Posted on 01/29/2012 9:01:54 PM PST by nickcarraway
THREE million children in this country take drugs for problems in focusing. Toward the end of last year, many of their parents were deeply alarmed because there was a shortage of drugs like Ritalin and Adderall that they considered absolutely essential to their children’s functioning.
But are these drugs really helping children? Should we really keep expanding the number of prescriptions filled?
In 30 years there has been a twentyfold increase in the consumption of drugs for attention-deficit disorder.
As a psychologist who has been studying the development of troubled children for more than 40 years, I believe we should be asking why we rely so heavily on these drugs.
Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term, which is why they work so well for college students cramming for exams. But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.
Sadly, few physicians and parents seem to be aware of what we have been learning about the lack of effectiveness of these drugs.
What gets publicized are short-term results and studies on brain differences among children. Indeed, there are a number of incontrovertible facts that seem at first glance to support medication. It is because of this partial foundation in reality that the problem with the current approach to treating children has been so difficult to see.
Back in the 1960s I, like most psychologists, believed that children with difficulty concentrating were suffering from a brain problem of genetic or otherwise inborn origin. Just as Type I diabetics need insulin to correct problems with their inborn biochemistry, these children were believed to require attention-deficit drugs to correct theirs. It turns out, however, that there is little to no evidence
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have seen both sides of the coin... 1 child diagnosed by a clinical psychiatrist with severe add, another one normal, yet told by the school system he had add.... The normal one I never let get stuck with this label, hell the teachers thought they knew more than the clinical psychiatrist... but, the one child diagnosed, The ritalin not only helped him, but improved his grades and outlook. When he was 14, he did not want to take the ritalin anymore ( he had to go to the office and have it given to him, that is what he did not like ) the kids grades dropped from b’s to d’s overnight. But, I never saw a kid work so hard to get those d’s. He applied himself more than when he was taking the ritalin, to get worse grades. I was proud of him for the work ethic he possessed, and he never gave up.
These threads piss me off. The ignorant, the dieticians, the disciplinarians, all doubt that this condition is real or that it exists. Do the schools want to medicate your child? Yes, because they get more money for someone with a learning disability. This does not mean this condition does not exist. It just means it does not occur as often as is stated.
A young friend of mine has a stepson diagnosed with Attention Deficit, the school wanted to put him on drugs. Instead she cut his sugar intake way back and eliminated an artificial red dye from his diet. The symptoms disappeared.
Ritalin when first made was marketed as a diet drug. When I did not sell in the quantities need it was remarketed as an ADD cure all.
My personal experience with kids with ADD is the attention deficit is from the parents and not the kids head. Results may vary.
My almost 6 year-old son doesn’t watch tv, doesn’t play video games, eats only whole foods without complaint (no junk, no soda, no juice, no hot lunch at school, no fast food, no food dyes, no wheat), gets 11 hrs of sleep a night, has a stable, 2-parent home where discipline is enforced, a stay-at-home mom, and a supportive extended family structure.
He takes fish oil supplements (high in EPA and DHA) and magnesium and zinc daily.
He’s bright, and attends a great, no-nonsense private school with a small class size. His teacher is on board with every solution we’ve tried.
He can’t sit still, can’t focus on his school work, gets sent home for poor behavior, and gets notes sent home on his behavior pretty much every day. It would not surprise me if he gets expelled within the month.
I physically walk him into his class every morning now, and get him in the afternoon from his classroom so I can talk with the teacher about his day (and how he “tried” to do well but couldn’t). He has a tactile ball in his pocket for fidgeting, he has a note in his desk that I wrote for how to stay on track with his work. None of it helps. It’s the most frustrating, embarrassing, and puzzling situation we’ve ever dealt with in our lives. Meds may have to be the solution.
So, my conclusion is, poor diet and lack of discipline, tv and video games, liberal public schools, and lax parenting aren’t the only causes of ADHD. There are other, non-controllable factors at work in some cases. And, taking into consideration this child’s healthy lifestyle, there really is no other alternative. We are at our wit’s end.
