Local Expert Says ADD and ADHD Are a Multmillion-Dollar Medical Myth-(imagine that)

ap ^ | 8/1/06 | Jane Fendelman, MC

[rice08]

I think one of the big issues here is breaking this whole issue down into ADD/ADHD in adults and "children" and I say that in quotes because 11 and 14 and 17 year olds should not be diagnosed in the same way.

Regardless, I can say that I have it, in fact looking back I've had it since at least high school.

One of the classic symptoms is the ability to do well and in fact outshine your peers when under pressure or stress.

for the last 14 years I have done very well professionally, but looking back on those 14 years I realized how destructive the constant pressure and stress was. Not overall life stress but situation to situation. My major success in life was always professional, otherwise I was a classic loner type so I took extra pride in how well I did on the professional side of life.
It got to the point due to age where I simply couldn't get some project done running on stress alone.

I saw a doctor, got a pill and it's night and day. I feel it, my parents see it and every friend of mine sees it.

maybe ADD/ADHD is a chicken or the egg problem, where it's some sort of mental "evolution" (that should cause some fun) due to the way our culture is now structured with massive amounts of media stimulation.

I think a society of say 100 years ago where you could go for a walk or read a book amounted to mental stimulation.

just my $.02

[CLRGuy]

Only a "classic liberal" would make such a statement.

I see you found my about page, and you're as ignorant about liberalism, as you are about ADHD. Friedrich Hayek, Margret Thacher, and the great Lord Acton are all on my side.

. . . but what pill or shot or holistic treatment is going to make you better able to control yourself?

To be specific? In my case it's Methylphenidate. And I'm not the only one, it's proven to reduce implusivity by about 60% in most studies of people diagnosed with ADHD.

Maybe if mommy or daddy or the guy mommy was shacking up with had put a boot in your A$$ when you were growing up you would have learned some self control.

Now I have to wonder if I'm not the only one who needs to get hold of his/her impulses. You have no idea how many boots I got in my arse growing up.

Good luck with the pills, do they have anything to help me balance my checkbook?

I'm not sure, the pills won't teach you arithmetic, you're on your own for that one. But they might help you to focus on the task long enough to get it done.

And I have to know, you really think perfect parents make perfect children? Because if you do, I'll have to roll my eyes back into my head again.

[HungarianGypsy]

I am glad someone said what you did. My nephew had ADD, but his parents have never let that be an excuse for any behavior problems. In fact, my brother-in-law has gotten on his case even more at times. I do think that it is overdiagnosed and would hope other methods such as behavior modification and dietary changes would be tried more often before drug therapy.

[John Robertson]

His mommy "shacking up"?

Anybody old enough to know that term is too effing old and stupid to be allowed on this thread. OF COURSE they're ain't no durned thing like that ADD or ADHHDD or whatever it is they talkin' about these days. Why, in my day, if a feller couldn't pay no attention, we just hit him or shot him or both.

You should be embarrassed and ashamed, you dumb asshole.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"ADD = Adults Don't Discipline

Nailed it."

Unfortunately, you are incorrect but not for that reason.

ADD exists. The cause of it isn't in the youth but in the youths surroundings. It is caused by teachers. It is caused by IPoD's. It is caused by the distractions in our life that take our attention away from the task at hand.

Walk into a school. When we were kids it was just the alphabet on the walls in the class. A chalkboard up front. Go into a class today. There is so much crap on the walls that students get distracted and focus their attention elsewhere.

Today we have cell phones, blackberry's, computers. All things we didn't have twenty years ago to distract us from concentrating on one or two things. ADD is an overload of the senses. ADHD is an overload combined with all the crap we put in our bodies to wire us and tire us.

Look at our lives. We wake with product to get our day moving. We go to bed with product to slow down the effects of the product that woke us up. In between there is cookies and candies and processed garbage.

ADD and ADHD? It isn't about disciplining your kids. It is about removing the distractions that are causing children who are susceptible to losing focus from losing focus. It is about taking the crap off the walls at the school so kids look straight ahead rather then all over the place. It is about feeding our kids good food rather then processed trash. It is about sending them outside to play rather then leaving them alone in front of the gameboy.

