NationStates Jolt Archive

ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Are these valid psychological disorders? Should they be medicated? Are there ANY valid psychological disorders?

I was diagnosed with ADD (Well, she said ADHD, I'll say ADD 'cuz I'm not all that hyper!) a couple years ago by my shrink. Heh. She reccomended medication. I am VERY against psychological drugs. If anyone wonders why my posts tend to be short, that's why... I'm considering my fellow ADD-inflicted. :p

I'm not sure if ADD/ADHD are valid psychological disorders because the symptoms are so vague that they could apply to anyone. I do think there are some psychological disorders that ARE valid, though.

I think there valid disorders just over dignosed so more people can be fed pills...mmm pills...

I think ADD/ADHD is a physiological way of coping with excessive stimulation. You become 'hyper' and more able to process information that comes in rapidly, but less capable of processing slower information or retaining that information. I think it's a survival trait that doesn't necessarily benefit us anymore.

Native kids in the north, diagnosed with ADD/ADHD tend to have more heightened senses in the bush, and better survival skills. They just don't do well in the traditional classroom. Then again, lots of kids don't.

It's hard to distinguish whether or not someone is just acting up on a more regular basis than most, I suppose, so it's hard to say. However, given that mental disorders have often been considered non-existant, when they clearly do exist, I'd give people in this situation the benefit of the doubt.

As my mom is a teacher and she tells me stories about her special-needs students, I know that ADHD is a real ailment.

However, as Teh Cameron Clan stated, both ADD and ADHD are misdiagnosed by overzealous MDs and parents looking for a quick fix. As such, many kids who are simply being kids are diagnosed with these illnesses.

The real ADD and ADHD are severe.

There are no mental illness'. What people need is not a glorified hand-holder, but a good kick in the pants.

Its definitely a real disorder. I was in a clinic for a few months, and with me was a kid who maintained his hyperactivity through immense sedatives used to calm mental patients. The kid still ran in circles, even if he couldn't open his eyes.

The problem is, if you have trouble focusing or paying attention, they immediately assume you have ADD or ADHD. So, as Cameron Clan said, they feed you pills. They're not the answer though. A lot of the 'ADD' cases that pop up with kids are just cases of bad parenting where they never taught children to listen or be obedient. Either that or its a mild case that gets overblown, and so the kids get medicated, the parents get happy, and the execs at Lilly get paid.

love this one.

asccording to some estimates over 1/4th of the population suffers from ADHD, and even conservative estimates run arround 10% of boys having it in the US. This means what is being define as a disorder is really just one major normal type of pschology.

Does this mean there is no such psychological disorder as ADD/ADHD? No, merely that what is now called ADHD isn't one, it is just a normal variation of humanity like having dark skin is not a physiological disorder. I have dealt with people who were diagnosed ADD back in the 1980s (before ADHD came about) and these 1 in thousands kids had a psychological disorder. Diagnostic criteria are just too loose for this phenomena, might as well say that white folks suffer from the physiological disorder of Melanin Impairment.

love this one.

asccording to some estimates over 1/4th of the population suffers from ADHD, and even conservative estimates run arround 10% of boys having it in the US. This means what is being define as a disorder is really just one major normal type of pschology.

Does this mean there is no such psychological disorder as ADD/ADHD? No, merely that what is now called ADHD isn't one, it is just a normal variation of humanity like having dark skin is not a physiological disorder. I have dealt with people who were diagnosed ADD back in the 1980s (before ADHD came about) and these 1 in thousands kids had a psychological disorder. Diagnostic criteria are just too loose for this phenomena, might as well say that white folks suffer from the physiological disorder of Melanin Impairment.
new study shows that 12% of all people in the United States have black skin.

after finding this study i think that we need more medication for these people...

