Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes!! It's so frustrating because simple tasks, like carrying my cup to the sink or signing a permission slip, can take 15 minutes because of all of the rabbit trails along they way... but I can sit happily for hours sorting Legos by shape, color, and theme.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gizmo980
Oh, and thanks to those who've cleared up the misconceptions & myths... particularly the one regarding "not sitting still," which might be one aspect, but is certainly not the definition of ADD/ADHD. I am perfectly happy vegging out on the couch, and my job isn't highly active (kind of up to me), but my BRAIN is the part that can't always shut down. So I might be sprawled out for hours appearing to do nothing, while on the inside I've completed a whole novel. No, make that three partially-completed novels - LOL.
In just the past 15 years, prescriptions for Ritalin for children and teens has quadrupled, along with the diagnosis of the same. It is not uncommon at all now for children to take their "meds" for the same with breakfast, getting ready for school in the morning....
We already consume, per capita, far more prescription drugs for sundry maladies than any first-world country, by far. Are we now passing this down to our children, creating a mindset that meds are necessary for problems that prior generations would work out sans drugs, on their own? Are we creating young addicts? Is this just bad/negligent parenting. Too much Dr. Oz/Oprah?
Worst of all, is this possibly a "pill babysitter" for harried mothers who don't have the time/energy to deal with what used to be considered a normally rambunctious kid(and not only boys)?
Divorced single mothers are twice as likely to administer Ritalin to their children, per studies, which gives credence to that. Per the article:
".Some people who study drugs make the commonsensical point that every age has its chemical remedies of choice. And so one answer might be that just as Valium was the it-pill for mothers and doctors in an era when many women were at home with plenty of kids while their husbands were away working, so do today’s pediatric medications seem to help a different group of women: those who aren’t home all day, who are working outside the home, and who often don’t have husbands. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, for instance, found that divorce essentially doubles the likelihood that a given child will be prescribed Ritalin...."
Some schools are abolishing recess, or cutting it down per time/occurence, as they feel children are too rambunctious, at the same time as so many children are sedated all day at school from their morning dose of Ritalin. Per the article:
"..Thus, school under the new family regimen becomes longer than ever before (before- and after-care programs have exploded in tandem with Ritalin use). Districts overburdened by their role as parent substitutes respond by reining in whatever they can (recess and exercise hours have been cut back in tandem with Ritalin use). Today’s kids are now institutionalized for more hours than their parents were, with less time to jump and run and move muscles and bones than their parents had. Many are also without fathers, as everyone knows. Is it any wonder that the advertising wizards have come up with the message that at least something will help Mommy out: 'taking your meds?'..."
By the way, Ritalin is classed as a Class 2 narcotic.
On the other hand, is this drug perhaps actually properly prescribed? Is it possible we actually are addressing a real issue that would have been dealt with in decades past if this was around? Or are we a marketly different culture now, looking for drugs/medicine to solve all our imagined/real ills, mentally as well? Or are we just too busy to guide/discipline our children, as prior generations seemed to have no problem doing whatsoever?
Comments?
There's something to what you are saying. I sometimes reflect upon my own parenting of my children. I was able to give my children many things, but what I could not give them was the lifestyle that I enjoyed in the 1960's growing up in a place in Utah that I would call "half suburban/half rural".
I couldn't give my children the freedom to run and play virtually unhindered over a vacant tract of land that was about 2 miles wide and 2 miles long, complete with rolling hills and a creek, because that land was long since developed into housing.
I couldn't give my children the freedom to ride horses with their friends up and down the streets because of zoning laws and restrictions that now prohibit people from owning horses and livestock in virtually any residential area that I am now aware of.
I couldn't let my children ride a small-gasoline powered motorbike when they were 11 or 12, like I did, because it was against the law and unlike when I grew up, the law was being enforced. (I also worried they would get hurt, but for some reason my parents never seemed too).
I could take my children camping and exploring in the national parks and national forests where I live, but I learned the hard way that these kinds of things have a hard time holding the interest of kids who have been shown by their friends and everyone around them "the wonders of electronic toys" like cell phones, nintendo and x-box.
When my children were over at their friend's houses, I could bet about 8-1 that part of their play activities would involve electronic games.
When I sent my children to boy scout or girl scout camp, the poor leader had to always make a point of asking all the kids in the troop to surrender all the electronic toys their parents had purchased for them.
Life has changed greatly in the last hundred years and I suspect a lot of ADD and ADHD problems have some relationship to the way that we all live. We can't roll the clock back and go back to a time when none of these new technologies or "inconveniences" existed. Yet, I think its precisely our inability to do that that is impacting badly on not only the mental health of children, but of many adults as well.