What does he like to do? Way back when 25 plus years ago my oldest did fine until he was placed in a classroom without windows. He was ‘tested’ found to not have a learning disability, but the classroom environment was a total distraction.
Some boys and girls are really sensitive to their environment. My way of redirecting was to begin piano lessons.
Couldn't agree more. For the folks that think ADHD is over-diagnosed....they're absolutely correct. For those folks that believe this is a "fictional" problem, they're very wrong.
And I will only add one more thought to the discussion....ADHD is often mis-diagnosed when Bi-Polar is the actual issue. Putting a bipolar person on drugs to resolve ADHD has the opposite effect. Yes, it allows for a more intense focus, but increases the manic cycles and increases the paranoia and other odd behaviors.
My ex diagnosed herself with ADHD, went to her PA and was given a prescription for Adderall. She LOVED it. She lost 20 pounds, had a ton of energy all day, could sleep for three hours and one pill and whammo...she was at full energy again. She also became very angry, very unpredictable and could never get enough stimuli. Her son, was diagnosed, given Concerta with a late afternoon bumper of Ritalin and become a great student and a much more focused and happy child.
Any doctor who prescribes this crap for more than half of one percent of children should have his license revoked. In my school system locally, 28% of the kids have been “coded” as handicapped in some way. They line up at the nurse’s office every day to get their drugs. It’s criminal.
Almost every successful adult I know would probably have been drugged if that crap had been around when I was a kid. There are a few individuals who cannot function without it, but the operative word is “few.”
I don’t doubt ADD ADHD exist. But I don’t think it exist in the numbers we see now.. I get what I know about C.A.P.D. and Vestibular issues from Vestibular {Inner Ear} related sites. There is a clear danger if that is not ruled out first. This is newer research and doctors are still learning. Much of it wasn’t known when I needed it 17 years ago and all my life I was labeled ADD ADHD. I am one who has Sensory Processing Disorders and have had it all my life. That is how I know symptoms of it vs ADD ADHD. 17 years ago at age 37 it reached a point of disability for me. Rare but it can get too that point.
Try this. Give him a caffine pill {No Doze or simular} at home with task requiring staying still and concentrating and see what he does. Have a few typical distractions in the background. If he can suddenly can do it or shows notable improvement then yea it sounds like ADD ADHD. Some Shrinks test a child in their office with a caffine pill too see if it changes the behavior, If not then it’s likely something else.
The parents had a short chat with their son. Asked why he didn't pay better attention in class he replied, "I don't like that teacher at all."
Ritalin is a slow working rat poison. Drug dependancy crashes are tragic. Witnessed to many speedball college deaths and broken dreams .
Juiced kids are zombies.
If I had proof I would report it...
You *suspect*, but don't know?
My wife same thing has been on it 26 years placed on it by a cardiologist, Internal Medicine doctor, Neurologist, and a Shrink. 26 years use no issues. The alternative is antidepressants which are not suited for our conditions and can kill us. I have seen the worse adverse reaction to an antidepressant likely no Freeper has ever witnessed.
Had I been given a drug like Xanax, Librium, or Valium as a child would I have then been able to go to college? No because I have a learning issue and a very short window of concentration on some days. No medication they could give me can help that part as it is neurological damage.
Interesting! I’ll give it a try. Thanks.
There is a research Neurologist named Harlold Levinson who was one of the first persons to link what many were seeing as ADD ADHD to actually being Vestibular patients because many shared the same history of either allergies or chronic ear infections etc early in their childhood.
The trick seems to be finding which chemical works which which portion that has the damage and that is where caution must be used. I can drink 6-8 20 ounce cokes a day with no problem. Caffeine has absolutely not effect on me. I can hear a phone ring, go too a crowded Walmart, or even see certain TV shows where they use intense special effects like flashing and it sets me off.