I don't think it should be called a disorder.

i know a couple people who are diagnosed with it and medicated when really theyre just cooped up all day

new study shows that 12% of all people in the United States have black skin.

after finding this study i think that we need more medication for these people...I more inclined to medicate those with Melanin Impairment Disorder, after all having dark skin doesn't have a significant impact on one's life and health while those sufferers from Melanin Impairment Disorder are more likely to contract melanomia and even a few hours exposure to daylight can cause thier skin to burn.

There are no mental illness'. What people need is not a glorified hand-holder, but a good kick in the pants.

If only you could appreciate the irony of that statement... :rolleyes:


Pretty much all the jocks at my highschool claimed ADD just so they could play lacrosse instead of doing homework. They got free tutors and never had to study. Eventually they got screwed though when it came time to enter the real world. It was much healthier to balance athletics and schoolwork than to simply find a convenient excuse not to do one or the other.

ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Are these valid psychological disorders? Should they be medicated? Are there ANY valid psychological disorders?

I was diagnosed with ADD (Well, she said ADHD, I'll say ADD 'cuz I'm not all that hyper!) a couple years ago by my shrink. Heh. She reccomended medication. I am VERY against psychological drugs. If anyone wonders why my posts tend to be short, that's why... I'm considering my fellow ADD-inflicted. :p

I'm not sure if ADD/ADHD are valid psychological disorders because the symptoms are so vague that they could apply to anyone. I do think there are some psychological disorders that ARE valid, though.

Are they real? Yes. Are they overdiagnosed? Almost certainly. Some of it is the fact that doctors are misdiagnosing ADHD for something else (if a bipolar kid comes in while he's in a manic period, chances are good the initial diagnosis will be ADHD since the symptoms are so similar. Chances are also good that the stimulants they use to treat ADHD will also spark a full-blown manic episode in a bipolar patient). Some of it the fact that they're going over their checklist without really considering other factors, such as whether the child just moved (which can spark behavior changes due to normal stress), or something like that. Some of it is that the APA, the group that produces the DSM-IV catalog that doctors use to diagnose patients, is heavily funded by the drug industry, and therefore has a strong incentive to make the diagnostic criteria as wide as possible. Some of it is that parents want their children to do well in life, and want to give their children every chance possible.

If ADD is a real disease then I have never met anyone with it. I have, however met a lot of people who were just a little to happy for their parents to handle and were then drugged into submission. It is my personal belief that ADD does not exist but I am not a doctor so I can't really say either way.

i know a couple people who are diagnosed with it and medicated when really theyre just cooped up all day
wow that makes it sound like they are dogs that need a walk

i know people with add and adhd and when they havent had their meds they can be pretty "special" it is a real thing but anyone can say that they cant concentrate well enough and be given drugs for it

ADD does exist.

Though most of the cases reported, it's not. It can vary from bad food intake (too much sugar), lack of attention, no discipline etc.

I used to have one friend diagnosed with ADD. My God.. The sugar intake he eats per day. No wonder he gets diabetes soon after. Heck.. now that he has..he cut down his sugar intake, and He don't have to take his ADD pills anymore.

Anyway, ADD cases are very very rare here in Asia. As the "spare the Rod Spoil the Child" is still the common practice even in schools. Children that won't keep quite in class are told to shut up or get the caning. It works all the time.

There are no mental illness'. What people need is not a glorified hand-holder, but a good kick in the pants.

Try telling that to someone with, say, Alzheimer's disease. :rolleyes:

I had a neighbor for a few years who had ADD, to the degree that she used it for her master degree (I even drew the little cartoon for it for her...).

She couldn't keep an interest in her fricking house, car, or animals for long.

I agree that way too many people who do not truly have ADD/ADHD are diagnosed with it and immediately put on medication. I don't think that the first thought a parent should have when they have a hyper child is "put 'em on drugs!" Drugs should be used as a last resort treatment, only in the most severe of cases, and only once the child is old enough that they are in school (and generally struggling).

Try telling that to someone with, say, Alzheimer's disease. :rolleyes:

For the record, Alzheimer's is not a mental illness - it is a neurodegenerative disorder.

