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do you think ADD/ADHD is real?

Christ_empowered

Christ_empowered

Member
I was talking with somebody about this. Seems like everybody (and their mama) has ADD/ADHD. Check out:

http://nypost.com/2014/01/04/adhd-does-not-exist/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...tention-deficit-disorder-epidemic-real-or-fad

I dunno. Seems like in America, we've had this on again/off again thing with Rx stimulants since way back in the 30s-40s, and now we're on again, lol. I did a paper on this for a class (Rx amphetamine use in the US). Back in the day, it was more women than men, adults than children, and the reasons were: mild depression, fatigue, weight loss, counteracting sedative meds (pain meds, tranquilizers, etc.). Rx amphetamines weren't even tightly controlled until the mid 60s, and even then prescriptions kept going at a fast rate.

Then again...I don't have kids, lol. Do you think ADD/ADHD is real? As common as people make it out to be? Maybe a social problem, not a mental illness?
 
I personally believe we are too quick to diagnose someone as having these disorders because it is easier to just feed pills than deal with the real issues. This can be on both sides, those prescribing and those seeking the prescriptions. For about 5 years before my 1st wife and I divorced she insisted that our son was struggling with an attention deficit disorder because she couldn't seem to handle him. I disagreed. I contended that it was our parenting that was the bigger problem. We were not very united in our approaches to parenting and I believe he was taking advantage of that or he was confused and not able to understand what was appropriate behavior. Most likely the latter would be my guess. The reason I claimed this was because she was the one that couldn't seem to handle him. When he was in my care I didn't have a lot of trouble at all. To me he was a typical 5-7 year old boy. To my knowledge the school was not raising any concerns either. At first, doctors seemed to agree with me but after our divorce she kept taking him to different doctors until she finally found one that would prescribe Ritalin. I maintained that all it did was slow him down so she could cope with him.

Edit: I have to admit that I have no experience with ADD/ADHD so what I wrote above is purely my opinion.
 
Agree completely WIP..
There are a lot of disorders that could be cured in the ol woodshed....
Public schools wanted to put Jr on ritalin... we changed schools the Catholic school did not have a problem..
 
I can tell you that if these disorders were around when I was a kid, I would have been on every pill in the book, and then some.
A dysfunctional family, great stress as a child, leads to anxiety which I have and many family members have.
But to give it a name and then put it on everyone and treat them all with the same drugs is doing nothing but destroying lives.
A good youth program would have helped me more than anything.
If just one adult took an interest in my life, I wouldn't have gone through all that I did.
In the end, it was Jesus that saved me, nothing else.
 
Christ_empowered said:
I was talking with somebody about this. Seems like everybody (and their mama) has ADD/ADHD. Check out:

http://nypost.com/2014/01/04/adhd-does-not-exist/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...tention-deficit-disorder-epidemic-real-or-fad

I dunno. Seems like in America, we've had this on again/off again thing with Rx stimulants since way back in the 30s-40s, and now we're on again, lol. I did a paper on this for a class (Rx amphetamine use in the US). Back in the day, it was more women than men, adults than children, and the reasons were: mild depression, fatigue, weight loss, counteracting sedative meds (pain meds, tranquilizers, etc.). Rx amphetamines weren't even tightly controlled until the mid 60s, and even then prescriptions kept going at a fast rate.

Then again...I don't have kids, lol. Do you think ADD/ADHD is real? As common as people make it out to be? Maybe a social problem, not a mental illness?
Click to expand...
One word answer:
YES
altho' not as many doctors do see it.
I once heard an eminent brain specialist speak. He talked about his dismay at the thought of his married daughter subjecting his grandson o the rigors of Ritalin.
He saw dietary issues as a part of it. food dyes. Allergies. Sugary things. All of it mattered.
He seemed not only smart, but truly brilliant. And he absolutely hated Ritalin and Rx treatment for ADD/ADHD
 
What I hear is people speaking of disruptive behavior from active children. I too believe these are not always caused by medical issues.
However, there are people who have problems, even adults, with keeping their attention focused, ADD. That does not mean they are disruptive or disobedient or even hyper in any way.
So does this problem really exist? I believe it does. But I also believe that it is over diagnosed and I believe that drugs are the wrong way to treat it, in children. Adults can determine the results for themselves and discuss it with the physicians. But children are at risk of being over medicated and may not need meds at all.
The specialists in this field are coming up with other alternatives besides medications. Other ways of learning and staying focused.