BTW this also really does not limit ones intelligence as such, but rather the brain simply adapts too a different way of learning. I can't sit and read a book but I can sit and answer well over 50% of answers in game shows involving history, geography, and even science. I can't grasp things like Algebra but I can in my head take $300 to the store too buy groceries and come out within $10-$20 of the $300.
This might help some understand it. Cognitive Aspects of Vestibular Disorders This is just one of many disorders that can be mistaken as ADD ADHD as well as adult Anxiety Disorder which has also had an increase in the past few decades. Most Shrinks do not consider what this link says. Yet problems related too your Vestibular System {any hearing or balance issues} can trigger major behavioral issues from lack of energy, lack of concentration, agitation, anxiety, depression, and some case hyperactivity as this also in some situations triggers adrenalin release as well.
First synthesized in 1944, the Ritalin formula (at that time commonly known as MPH, from methylphenidate) was improved in 1950, and by 1954 it was being tested on humans. In 1957, Ciba Pharmaceutical Company began marketing MPH as Ritalin to treat chronic fatigue, depression, psychosis associated with depression, narcolepsy, and to offset the sedating effects of other medications. It was used into the 1960s to try to counteract the symptoms of barbiturate overdose. For a short time MPH was sold in combination with other products, particularly a tonic of MPH, hormones and vitamins, marketed as Ritonic in 1960, intended to improve mood and maintain vitality. 4
Research on the therapeutic value of Ritalin began in the 1950s, and by the 1960s, interest focused on the treatment of "hyperkinetic syndrome," which would eventually be called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.5 In the United States, the use of Ritalin and other stimulants to treat ADHD steadily increased in the 1970s and early 80s, but between 1991 and 1999, Ritalin sales in the United States increased 500 percent.6,7 The United Nations reports that the United States produces and consumes as much as 85 percent of the worlds production of Ritalin.8
Holy cow! That is a lot of information that I can use. Again, thank you. My husband sounds like you (and he drinks about 6 sodas a day with no impact...but his dentist adores him). Our son’s handwriting is awful but he can rattle off medical facts, computer stuff, etc., and can see a word once and know it from sight. But, adults have to repeat commands/requests/instructions to him several times. Like, “Honey, take your uniform shirt off and put on your play shirt”, and 9 times out of 10, he’ll either do nothing or remove his pants. No joke. And when you ask him what he’s doing, he won’t exactly know. At school, he understands and can do all the work, he just can’t focus on instructions, and he can’t tune out the other kids, the birds outside, etc., and he can’t stick to the task at hand. At home, where it’s calm and quiet, he knocks the work out in no time.
I’m rambling, but very grateful for the information.
Thank you again!
I know but didn’t snatch the drugs out of his swim bag.
Just curious. Does he also wear our shoes fast by breaking over the sides? That can point to Inner Ear and balance issues. With the handwriting issue {fine motor skill} it sounds like what I am talking about. No one can read my writing so I print. The Inner Ear is literally THE COORDINATOR of most of your senses and is essential for fine motor, balance, etc. It even coordinates to vision. I’m one eye functional. Vison in both eyes never at the same time. Both can not focus at once. Teachers accused me of not paying attention because of the way my eyes tracked. The part about your son having trouble with distractions is typical for CAPD type of issues also.
When I was a kid trying to play baseball I would either swing too soon, too late, or duck to the side.
bflr
My kid wears out the tops of his shoes - he sits on his feet and rubs/drags his shoes. His balance is decent. He’s been tested. But he throws poorly and cannot dance at all. Not even after watching and being asked to repeat a simple dance. Can’t do it.
I read some Auditory Processing Syndrome stuff to my husband and he was shocked that it matched so well with our son’s issues. Se, and his teacher, think it’s ADHD, but I’m not so sure any more.
You have completely changed my perspective on my son’s issues. I’m going to discuss with his occupational therapist this week. He sees her to help with his crappy handwriting.
Again, thank you so much for the information!
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