ADHD just 'bad behaviour': US expert (drug company fraud?)

ABC news Australia ^ | Thursday, April 17, 2003 | ABC news Australia

[KneelBeforeZod]

ADHD just 'bad behaviour': US expert Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) does not exist, an American psychologist has told a youth conference in Brisbane.

Dr Jacobs says doctors and drug companies have turned behavioural problems into a disease, leading to many children being misdiagnosed and other problems being missed.

Dr Jacobs says he is yet to see proof that ADHD is a disease.

"That's the problem with this, is that people have put a label on different behaviours and said it's a disease," Dr Jacobs said.

"There's no proof, no-one has ever presented any evidence of a condition called ADHD, except to say 'all these children are hyperactive, all these children are inattentive and therefore they all have a disease'.

"It's the 'and therefore' that I'm concerned about," he said.

[KneelBeforeZod]

//////// short and sweet...that's the whole article...

[11B3]

Just what I've been saying all along. Thanks for posting this.

In fact, many psychological "diseases" are made up by those looking only for profit. I'm sure to be flamed, but IDGAF.

[lawgirl]

I agree. I always wonder what a good swat on the butt would do for kids instead of running for the medications.

[Jeff Chandler]

I'm sure there are a certain percentage of legitimate health problems which require medication, but I've always thought the the "Attention Deficit" for most of these kids was that which they should have been receiving from their parents.

How many parents are more devoted to their investment portfolios than to their children?

[pops88]

Normal children are active and full of energy. It's an unrealistic expectation that a six year old should be able to sit quietly for 8 hours in school. When both parents work, there isn't much time left for individualized attention. The only attention deficit is on behalf of the parents and the schools. They tried to diagnose my son as attention deficit when his problem was he was extremely bright and bored senseless in school. He had no attention problems working one-on-one at home. It's easier to drug the children then address the real problems.

[OperationFreedom]

bump

[KneelBeforeZod]

Some drug company is running an ad that doesn't even say what the drug does...just people walking around and the tagline "Go." I can't tell if the drug is for people with constipation or agoraphobia.

[truth_seeker]

Ridilin is hugely over-prescribed, for these so-called conditions. I've heard it is like "speed" -- a stimulent.

Side effects of Ridilin are not well understood, with some of the school-yard shooting incidents being tied to kids on drugs, like this.

Unlike "manic depression" which manifests in blood differences, ADHL is diagnosed by verbal tests, which are subjective.

The medical profession is being VERY un-professional in giving people drugs.

[Jay D. Dyson]

In fact, many psychological "diseases" are made up by those looking only for profit. I'm sure to be flamed, but IDGAF.

You won't get any flames from me, that's for sure. I used to work in the field of human services and I burned out after seeing all that quackery and junk science being proferred up just so the next charlatan could get a huge slice of the insurance benefits pie.

I never believed in the idea of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The only cure for attention-deficit is delayed gratification, and self-discipline. As for the hyperactivity disorder, my father had a grand way of making sure myself and my brothers had ample opportunity to burn off our "excess energy": we got tasked with the yard work and garage clean-up.

What kids these days need isn't drugs to treat their "disorders," they need plain old-fashioned character building!

-Jay

[kmiller1k]

I'm a mom of two boys (12 & 16), Sunday school teacher to 2 & 3 year olds, AWANA leader for nine years, junior high leader for two, and a substitute teacher. My anecdotal experience is this: a good wooden spoon applied to a youngsters behind at an early age when offending behaviour is present is a great antidote to ADHD.

Two observations about ADHD: 1) the children are in many hours of day care per week and/or 2) the parents are reluctant to discipline their children's behaviour thinking junior's behaviour is somehow genius and those around said child just don't appreciate their brilliance (gag me).

Usually, the parents are loathe to understand that no one wants to be around their obnoxious children let alone them.

[philetus]

Ritilin is speed.

[GATOR NAVY]

I don't know how many flames you're going to get here. Are most freepers interested in keeping kids drugged-out zombies in class?

By the way, it took me a few to figure out IDGAF...it was the context that helped. IDGAFF would be good too, or IDGARA.

[SouthernFreebird]

I'd say none of you posters have seen a child with a real case of ADHD or you wouldn't be here saying this crap.

My son has this...I've raised 2 boys one with and one without. There is a difference and it's not just behavior. I spent years just giving him the 'boot in the ass' treatment ya'll are so fond of thinking is the cure all (it's not) it just becomes abusive behavior of the parent to be constantly disiplining these children.

If people weren't such damn know-it-alls giving this kind of stupid advice some of these kids could get treatment and understanding a whole lot sooner.