[John Robertson]

"...they turn into knuckle-dragging ignoramuses..."

"It's not my fault, it's my parents. Is there a pill I can take for this condition?????"

No, but there is a cure: Quit being a self-centered, smug, ignorant prick.

[alvindsv]

Actually there is a newly discovered disorder out there, Central Regulatory Activating Process, otherwise known as C.R.A.P. It's occurs when drug companies convince the medical community that a problem is more wide spread then it actually is in order to sell more product.

Are there people out there that suffer from ADD/ADHD? Probably. But is it as wide spread a problem? Probably not. As someone stated above, the questions for these indicators could apply to just about any kid.

[jwh_Denver]

"too much sugar!"

Crap.

[ConservaTexan]

I think a society of say 100 years ago where you could go for a walk or read a book amounted to mental stimulation.

I________will________type________slowly________so________you________can________concentrate.

I can remember back before they outlawed walking and reading. Things were so much better and nobody was ever tense. Those were the days. WTH are you talking about? Maybe you should turn off the computer and read a book or go for a walk.

[Scotswife]

Actually...I'm just trying learn more about this woman and how she manages to back up her claims.
This article is very vague.

[limitedgov]

Unfortunately liberal attitudes have infected the practice of medicine. We would like to think that science is above political ideology, but witness global warming and the FDA's food pyramid as examples.

Politics is not just governmental but professional as well. Many rank file physicians are conservative whereas the leadership of the AMA, AAP, etc tend to be liberal.

What explains the recent epidemic of ADD diagnoses, especially in the schools? Not that long ago these cases were rare. I was given Ritalin as a 12 year old child and I am now 52, but I was a rare case back then.

Do you know what the diet was of these kids you refer to? Could sugar and starch be a factor? Is ADD merely the hyperactive phase of continuing high blood sugar levels leading to hypoglycemia and diabeties, which are also epidemic?

I don't know it all, but I can guarentee you the medical community doesn't know it all and the school nurses and counselors don't know it all.

[pepperdog]

"In some districts, the schools get DOUBLE the money for "special needs" kids so they want as many as possible to have ADD and ADHD."

Add to the previous comment of ADD=Adults Don't Discipline and I believe the whole nasty scam is exposed.

[SteveMcKing]

"I was told later from another friend he had ADD or ADHD and that he refused to take his medicine. When he would, he had much more self control."

He is also not banned military service, owning firearms, nor gaining security clearance for any contracting whatsoever with the government.

Drugged, he is an emasculated, pacified, sheepish tool for those who control his condition. That is the antithesis of self-control.

[limitedgov]

Well you said it: sugar = crap.

[ConservaTexan]

I am probably younger than you, but if not it's my parents fault.

[Coleus]

Health Experts Warn of Antidepressant Dangers for Children, Teens

[John Robertson]

"I am probably younger than you, but if not it's my parents fault."

Actually, your age is only--and literally--their fault. Go to calendar. Find birthday. Count back nine months....

How old are you? And tough guy, if you say you never mention your age in public, I am definitely addding pussy to the list of everything else I've called you. (To all shrieking FR ninnies who are reacting to the use of the "P" word...that doesn't mean what you think it means. It means wussy man, ineffectual man, etc.

[Fiddlstix]

Fendelman explains that drugging children is not the same as curing them.....

Gee! Ya Think?
I give thanks that I was a kid back in the 40's.
I feel sorry for todays kids. I really do.

[CLRGuy]

in the future try not taking it for a while

I appreciate the advice, sincerely I do, the pharmocological therapy right now is helping me get things in order, perhaps after nine years, I'll be up to the challenge. Maybe then there will be an effective non-pharmacalogical treatment.

Honestly though, ADHD is treated very effectively with meds, and I don't feel like they influence me to do things that I don't want to do. They do help me to do the things that I know I want to do, but couldn't get it together enough to do before.

[jwh_Denver]

Got ADD? Reread the post as many times as you need to to get my message. A 3rd grader would get it the first time.