I am diagnosed with ADHD and let me tell you it helps a hell of a lot......

For the record, Alzheimer's is not a mental illness - it is a neurodegenerative disorder.

OK, silly me, how about, say, paranoid schizophrenia?

I did a little research on ADHD and the medications used such as Ritalin. I was quite surprised by what I found. Yeah, some people do suffer from ADHD and medication does help them. I also found that the drugs used are potentially dangerous and way overprescribed. Some of you have heard of the side effects of this kind of medicine. Patients taking stuff like Ritalin "discover" that they are depression, bipolar, and other stuff. This has lead to suicidal thoughts, especially when taken off the medication becuase of dependance. My friend comtemplated suicide in jr. high around when he got off of it. He has since recovered.
Why are so many kids put on medication. I mean, they have energy. Guys are especially diagnossed with it. Is it the guys fault, or is the learning environment not the best for them to be their adventurous, rowdy selves?
One reason why its over prescribred: schools get money for every kid either diagnosed, or put on medication for ADHD, probobly the medication. Its an general solution for a much more complicated issue, one that is not necessarily the childs fault. Parents have been threatened by social workers for child abuse for not caving in to their demands of medication in order to not have their kids labeled as psycho problems.
Going to bed now.

ADD/ADHD isn't so much a mental disorder as say, a state of being in which the mental patterns of early youth facilitated the increase, or imbalance, of various chemicals in the body, which merely help to reinforce the neural patterns of said ADD/ADHD. For instance, when I was a child I was diagnosed ADD, yet through the training methods of my parents I was able to alter my state of mind without using medication.

While I feel that medication has its advantages, without accompanying psychological treatment to "wean" the patient off of the meds, it will be impossible to return the individual to a normal state of being.

Mostly though (as said before), people use ADD/ADHD as a crutch for their other personal problems, or want to act in a certain way, using the excuse of the mental deviation to do so. This behavior reinforces itself, inducing over long periods of time a normal state of ADHD/ADD. I know people like this.

There may also be a problem of dependancy on the medication, causing the individual to act normal only when his meds are in effect, due to his body's dependance on them to stabilize itself. This may mean that if you didn't have a problem before, you sure do now, which wouldn't be good.

I think that we need to stop calling it a disorder. I was diagnosed with it years ago, and I used to take medication for it. I got off the meds, and I can cope just fine. Honestly, I think that my ADD helps me do certain things that other people can't. Yes, I have a hard time paying attention to boring stuff, but that also means that I find out very quickly what is useful and what isn't. I can also speed read through books and retain a vast majority of the information. I rarely study for tests. The problem is not the ADD. The problem is that our society is not organized to utilize these people's full potential.

It is a disorder, there is no doubt about that. There is a concensus among professionals that this is a disorder. Anyone who works with children can tell you this is a disorder, as can the parents of children who have the disorder and adults who have this disorder. Its probably true that alot of healthy people are misdiagnosed, but that doesnt change the fact that the disorder exists.

ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Are these valid psychological disorders? Should they be medicated? Are there ANY valid psychological disorders?

I was diagnosed with ADD (Well, she said ADHD, I'll say ADD 'cuz I'm not all that hyper!) a couple years ago by my shrink. Heh. She reccomended medication. I am VERY against psychological drugs. If anyone wonders why my posts tend to be short, that's why... I'm considering my fellow ADD-inflicted. :p

I'm not sure if ADD/ADHD are valid psychological disorders because the symptoms are so vague that they could apply to anyone. I do think there are some psychological disorders that ARE valid, though.

Yep. I have ADD. I don't take the ritalin though. I have enough trouble sleeping as it is.

The symptoms may be vague, but it is the intensity you want to look at.
Sure, everyone daydreams sometimes, but someone with ADD will find themselves unable to concentrate on a very regular basis, to their own detriment, no matter how hard they try.

What is a "real" psychological disorder?

