kids not ready or able to do sit-down work 6 hours a day at young ages and who act out because they just need a more physically active environment.
A good read on these types of things is Dorothy and Raymond Moore's "School Can Wait".
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Growing up is hard enough!
My six year-old son is extremely intelligent but often has trouble focusing on tasks-at-hand. He's not disruptive to the other children in his class but he often needs to be steered back on task. I have come to accept that this is just part of his "make up"...it's who he is as a young boy. He's still developing study skills and a work ethic. As his mother I am doing all I can to foster this journey for him and help in any way I can. Throwing pills at him (other than cod liver oil...helps with mental acuity) isn't the answer for him.
I was terrible at math because I could not fathom WHY 2 plus 2 equals 4. It wasn't enough to say "because". Conversely, I was a whiz at English and was reading at college level in sixth grade.
Ironically, I am now a programmer and live and breath math. But I had to learn it as language, not law.
There have been studies that attest to the fact that many children, boys especially, perform better in school when they're allowed to move and do things hands-on. I've seen this in my son. Give him a writing assignment and he's miserable...give him a science experiment and he's teaching the class himself!
I certainly won't disagree the stuff is overprescribed. I've spoken with a bunch of people who say their kids is ADD/ADHD, and they really are not, they are just boys doing what boys have done for thousands of years.
My comment was to the jerkarse who claimed all people who have kids who have ADHD are just bad parents.
I have 4 kids. one has ADHD and got meds for it for a time. None of the other 3 have ADHD. So does that make me a 25% bad parent? (I know it's not your claim, btw)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.