ADHD doesnt exist

Kids with ATHD are not "mentally ill." For you to say that is an insult.

Obviously, you have not raised an ATHD child. I have.

I'm not going to dignify your argument by discussing it. This thread matches the other one just up this afternoon of "Cancer A-Z cured." Must be a slow day there at ATS.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


I have three sons, two are autistic and one ADHD.

Like I have posted previously, We got the $hit end of the stick genetically.

(no wonder I haven't been abducted, who would want my genes)

But, that aside, ADHD is physical, it's a malfunction of the brain or nature trying something new.

Again, my ADHD is brave beyond compare.

If your daughter or you were being bullied, my sweet, strong, ADHD son would be the first without hesitation to step up to the plate and save your arse.

He is brave beyond compare, and with a strong moral fiber to protect those that are weaker.

I am proud of my first born. He is the stuff heros are made of.

While I don't agree with the OP's post that ADHD doesn't exist, it is ONLY on the "rapidly rising" scale because it is being overly diagnosed incorrectly in too many cases.

Many cases that are diagnosed with ADHD are simply kids that are in classes below their intelligence level and are bored (was me as a child), or have poor eyesight or hearing and can't read the board or hear the teacher so they get easily distracted, or have too much sugar and/or caffeine in their diets, and don't get enough physical activity.

The other bigger contributing factor is that big pharma are just interested in getting as many people as possible to take pills for the rest of their lives, without actually EVER curing the underlying conditions.

The last disease that there was actually a cure for was Polio in the 1950's, and this was cured by an independant researcher who gave the cure to the world, for free, and won the Nobel Prize.

reply to post by Aliensun


A beautiful post.

I feel kinship with you.

Only you and I really know what it is really like.

Hang in there.

My ADHD Son is 33 and I am proud of him. He is a good, solid, decent human.

May you be blessed, may you know peace and may you rest assured that your parenting has not gone in vain.

reply to post by Skyfloating


Thank You its about time.
I was thinking it and you posted it.
Spot on and thank you.

I think a lot of parents want to have their kids druged because it is so much easier. My son was in constant trouble in class and at home could never seem to just do what he was supposed to, he was so active, fidgety, he had a great sense of humor but he wore out all the adults who dealt with him, they wanted to say he had a "problem" I saw him as a very active kid who was bored with sitting for any lenth of time.
He out grew all these things and turned out great! The many special people in the world who accomplish huge things are these personality types. If they are not doing well with grades they are not lost causes! Even very great minds have sometimes been slow in school.
My son has turned out to be an incredible man everything i could have wished for. I think druging a kid with all the horrid known and unknown side effects is rarely the answer.

reply to post by Byteman


What is it with people that want to prove themselves better or wiser than others? I have nothing against you. Come set foot in my domain,threatening my survival and I will make up any stories it takes to compell the rest of the masses to comply to a falacy that is medication that inhibits personality.. If I was to brainwash you enought right now, I could make you believe that defending your beliefs is a disorder.. Grow up... Did that insult you? I hope not.. Dont get too (or to) emotional.... If I have the power to make you utter such nonsense, Imagine how much poiwer your government has over you

www.hulu.com...

This episode of Dilbert sums up everything



[edit on 22-8-2010 by Segador]

I'm pretty sure many people realize that the pharmaceutical corporations are backing and making up disorders (like Restless leg syndrome) just to push their cancer pills and make millions.

reply to post by Dock9


These children lived in home lives with whole families that were able to provide attention needed and had a dozen other children around as an energy outlet.
Or they had to get up at dawn and work before school which wore them out and helped them focus.

Or...the children didn't go to school at all, and were yanked out at the 8th grade to become farm workers. Or were considered unteacheable and stuck in the corner with a dunce cap, or kicked out of school period.

Laws that kept children in school have not always been around.

But before adhd medication, there were opiates, which were not illegal till the 1920s, or thereabouts, so the children were medicated with opiates, which is not all that different from ritalin.

Or the children were beaten to an inch of their lives by their fathers.

Sent to other family members when they couldn't be handled. Or sent to institutions far away.

Troubled kids have always been "dealt" with. Only the method changes.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by nixie_nox]

Originally posted by Annee
How long was it before science discovered where Malaria came from?

How long was it before science discovered the cause of Polio?

Brain dysfunctions/damage exists. Just because it can't be pinpointed exactly - - does not mean it does not exist.

That's a pretty good way of putting it.
This thread did kind of morph into some type of angry A.D.D. battle chat.
To me the positions being shared dont matter, it's the need that should be addressed.
Whatever the cause or reason we or our loved ones display this "D" behavior isnt as important as dealing with it and understanding that it's real and right there in our faces.
Call it what you'd like, A.D.D. ,short attention span, hypermind, racing thoughts, multitasking mania, type A power personality, whatever?,
It's still there, and very real, and isnt going away.
So if it's lack of Nuture=then nurture.
If it's lack of discipline=then discipline.
If it's boredom=introduce interest.
If it's over medication=reduce the meds.
If it's typical excited young minds= engage them.
SOME of these people we love and OURSELVES will have to deal with this till they die, and it is VERY REAL,
I'd like to think that we were successful in making their lives and ours the best, the happiest, the most successful they could be, with the built in problems being handled and just feeling loved regardless if theyre a little or alot "D"
(distracted-dented-damaged-ditzy)

reply to post by LooseLipsSinkShips


Restless leg is a very real disorder. I love how people pick and choose what diseases are real or not. Based on no scientific evidence whatsoever.

