Is ADHD a myth?

ADD is a dream diagnosis dreamt up by bad parents that get corrupt doctors to diagnose so they can steal all the state benefits and exonerate the child from any crimes they commit.

And if you agreed with that then I really don't know where to begin or what to say. But, unless I'm mistaken that seems to be tone of some in this thread. Oh! I forgot the vegetables!

Bogan wrote: »

Your instinct is to defend a delinquent rather than look at how you failed. It's understandable but doesn't excuse it.

You're so right.

Tomorrow, Imma teach him how to rob a bank and roll a joint all at once.

Y'know what's hard? These delinquent kids disguising themselves as normal kids.

Jesus.

I know of a few kids who have gone through the diagnoses for ADHD. Funnily enough they are all boys, and that seems to be very common with any kind of learning difficulty strangely enough.

One is an older boy, early teens, he has been diagnosed with ADHD along with a few other things. He is very violent in the home, regularly assaults his parents and siblings, quite seriously infect and refuses to take his medication. He attends a special school and they administer his medication during the week.

Another is a younger boy about 7-8, has always been a bit wild child, very loveable, is generally well behaved but can be a handful, he has difficulty with listening, repeatedly asks questions, will walk in ask a question get an answer and 5 minutes later will ask again. He is forgetful at times. He does very well in school with his peers and is doing well considering his recent diagnosis. Parents have make it very clear what behaviour is expected from him and because of this lashing out, back talking and being disrespectful is very rare.

Another was basically assaulting other children in the school quite severely, parents called in very regularly, was tested and parents were told that he did not have ADHD.

Another parent has recently been speaking about the possibility of their child having ADHD. The child has no self control, boundaries or respect. He performs poorly in school. Hits, kicks, spits, curses, calls names, has no set routine and will walk down the stairs at 11 o clock at night and get himself some sweets on a school night.

The first two boys do have ADHD in my opinion. The first lad has real difficulties but his parents have maintained no control over the situation. If he is refusing to take his medication then there is a reason, he must not like it and I think that has to be taken into account.

The second boy has not yet been medicated, I'm not sure if he will but I think it's a possibility. If it helps I'm all for it but its not the first thing I would be jumping to. I think there are many other things you can look at. Different methods of education, DIET, a set routine, outlets for extra energy like sports etc. it does seem to be having some effect on his school work sadly.

The third boy is the result a lack of disipline and boundaries. Simple as.

The fourth probably will be tested at some point. I don't think he has ADHD and the parents are just looking for a way to cover up for their piss poor parenting. Of course a child who has no discipline, boundaries, routine etc. is going to severely lack self control. He probably will be diagnosed though and they will be able to use it as an excuse.

Not so long ago there was a cure for this unknown disorder it was a clip around the ear or a kick up the arse both banned now

GrayFox208 wrote: »

Yeah it was a non medicated cure. But like medicine it wore off. Hitting kids isn't the answer to behaviour problems.

It worked when I was going to school trouble is things have gone from one extreme to the other. Children belting parents isn't unusual now.

beauf wrote: »

Do you mean anything. Or just some things.

Because if you have some people who have a natural advantage, in something physical. You have some people who have a disadvantage. Considering the brain is a lot more complicated, its likely the same applies to that aswell. Some people are good at numbers, some people bad at staying focused. Good, bad sense of direction. Good coordination, bad coordination.

From that perspective, "not trying hard enough" is very unlikely to be true for absolutely "anything".

Well, I can understand what your saying, everyone has their own individual strengths and weaknesses etc, but we all have pretty much the same brain power on things in general, well Id think and hope so anyway

We all know that if something feels bad, there has to be a reason and therefore its kind of then your proogative to find out that reason, possably why it is and get out of it as best you can - might take a short or long time but its better than sitting back and just saying "I have this , that or the other mental disorder"
Unless youve tried everything, in every way, and nothing works even a little bit, then you may have a problem, possably

iguana wrote: »

I don't know enough to say whether it is or isn't a myth but it's most certainly over-diagnosed. Something like close to 10% of children in the US are diagnosed with it, that's not a disease, it's pathologising normal behaviour. Some kids are just extremely active and sitting still for hours at a time in school is too hard for them. Different teaching techniques like regular breaks for exercise or standing at an easel to learn would help enormously but apparently it's easier to attach a label to the child and medicate them.

I read The Psychopath Test recently and the doctor who edited the DSM-IV states that his biggest regret was catagorising ADHD and Aspergers as diseases because of how frequently behaviour which is just normal behaviour on the spectrum of human personalities is being classed as a disease.

You're pretty on the ball here- and I'm speaking as an adult diagnosed with ADHD. DSM-V has now gotten rid of the term aspergers, and diagnostic rates in the US are far greater than in europe. Another curious item is the high rate of children growing out of the disorder- I believe it's about 70%- such a high percentage is possibly indicative of incorrect diagnosis at an earlier age. As regards to its existence that is a virtual certainty and it has been confirmed by MRI scans on people diagnosed with the disorder- it's not of the most complicated ones either from a neurological standpoint.

Fwiw I don't really mind what people say on it- diagnosed earlier this year and the treatment and support have been much more horrific than I expected, and I was expecting some very bad stuff indeed. Took me well over 6 months to convince psych. to give me proper medication and it's working quite well so far.