There is no pill, quick fix, or treatment that is going to make all these things better. We can't stop the inevitable march of the world even further into the future. So, my prediction is these problems are just going to get worse In an ideal world, the population would grow at a smaller rate and there would not be as much competition for resources, money, and land as there is. I can't stop any of that, but it does make me sad.
***I do not dispute the fact that many children would have ADHD or ADD even without the changes I have described. I also do not dispute the fact that Ritalin and other medications are very helpful for some children. I just think they are overused and often don't address the real or core problems we face in this culture.
There's something to what you are saying. I sometimes reflect upon my own parenting of my children. I was able to give my children many things, but what I could not give them was the lifestyle that I enjoyed in the 1960's growing up in a place in Utah that I would call "half suburban/half rural".
I couldn't give my children the freedom to run and play virtually unhindered over a vacant tract of land that was about 2 miles wide and 2 miles long, complete with rolling hills and a creek, because that land was long since developed into housing.
I couldn't give my children the freedom to ride horses with their friends up and down the streets because of zoning laws and restrictions that now prohibit people from owning horses and livestock in virtually any residential area that I am now aware of.
I couldn't let my children ride a small-gasoline powered motorbike when they were 11 or 12, like I did, because it was against the law and unlike when I grew up, the law was being enforced. (I also worried they would get hurt, but for some reason my parents never seemed too).
I could take my children camping and exploring in the national parks and national forests where I live, but I learned the hard way that these kinds of things have a hard time holding the interest of kids who have been shown by their friends and everyone around them "the wonders of electronic toys" like cell phones, nintendo and x-box.
When my children were over at their friend's houses, I could bet about 8-1 that part of their play activities would involve electronic games.
When I sent my children to boy scout or girl scout camp, the poor leader had to always make a point of asking all the kids in the troop to surrender all the electronic toys their parents had purchased for them.
Life has changed greatly in the last hundred years and I suspect a lot of ADD and ADHD problems have some relationship to the way that we all live. We can't roll the clock back and go back to a time when none of these new technologies or "inconveniences" existed. Yet, I think its precisely our inability to do that that is impacting badly on not only the mental health of children, but of many adults as well.
There is no pill, quick fix, or treatment that is going to make all these things better. We can't stop the inevitable march of the world even further into the future. So, my prediction is these problems are just going to get worse In an ideal world, the population would grow at a smaller rate and there would not be as much competition for resources, money, and land as there is. I can't stop any of that, but it does make me sad.
***I do not dispute the fact that many children would have ADHD or ADD even without the changes I have described. I also do not dispute the fact that Ritalin and other medications are very helpful for some children. I just think they are overused and often don't address the real or core problems we face in this culture.
There have been studies linking it to pesticides, which would make sense to me. We're all just guinea pigs for big Pharma as well as big Agri and the food industry in general, filling our foods with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and all sorts of chemicals, but we all just accept it because we want to be able to buy raspberries in Wisconsin in the winter. There are many diseases increasing in frequency in percentages, including ADD, Autism, and Alzhemiers, and I would not be surprised to find an environmental toxin link of some sort in all of them. http://content.time.com/time/health/...989564,00.html and an actual medical journal http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...-3058.abstract but there are many more.
When I worked with kids with ADD, I was always amazed that they couldn't concentrate on tests/academics/household chores, but even the ones with hyperactivity could concentrate for hours on computer/video games. Any thoughts as to why this form of attention was not a problem with them?
That's what is known as "hyper focus," and is very common with ADD/ADHD. When we enjoy or get involved in a task, our brains do the opposite of losing focus, and become TOO focused while ignoring other responsibilities. Why? Not sure, but I imagine all of us (with the condition) have experienced this in many situations.
For example, I have trouble completing housework and other tasks I don't particularly like - but will easily spend hours organizing photos on my computer, playing highly detailed video games, rehearsing music, etc. And once I get into that zone, I can get lost in it for a LONG time! This is why we tend to thrive in detail-oriented/technical jobs, like engineering, programming, research (I'm a librarian), editing, writing, and so forth.
***I do not dispute the fact that many children would have ADHD or ADD even without the changes I have described. I also do not dispute the fact that Ritalin and other medications are very helpful for some children. I just think they are overused and often don't address the real or core problems we face in this culture.
The essence of any medical treatment is accurate diagnosis. There are certainly people on medication who do not truly have ADHD, but there are also people with ADHD who are not on medication. Certainly the meds have potential for abuse. That is why someone skilled in prescribing them will monitor their use carefully.
As far as other activities are concerned, parents can certainly take the initiative and limit use of the electronics. Kids do ride horses and motorbikes, they just cannot do it anywhere. There are still neighborhoods where children can "free range" safely. Finding a balance in activities is the essenceof good parenting.