It is caused by low iron, low potassium, low vit D, or too much caffeine late at night.

How sad and ignoran that people put so much stock into the medical community and think they have the answer to everything(they are not demi-gods) and there are plenty of things that they don't know about.

New diseases are being discovered all the time. Things mutate, chemicals affect the body and wrack the brain.

But because you have never personally experienced, you base on no scientific or medical experience whatsoever, that it doesn't exist.

How sad.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by nixie_nox]

I have one question for the OP.

Are you a doctor or medical professional or have any kind of medical/scientific background?

I always think of the following when ADHD is mentioned

I'd like to give some info here about being diagnosed ADHD and why doctors said I had this disorder. I'm not trying to make myself sound smart or special here, just trying to outline some things to help others understand what is going on.

I was diagnosed (by a pediatrician) with ADHD at the age of 10 in the early 90's. My parents put me on dexamphetamine at a reasonable dose for 8 years.

My IQ was high to begin with, but I did not work in a standard pattern or "wrote-learn" process which concerned doctors. I followed a non standard pattern which did not repeat, unlike a computer program, which repeats the process exactly the same every time. They considered it to be abnormal, and not fitting to the current scope of children's behavioural patterns. basically, there were lots of kids like me in my school. they were smart but just worked and behaved differently to what was considered the "norm".

I was getting high grades, but was not really interested in what the teachers had to teach. I loved art, music and anything creative with computers. I often excelled in my creative subjects but not in the standard subjects like maths and English, although I performed well in tests, in the normal day to day classroom activities, teachers saw me as being a trouble maker. I couldn't sit still as I had way too much energy. I was like a solar powered battery that was always charged and my parents were getting tired of it.

I was easily excited as a child and became very active when doing things I enjoyed. It was hard for my parents and they could not understand why I was having trouble at school - as described by the teachers.

I began taking the prescribed drug, commonly referred to as "dexies". if you do some research, you'll notice it's obviously an amphetamine and a stimulant. Why would doctors prescribe children a drug like speed when they were hyperactive? Still beats me.

Anyway, this basically made me whacked out, I found it hard to interact with other children, I struggled to form friendships, I felt sick in the stomach almost everyday except my concentration was excellent and I would not bother the teacher, I was getting straight A's from then on. This made my family happy and also relieved their stresses, for them they now felt like they had a normal child as defined by our authorities.

When I realised I was taking a drug and that it could be harmful for me, I told my parents I did not want to take in any more. Once I stopped I behaved the way I used to and my grades were still high, I was able to interact easily with other teenagers and I was a lot happier. I performed very well at university and have a great job today.

In retrospect I now see that there is no room for movement in the "box" we call children's standard behaviours. It's forced down our throats that we have to act & earn in standard way, a subservient way, a format that is very old, one which has not been growing and evolving along with our human race - and if we do anything different to the normal scope, the medical authorities have a label to place on these children, it's publicised everywhere, having this "dis-ease" or that "dis-order" which requires medication. This often results in the parents being afraid that their child will not fit into society and that something is wrong with their children, therefore they should medicate the child and make them fit the standard box so their fears will go away. I believe that this is a standard model of behaviour that society has created to help enforce a standard model.

If you look a little deeper (in my opinion), from a psychological point of view it is a social fear of our own inability to control ourselves, and our fear to ensure that others will accept us as one of the tribe.

[edit on 22-8-2010 by Reflections]

reply to post by Reflections


Thank-you for that post.

If I could give applause, I would.....good job..I learned even more..

It really is too bad my daughter's pediatrician died (he was jogging and had a heart attack).

He was at the forefront of this back in 1975.

He believed in testing and no meds at home. If he prescribed Ritalin - - it was 6 months on 6 months off (during school hours only). He did not believe in keeping kids medicated - - but behavior modification.

He believed once a child calmed down with medication - - they would want to retain that behavior without meds. He expected the kids to at least try to be responsible for their behavior. He wanted them to be on the lowest dose possible in intervals - - so they themselves could tell the difference.

I got lucky.

Dont know if somebody posted this tidbit, but heres another slant.....
Many many ADHD diagnosises sic....are done to children who are cusp birthed and thus about close to a full year younger than the rest of the normal kids....
Because they just made the cut date wise....they get diagnosed as ADHD when they are simply too young in reality by several months for the classes they are placed in....
The stats prove that huge percentage of ADHD are just kids born just under the date wire for cut off and placing in the next intake of kids.....
i read it somewhere...

Originally posted by stirling

The stats prove that huge percentage of ADHD are just kids born just under the date wire for cut off and placing in the next intake of kids.....
i read it somewhere...

You have any real data on that?

I did have my daughter repeat 1st grade to give her a better chance.

I'm 43, and I feel I probably do have some sort of ADD/ADHD. I haven't bothered to get tested.. perhaps I feel it would signal a weakness I don't want to admit. But I have many of the symptoms associated with it, I believe. I used to think it was bunk myself. But after some reflection on the symptoms, I think there is more to it than I realized.

I have, carrying a couple bags out to my car in the morning, threw my lunch away with the trash. At work, I can be working on something, and after a moment, I think of something else I was doing, and I forget the first thing, and do the second one instead. I can read through the list of symptoms, and can relate to so many.

So I no longer just shrug it off. I can see how someone might assume it's some phantom illness. I thought it was utter bunk myself. But after reading up on it, it stunned me how my life mirrors the symptoms. So.. don't simply dismiss it, because you don't understand it.