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Those of you with ADD: If you eliminated every artificial color and flavor from your diet you'd be a different person.
Parents would rather dole out a pill than make the effort. It's not difficult. Some people are more sensitive to the nutritionally devoid chemical additives in our food. Other cultures don't have those chemicals and they don't have the ADD problem we have.
I've proven it to myself with my own child. I've seen others prove it with their children. Don't give them a drug to counteract the food you feed them.
The pill doesnot solve everything.
Brother and I had casemangers to work with us so we can learn with live with it.
How come my dad has ADHD when his diet has different growing up?
Ever see "One flew over the Cookoo's nest"? Remember when they all had to line up for their meds, and McMurphy, the wild child, had to be forced to get his?
How is lining children up, mostly boys, for their institutionalized meds, any different, and for the same reasons?
Natural playful boisterousness is not ACHD. Boys are tornados of energy. Remember they would draw a little tornado emanating from "Dennis the Menace" way back when?
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Would the Dennis the Menace character of today be on meds? LOL....its' almost ludicrous how traditionally "boys being boys" behavior is now considered bad in many quarters. Are we honestly looking to have a class full of compliant girls, with hands properly folded? Evidentally so.
I remember when we had tomboy girls in my grammar school in the late 60's/early 70's. I presume that paradigm is bad as well, even with the "girl power" meme being acceptable.
Ever see "One flew over the Cookoo's nest"? Remember when they all had to line up for their meds, and McMurphy, the wild child, had to be forced to get his?
How is lining children up, mostly boys, for their institutionalized meds, any different, and for the same reasons?
Natural playful boisterousness is not ACHD. Boys are tornados of energy. Remember they would draw a little tornado emanating from "Dennis the Menace" way back when?
Would the Dennis the Menace character of today be on meds? LOL....its' almost ludicrous how traditionally "boys being boys" behavior is now considered bad in many quarters. Are we honestly looking to have a class full of girls, with hands properly folded? Evidentally so.
My very point, well made. In MOST instances there are lifestyle changes that can be made to allow for a non-prescription solution.
I am "hyper" the same way in terms of a job: I love to be "out and about", doing something besides sit. I can, however, sit for hours and read a book or watch a movie. But this is not the essence of an ADHD or ADD diagnosis. It has more to do with concentration and focus, skills which CAN be taught and assimilated through experience.
Our media and culture feeds this "momentary attention span". Everything is fast-paced, brief, and comes on so rapidly that a person would have a hard time grasping the content. Snippets of data, if you will. This is ingrained now in our classroom environments and our workplaces as well. "Hurry up and let's get on to the next thing."
You have to look at the whole situation to better assess a viable intervention for child behaviors: family, school, relationships, physical health, emotional health, diet, etc. Behaviors and ways of thinking can be modified but it takes time and commitment, something for which a pill becomes an easy and profitable substitute.
Did you know that Ritalin is used in nursing homes to subdue the elderly? It is. On older people it works as a tranquilizer. Think of the wonderful benefits that an active exercise and social program could bring into these institutions. Instead, many subdue the populace in order to control the situation of unrest. Hmmm....
Your points here are brilliant....So much so I wish someone would write a book on this? Could YOU?
LOL!
I agree.....we spend so much time looking at screens like rhesus monkeys, looking for that heroin immediacy of notifications, calls, texts......that alone could give the entire culture de facto ADHD, not just the kids, who of course live on this stuff(and more adults do than you might think as well).....
Also, look at the movies, which have the rapid cuts and pacing of video games(many are actually based on the same and/or superheroes)......would anyone have the patience for the classic 70's movies from Scorsese and Coppola now?
Again, the culture itself is so rapid-paced perhaps we all need depressants/downers to deal with it, who knows?
Did you read the one I linked to? I could only link to the abstract, but it includes a synopsis of methods used and results as well as sample size. There are many more that show up in a quick Google search.
Also, it is really not as hard to recognize as you seem to think when you know what to look for. I worked as an OT in public schools, and I could see myself in all the kids diagnosed with ADD I worked with; the clumsiness, the poor spatial and fine motor skills, the difficulty with handwriting and with things like being able to properly grade muscle strength and pressure, etc. There is no blood test, no, just as there isn't with Autism and Asperger's, but like I said, I know one when I see one, and there is very definitely a set of similar symptoms that are seen quite often.
