OT: A.D.D.

Will · #1 July 20th, 2003, 05:42 AM

Ok, so I was watching the news yesterday (flipping through CNN, MSNBC, and Fox), and I see this advertisement. "Adult ADD and ADHD". "You may have it, ask your doctor to give you drugs".

So, I spent the next five minutes laughing... I have nothing but contempt for the pill-popping culture, using drugs as a quick fix for all their problems (and their childrens'!), real or imagined. I'm very skeptical of the entire idea of ADD/ADHD in children -- I mean, kids are supposed to be full of energy, running around, figuring out the world, etc. -- but the idea of this in adults literally sent me to the floor laughing. If the claims made by the ad are true, then something like ten percent of the adult population "suffers" from this "condition". If the amount is that much of the population, who is to say that whatever "symptoms" of this are completely natural, or symptoms of something else?

Ok, a short rant, but I felt like posting something. Any comments on this?

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Taera · #2 July 20th, 2003, 05:48 AM

well okay, correct me if im wrong but ADD is basicly hyper-activeness right?

Will · #3 July 20th, 2003, 06:05 AM

The way I'm understanding the current definition of it, someone who has ADD will be focused/energetic in some situations, and distracted/tired in others. To me, it seems it could be better explained by: mood swings, personal interest or disinterest in a subject, different sleeping habits (think of a programmer), or any of many other explanations. Differences in interests and aptitudes are not a mental abnormality, and cannot (should not!)be "fixed" by popping some pills.

minipol · #4 July 20th, 2003, 06:06 AM

yeah.

Taera · #5 July 20th, 2003, 06:08 AM

in my school they said its something because of a chemical disbalance in body - though i cannot remember which disbalance. What the pills do is they insert some other chemical - what it does is reverses the situation. Meaning that you would likely go very hyper after taking these pills.

As for how it can be developed in adulthood, actually it can be - with aging and normal mutation this sometimes happens. Very rarely though.

For all i know, taking pills all your life is the only modern way of dealing with ADD.

TerranC · #6 July 20th, 2003, 06:09 AM

In this day and age, where people are so busy they tend to get easily distracted and be off-focused, the medical term Attention defecit disorder should have never been coined.

The same goes with Munchaousen's (sp?) Syndrome.

Edit: Link to the medicine that Will is talking about. strattera

[ July 20, 2003, 05:15: Message edited by: TerranC ]

Will · #7 July 20th, 2003, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taera:
For all i know, taking pills all your life is the only modern way of dealing with ADD.

Oh, there's another way.
Unplug the television, move it out of the house. Don't carry a cell phone everywhere. Take some time to read a book. Go for a walk. Try to actually taste your meals instead of inhaling them. Don't look at a computer for (insert non-insignificant time period here). Exercise.

You would be suprised how many people do none of the above.

--edit: TC, thanks for the link

[ July 20, 2003, 05:37: Message edited by: Will ]

Taera · #8 July 20th, 2003, 07:03 AM

it depends. i still think there is at least some biological cause there - at least in some percent of the causes. but mostly i think your right, will.

Slynky · #9 July 20th, 2003, 07:11 AM

Well, ADD or ADHD (or pick your term) is a mystery to me. I can't understand it. But, I can tell you pills ARE a solution.

Our daughter has it. Yes, it seemed she was full of energy. And it seemed she suffered from what a lot of children suffer from, disinterest in doing things they don't want to do (and therefore do not hear it) and too much interest in doing what they want to do.

Sugar, we thought, was the problem. Not. Certainly, there is something wrong with a girl in the first grade who continually, during class, gets up and walks over to a window and looks out. Or gets up and walks over to another child and begins talking. Repeatedly throughout the day. Who brought home red and yellow lights (a conduct code rating for behavior) every day.

We started punishing her for her behavior marks. Loss of TV. Restriction. You name it. For a while, she had no TV privilages for 3 or 4 months. We were at our wits end. Her grades ranged from C to D. So, we decided to talk to a doctor. Tested her. Filled out a huge questionaire.

Now, she takes a pill every day. Adderall. Her behavior "lights" changed immediately. Her grades improved very noticeably. In the 2nd grade, she almost made the A honor role for the year (only making a few B's).

Sometimes, we forget her pill. And the teacher knows within the first hour of class.

Does the pill turn her into a zombie? No. She is still energetic. Full of life and still can't sit still while we play Uno. But, she is learning what she needs to be learning, staying out of trouble, and is NOT being punished for something she cannot help any longer.

I hope she grows out of it. I don't like pills either. But, I don't see how she could be learning what she needs to in school without it.

So, I have to disagree with some of the remarks in here about popping pills at the drop of a hat.

Will · #10 July 20th, 2003, 07:57 AM

I'm not saying that there aren't some situations where medication is not needed (father is on medication for diabetes + insulin; mother has to take imuno-suppresants, steroids, and a few other things, just to function; sister on albuterol; I have no idea what my grandparents are on; I am pretty much the only one in the family not dependant on medication at all). However, it goes too far. The ad I saw claimed that twenty million people in the US have "adult ADD". I would say that maybe twenty thousand adults have symptoms of it that truly require medication, and that's a high estimate. The rest would usually be due to another mental condition, unhealthy lifestyle (ranging from always running around and overloading of tasks to drug abuse), or plain old hypochondria. This is for the adults, mind you...

Now, for children... a case like your daughter's looks like one where drugs help. That is not the normal situation. There are schools in this country that will recommend a psychologist for the parents of children who "misbehave" only a few times, and it is not uncommon to walk into classrooms with a large fraction the students on Ritalin (or some other "behaviour modification" drug). It's very much a "let's let the drugs deal with them, so we don't have to" situation.

And to make things worse, doctors don't even know HOW these drugs work, just that they seem to work. It seems a bit unwise to be tinkering with the brain chemistries of millions of kids who really could do just fine without a pill.