It could be a symtom of exposure to various chemicals, like endocrine disrupting pesticides, especially during early development. Read this. (http://www.nutrition4health.org/NOHAnews/NNF98LearnDisAggPest.htm)

I've been diagnosed with ADD myself, and I know any number of other people who have. Of them all, only one of them truly benefits from the medications.

In one case I know of, the girl had just been removed from an abusive home, and had never been to school before, at the age of 10. She 'had no attention span in class' because she'd never been to school before! Fortunately her adoptive father had a brain, and refused to put her on ritalin.

They probably need more fresh food according to Jamie Oliver.

They probably need more fresh food according to Jamie Oliver.

Eating a *lot* of fresh food never made a difference for me. Jamie Oliver can cook, but he also talks a lot of shit.

The Feingold Diet can help to alleviate some of the symptoms which are ascribed to ADD and ADHD (and even if it's just because people expect it to work, it is a much healthier diet than many Americans eat, cutting preservatives, artificial sweeteners and colors out where possible.)

ADD and ADHD are indeed real ailments -- I rarely see them at school, but you do get students who are absolutely unable to concentrate, and who CANNOT SIT STILL no matter how they try. They are not being undisciplined, they are not being bad -- they just cannot stop, because they are overstimulated.

As long as it's no real detriment to the class, I give them a bit more latitude, and I make sure to give them something else to do. (For instance, if I need something passed out and they volunteer, then that's a few minutes they can get the 'itchiness' out of them. In terms of presentations, I make sure that there are both physical and writing components to it so the more active students can get up and act while the less can direct, write, etc.)

I'm not a strict "raise your hand" type anyway -- I prefer 'conversation' to 'q&a", so if anything, a mild, "Excuse me, _______ was not finished. We'll hear from you in a moment." generally works.

ADD and ADHD are very real. My little brother suffers from ADHD, and the difference between when he is medicated and when his meds wear off is giant. When he is medicated he is, for the most part, simply a typical annoying brat (but I'm his brother I'm biased). Without his meds he begins to chatter incessantly, fidget constantly, and loses the ability to follow even the simplest of instructions.

Yes, ADHD is overdiagnosed as an excuse for parents. Yes, some teens try to get diagnosed just to get the medication for an easy, legal, high. I dislike these types of people, since they give the people who really have disorders a bad name. I've got an interesting perspective on the matter, since I was taken in for evaluation and the tester said I don't have ADD or ADHD. 'Course she did say I might have something else but she was "unable to diagnose accurately." Which means (IMO) that she was bullshitting to provide my parents with a good excuse for the fact that I'm lazy.

What is a "real" psychological disorder?

But an unreal? An example, please.

Try telling that to someone with, say, Alzheimer's disease. :rolleyes:

i agree with you... let's not forget depression, and post-natal depression (so sad) :(

My son was diagnosed as adhd, with a non specified mood disorder fairly early in his life. When sitting at a desk, or at the kitchen table, he would, in the course of a few minutes, slowly move his body off the chair so that he could "bounce" his legs. His upper body remained where it was while he was eating/reading whatever, but some part of his body had to be in motion. If we tried to prevent that (we didn't know any better at the time) it would cause wwIII.

His diagnosis later became Ausperger's Syndrom (a form of autism) because of communication issues and he has been on medication for some years now.

I hate medicating him. He takes 4 pills in the morning before school, and 5 at night before bed. I just think that's too many. That being said, while on his meds he's a happy somewhat normal little boy (who has difficulty making friends).... off his meds.... well... the school refuses to deal with him when he's off his meds.

ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Are these valid psychological disorders? Should they be medicated? Are there ANY valid psychological disorders?

Yes, those are real disorders, BUT,... not everyone with it needs to be medicated. The pills are overly prescribed as a lazy fix.

Quite honestly, some classes in school are BORING. Badly taught and all that.
I used to fidget a lot in class myself. Part of my problem was that the chairs were too big for my comfortable usage. (try sitting perfectly still for hours in a chair that your legs can't reach the floor, and you'll begin to see why the need to fidget.)