When I got a referral to evaluate a kid with an ADD diagnosis, and I'd go into a gym class or academic class to observe, I didn't even need the child pointed out to me. I would just watch the class. It wasn't just the kid misbehaving or squirming ariund that would make me say "that's him", it would be the kid who when the teacher said "get your crayons out" is struggling with a huge mess, spilling things all over the place, unable to find the crayons, in distress and constantly needing the teacher to go over and assist him...in gym it was the kid going left when everyone else was going right, the kid who couldn't stay on the scooter board or dribble a ball. It is not just lack of focus not hyperactivity that comprise ADD/ADHD, there is usually a similar constellation of soft neurological signs that accompany it.
I DO agree it's diagnosed too quickly by some today, and I definitely don't agree with the over-medicating they do, but it is very real and it is increasing for reasons no one knows, just as Autism and Alzheimers are (although we do know that one is likely from pollution), and to completely discount the idea that some of the toxins we are being inundated with are, in fact, toxic. Look at all we've discovered recently about plastics, BPH. The use of plastics exploded on the last few decades, who knows what the effects of a baby sucking on a BPH pacifier could do. It could be any number of things, but to refuse to even look at them in favor of denying the experiences of millions of people is foolish as well as kind f rude to those of us who have to live with this, JMO.
Until you pointed it out, I missed the link to the study, but I did see the Time Magazine article.
Interesting research and there is certainly nothing wrong with Pediatrics which is the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
At the end though the abstract says the study shows that increased levels of these pesticides may be related to ADHD and suggests further research is needed. "May" is one of the words that is akin to saying that something is possible not probable. The correlation was there, but I didn't see it as overwhelming. I read the numbers to say that the odds of having ADHD were between 1.5 times and 1.9 times more likely if a child had a heavy concentration of these pesticides. Also, it doesn't speak to my original point about "Why is this only happening in the last 20-30 years if these pesticides have been in use for the last 60 or 70 years?" Like it or not, this sort of thing is literally the foundation of modern American agriculture.
I have other questions too. I didn't see any attempt (at least in the abstract) to break ADHD down by where the kids were living. If the pesticide hypothesis is valid, it would seem to me that ADHD rates would be highest around farms and fields where these pesticides are used.
My own observation is that environmental influences are correlated with ADHD. It also seems to affect kids with lower socioeconomic status more than kids in middle or upper class families, although none are immune.
I'm not against looking at the whole pesticide thing, but that study is merely a start.
Last edited by markg91359; 01-22-2015 at 08:50 PM..
Been there, done that, didn't do a darn thing. I will continue to avoid artificial ingredients because it's a smart thing to do... but it doesn't help with my or my child's symptoms. What is with the stereotype that we're all stuffing our kids full of junk food and parking them in front of the TV? That meme is helpful to no one, particularly those who did everything "right" and have ADHD children in spite of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hunterseat
Those of you with ADD: If you eliminated every artificial color and flavor from your diet you'd be a different person.
Parents would rather dole out a pill than make the effort. It's not difficult. Some people are more sensitive to the nutritionally devoid chemical additives in our food. Other cultures don't have those chemicals and they don't have the ADD problem we have.
I've proven it to myself with my own child. I've seen others prove it with their children. Don't give them a drug to counteract the food you feed them.
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?
Because people with ADHD can only focus on things that interest them, if the topic isn't interesting, then they can't focus. The intense focus on things is called Hyperfocus.
OP, your points are spot on, but sadly, not a new concern. As a previous ''mental health professional'' who has also worked in childrens' programs, I have observed this first hand.
Not going to be popular, but I am going to say it, I think ADHD and ADD are ''designer'' diagnoses. Meaning ''pharma excuses''. Poor or nonexistant parenting is the culprit. In very rare instances a child might have some chemical imbalances in the brain beyond a Red Bull/high fructose constant sugar high, but very very few do.
I came to believe that ''family life'' as we used to know it has become non-existant for many kids. Exercise and outdoor play are being taken away by schools and overly protective parents and hours of sedentary video game watching and texting instead of being active with friends.
Kids are being ''ware housed'' like many pets and old people. Drug 'em up to keep them compliant. I left that world of mental ''non-health'' as I could no longer tolerate the ''instant fix'' mentality of the parents and doctors.
ENTIRELY UNTRUE. NOT A SINGLE WORD OF IT.
My kid was diagnosed with ADD in the 1980s and we tried Ritalin. He had been tested extensively and with a 148 IQ was also in advanced classes but had serious trouble performing even in non academic situations. Except for sports which were an enormous part of his life. He also had a few other issues: developmental lag in fine motor meaning very poor hand control. Try having THAT PROBLEM in 2nd grade when the stupid school is demanding cursive.
Ritalin was a MIRACLE for him in terms of being able to focus and be successful.