I really hate these threads where parents and those not even parents! (but they did sleep at a holiday Inn)come on and put down the parents and children with ADHD simply because they don't think it is a disorder. Frikkin Idiots is all I've got to say. Kinda like the hollywood big mouths talking of worldly affairs.

[Maximum Leader]

I agree with you that ADHD is WAY overdiagnosed. First off, the symptoms of ADHD are the same symptoms of sleep deprivation... having the kid sleep an extra hour or two a night would clear up the symptoms of many of these kids.

Second, school nurses or even Family Practitioners aren't trained enough to make a psychiatric diagnosis, if I was told my kid had ADHD, I would absolutely take him to a psychiatrist.

Having said that, there is a Psychiatrist out in California named Daniel Amen who has written extensively of his research on SPECT scans (a form of CAT scan so far as I can tell) of people with various mental disorders, and people with genuine cases of ADHD do have abnormal blood flow in their prefrontal cortex. Apparently (and I'm certainly no expert) the part of the brain, of someone with a genuine case of ADHD, that keeps your thoughts in order works slower than the rest of the brain.

Prescribing a stimulant like ritalin speeds up the prefrontal cortex and allows it keep up with the rest of the brain. Check out www.amenclinic.com. He has color photographs of the SPECT scans on his site. Interesting reading.

[meadsjn]

(Bad spellers of the world--UNTIE!!!)

That's not bad spelling -- it's Dyslexia, and you can get medication for that.

[truth_seeker]

"Having said that, there is a Psychiatrist out in California named Daniel Amen who has written extensively of his research on SPECT scans (a form of CAT scan so far as I can tell) of people with various mental disorders, and people with genuine cases of ADHD do have abnormal blood flow in their prefrontal cortex. Apparently (and I'm certainly no expert) the part of the brain, of someone with a genuine case of ADHD, that keeps your thoughts in order works slower than the rest of the brain."

You obviously know more technical stuff, than do I. My info is annecdotal.

My neighbor has a masters in counseling, and told me her son is on Ridilin. She said he wasn't blood tested - just a battery of verbal testing.

I don't deny that chemical mental disorders DO exist, and need chemical treatments. But I stand firmly that current medical practice is WAY over-prescription of medicines.

For instance, medication is FREQUENTLY provided to alcoholics and drug addicts, who prod the ever-too-willing doctor accomplices. The overlay of substances often just makes matters much worse.

Part of the problem is that alcoholics and addicts LIE chronically, about their substance intake.

The truth is that if you take away the alcohol and drugs, the depression symptoms often disappear.

[eno_]

The problem is not that it doesn't exist, the problem is that it is way overdiagnosed.

It is also hypocrisy that we have government institutions, in this case government schools, using a highly psychoactive substance to control normal children while we have various anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-smoking, anti-fat, anti-meat, anti-etc. propaganda campaigns as well.

[eno_]

Excellent point: We have the WoD and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation people imposing neo-Prohibition while we also pay in higher health premiums for Dr. Feelgood to keep his cash-cow addicts happy.

[LadyDoc]

No, ADHD does exist.

It is a neurological disease. We see it in Fetal Alcohol syndrome and fetal cocaine syndrome, and in some kids who are born premie or whose moms had other prenatal problems. These kids often have other neurological signs, like lazy eye, poor coordination, etc. on examinations.

However, masked depression (such as in kids whose parents divorce, fight, or are too busy to care for them) and bad behavior (parents who are too lazy to teach them self control) is often diagnosed as "ADD".

Better to drug the kids than to admit that mom shouldn't work full time, or that dad shouldn't make mom pregnant and then divorce or abandon her for a new chickie. Can't condemn people for being promicuous or getting high or refusing to take responsibility.

The bad news is that too often teachers diagnose "ADHD" in children who just either lack self control (due to bad parenting) or lable boys who have high energy levels as having "ADHD" and drug them to sit still in schools. That is why 30-40 percent of boys in some schools are drugged.

I tell some of these boys they aren't "bad" but that in the past they would have made good warriors and hunters, but they have trouble sitting still.

[RushLake]

This article does not go far enough in defining the culprits. The hateful National Extortion Association is a key facilitator of this crap. Kids with ADHD are among the prime candidates for "special education" classes. "Special Ed" has become a dumping ground for kids that some of the "regular ed" teachers don't want to deal with. A lot of times, "Special ed" teachers don't have a chance of doing anything meaningful to educate or train the legitimate "special needs" kids. Some of these so called ADHA kids just need a few hugs, or a smack on the butt from caring parents. They don't need to be raised by the public schools.