I have one child with ADHD (adult now) out of my four. Believe me, ADHD is very real and it's definitely a medical condition. However, we didn't put him on Ritalin. Instead, he was put on a very low dose of Tofranil (sometimes prescribed for bed wetting, though he didn't have that issue at all). It seemed to work fairly well, but eventually as he got older he told me that he preferred how he felt without the medication to how he felt with it, so eventually (about age 14 or so) we weaned him from it.
My son is also severely dyslexic - with a genius level IQ. Let's just say that parenting him was one of the biggest challenges of my life - but he is worth every bit of stress over it all!
I just had to respond to this because so many people poo-poo the diagnosis of ADHD as if it doesn't exist. I can assure you it most definitely DOES exist as a very real physical condition. Sure, there may be some misdiagnoses, but that doesn't negate the reality of the condition.
The essence of any medical treatment is accurate diagnosis. There are certainly people on medication who do not truly have ADHD, but there are also people with ADHD who are not on medication. Certainly the meds have potential for abuse. That is why someone skilled in prescribing them will monitor their use carefully.
As far as other activities are concerned, parents can certainly take the initiative and limit use of the electronics. Kids do ride horses and motorbikes, they just cannot do it anywhere. There are still neighborhoods where children can "free range" safely. Finding a balance in activities is the essenceof good parenting.
My brother's meds are strict control because people tried to sell it or get addicted.
He gets tested for it every year.
/Life has changed greatly in the last hundred years and I suspect a lot of ADD and ADHD problems have some relationship to the way that we all live. We can't roll the clock back and go back to a time when none of these new technologies or "inconveniences" existed. Yet, I think its precisely our inability to do that that is impacting badly on not only the mental health of children, but of many adults as well./
I do so appreciate this part of your post, Mark.
We can't know yet all the causal factors but I suspect that at least some of them are behavioral.
I also question how much this variation from the norm should be treated as an illness.
There have been studies linking it to pesticides, which would make sense to me. We're all just guinea pigs for big Pharma as well as big Agri and the food industry in general, filling our foods with hormones, antibiotics, pesticides and all sorts of chemicals, but we all just accept it because we want to be able to buy raspberries in Wisconsin in the winter. There are many diseases increasing in frequency in percentages, including ADD, Autism, and Alzhemiers, and I would not be surprised to find an environmental toxin link of some sort in all of them. Study Links ADHD in Kids to Pesticide Exposure - TIME and an actual medical journal Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Urinary Metabolites of Organophosphate Pesticides but there are many more.
I would need to see those studies. Frankly, I'm skeptical of that particular theory. Pesticides have been in heavy use in this country since the end of World War II. ADD and ADHD have only been noticeable problems since perhaps the 1980's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
The essence of any medical treatment is accurate diagnosis. There are certainly people on medication who do not truly have ADHD, but there are also people with ADHD who are not on medication. Certainly the meds have potential for abuse. That is why someone skilled in prescribing them will monitor their use carefully.
As far as other activities are concerned, parents can certainly take the initiative and limit use of the electronics. Kids do ride horses and motorbikes, they just cannot do it anywhere. There are still neighborhoods where children can "free range" safely. Finding a balance in activities is the essenceof good parenting.
I don't think I will compare the symptoms for something like ADD that appear in the DSM V with the symptoms for a disease like "strep throat" that I can find in Lange's Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment. Respectfully, the simple point that I make is the symptoms and signs for diagnosing something ADD are more subjective and depend on the conclusions that a mental health professional draws after he assesses a patient. There is no "bright red throat". There is no fever. There is no discharge. There is no positive result to a strep test. What it generally comes down to is a series of questions and answers. Conclusions are drawn based on those answers.
My point is not that mental health professionals are incompetent or that ADD is not real or does not exist. I know better than that and everyone else should too. My point is simply that the diagnosis is a more complex one than for physical ailments. I think factors play into it like:
1. Mom and Dad are complaining that their child is failing school and literally driving their pediatrician, psychologist, or psychiatrist nutty.
2. Its a demanding world and kids are under pressure to do well in school often from the very beginning.
3. There is no "stay-home" parent to manage Johnny and see that he completes his reading and his studies and working parents, instead turn to the mental health field for a solution to their problem.
I believe these factors cause professionals to diagnose borderline cases as ADD and ADHD and to choose medication for treatment when more structured parenting might work better.
Your points about parenting are well taken. But, in the end, the problem is that too many parents--for many reasons--are simply unable to provide children with a range of activities that interest them, are healthy for them, and burn up energy. Most parents probably can't afford the kind of neighborhood you describe. Or, that neighborhood isn't reasonably near mom or dad's place of employment.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In an ideal world, the population would grow at a smaller rate and there would not be as much competition for resources, money, and land as there is. I can't stop any of that, but it does make me sad.