He hated taking it because he felt it compromised his "personality" "mom I'm not funny on that stuff".
And it hurt his timing in hockey goal tending.
I allowed HIM to chose when to use it - the half life is short. But I required him to take it for math tests.
Every year he got trading cards for Xmas and was so excited to organize them. By the end of the day he was so upset they were a mess all over the place disorganized/lost/. ONE YEAR, I had him take a Ritalin and his entire collection was organized, in binders, LABELED before lunch time.
In college and as an adult he was aware of this challenge and made plenty of mistakes by ignoring it and choosing to not pursue medication but that was the option I gave him.
My theory is he suffered ADD for two reasons.
1. His FATHER is exactly the same and while he is accomplished with two masters degrees and a PhD it was a very difficult road. He is not even American and was raised in a very NATURAL life in Greece.
2. As a baby he had been prescribed Theophylline for serious chronic respiratory health issues which made his body EXTREMELY hyperactive even in his sleep - legs quivering, body shaking. (albeit his ADD was NOT ADHD). Some nights he was hallucinating and didn't even recognize me.
IF YOU HAVE NO FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE WITH THIS CONDITION YOU REALLY HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT IT. And blaming "poor parenting" is a complete INSULT and sorry....IGNORANT statement.
I spent my ENTIRE LIFE helping my child work with this condition. EVERY SINGLE THING he did had to be in an informed way. IE Something you'd consider "simple" like writing directions to a place. He couldn't even write out directions in an organized fashion to drive from point A to point B. So I developed a methodology of HOW to write the directions so that they were clear and easily read on the road.
BTW, I didn't even allow him to get combo shots way back in 1980. My pediatrician went along with me and gave him half dose individual shots spread out over time. I NURSED him for 14 months. He had NO processed foods. NONE. Well, except ketchup and mustard and occasional ice cream .
I didn't even introduce dairy for a long time or EGGS. He ate a TON of vegetables every single day and a veggie platter was his favorite meal. One of his first favorite "toddler" meals was Greek lamb, rice and cauliflower. NOT EVER jarred "baby foods". He ADORED fruit. Don't even GO THERE with "parenting" that you are imagining.
He never EVER even had a baby sitter except for age 1 year old for 6 months when I went back to work part time 8-12 AM.
And my grandmother lived WITH US there. SHE was an RN from Switzerland who walked him in his carriage rain, snow, sun. MY MOTHER and father had him after school every day of his life thereafter until I got home. Taking him to all his sports, helping with homework, supervising every activity including his friends. NO COMPUTERS. Very little television. He played outside every single day. ON acreage. He had swimming lessons as a toddler and swam every day in the summer in our pool. He played seasonal sports baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey his entire life and so did his circle of friends - 8 families- we were all very close and treated each other's kids like our own. Every weekend having each other over our houses or kids' sleepovers or whatever. You could call it an IDYLLIC life.
You have absolutely NO BASIS for your remarks.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 01-23-2015 at 04:40 AM..
Until you pointed it out, I missed the link to the study, but I did see the Time Magazine article.
Interesting research and there is certainly nothing wrong with Pediatrics which is the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
At the end though the abstract says the study shows that increased levels of these pesticides may be related to ADHD and suggests further research is needed. "May" is one of the words that is akin to saying that something is possible not probable. The correlation was there, but I didn't see it as overwhelming. I read the numbers to say that the odds of having ADHD were between 1.5 times and 1.9 times more likely if a child had a heavy concentration of these pesticides. Also, it doesn't speak to my original point about "Why is this only happening in the last 20-30 years if these pesticides have been in use for the last 60 or 70 years?" Like it or not, this sort of thing is literally the foundation of modern American agriculture.
I have other questions too. I didn't see any attempt (at least in the abstract) to break ADHD down by where the kids were living. If the pesticide hypothesis is valid, it would seem to me that ADHD rates would be highest around farms and fields where these pesticides are used.
My own observation is that environmental influences are correlated with ADHD. It also seems to affect kids with lower socioeconomic status more than kids in middle or upper class families, although none are immune.
I'm not against looking at the whole pesticide thing, but that study is merely a start.
I never said or implied anything was definitively proven. A poster asked if somehow our modern world may be responsible, as it didn't seem as prevalent prior, so I brought up the possible link to pesticides as well as other environmental toxins including plastics that weren't used as prevalently as they are today as a possible difference from yesterday and today. I never said "THIS is why, case closed". Of course there are still unanswered questions, that is why research is ongoing.
I don't think it's strong enough or enough people take it. You can see it in some of the threads here on CD.
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