Computers and computer learning games have been proven to be of huge benefit to people who have this problem. They are engaging touch, visual, and hearing senses.
Educators have known for many years that learning and attention spans are different for different people and have been using testing to discover what will help different people learn and retain what they learn because their area of strength is specifically engaged. Toddlers have shorter attention spans so we teach them with colored blocks, letters formed in the shape of the letter, puzzle pieces, etc. for this very reason. Things that they can touch and so feel. That's why these types of methods are being proven to work for people with Attention Deficient Disorder. Some may just need a beeper devise to keep them focused

When a child is consistently being ridiculed by teachers, other students, and parents about poor grades and told that they are deliberately not paying attention, they can become frustrated or even believe they are a bad or stupid person, a worthless human being. Can that cause disruptive behaviors? Of coarse it can.
God didn't create every person the same. Why do we want to put every child into the category that we want them to be in? Shove them in a little box and if they can't success in that box we blame them. Isn't it better to create a box that is shaped to their needs, their strengths, rather than forcing them into the norm.

Why would we believe that unless there is something obvious, such as Down's Syndrome, that there isn't any problem? :sad
 
yeah...y'all have raised a lot of interesting points. I think its worth noting that a lot of people who are low on the totem pole, socially, are the ones who end up under psychiatric scrutiny and control. Foster kids, for instance, are given all kinds of labels (ADD/ADHD among them) and doped to the gills, often with cocktails including heavy artillery (high dose stimulants, antipsychotics, etc.). Meanwhile, young adults at colleges (especially young women) easily get Adderall prescriptions and such for "ADHD," when really...they want a skinny-making study pill, lol.

I dunno. I do think some kids, some people in general, need psych meds, at least for a little while. I just don't think putting people of any age on amphetamines is the best idea ever, lol. Also, a lot of other countries seem to do just fine without so many psych meds for everybody.
 
Christ_empowered said:
yeah...y'all have raised a lot of interesting points. I think its worth noting that a lot of people who are low on the totem pole, socially, are the ones who end up under psychiatric scrutiny and control. Foster kids, for instance, are given all kinds of labels (ADD/ADHD among them) and doped to the gills, often with cocktails including heavy artillery (high dose stimulants, antipsychotics, etc.). Meanwhile, young adults at colleges (especially young women) easily get Adderall prescriptions and such for "ADHD," when really...they want a skinny-making study pill, lol.

I dunno. I do think some kids, some people in general, need psych meds, at least for a little while. I just don't think putting people of any age on amphetamines is the best idea ever, lol. Also, a lot of other countries seem to do just fine without so many psych meds for everybody.
Click to expand...
That was what the neurologist I mentioned above said in is talk.
In an emergency case, or on a temp basis, some work fins.
There is a really insightful documentary about today's psychiatry over at YouTube. I wish I could recall the title for you.
This opened my eyes as to how come some people actually do not get better on certain drug therapy as prescribed for them. Some. Maybe not all.
It's wise to go with God's wisdom first, and pray to be delivered and await His further guardianship and guidance, as it may not be the use of a drug someone needs--and then again it might well be.
I think modern medicine tends to generalize too often, and wish it wouldn't.
:study
 
I hope I wasn't understood to say that all diagnosis of ADD/ADHD is wrong. My point is that we like to put people in neat little boxes and when someone doesn't quite fit into our little box, we want to do something to squeeze them in. An easy solution in many cases is to give them some kind of stimulant or suppressant to get them in.

I've actually wondered a time or two about something else. I don't mean to derail this thread as I think this is related. When I was growing up our family and another were very close. One of the boys in that family was afflicted with down syndrome. I use the word "afflicted" loosely as I do not mean to suggest that he somehow suffered. There are aspects and characteristics of this person that defy the average person. Greg loves sports, especially football and baseball, and he could probably give you the stats of just about any professional football or baseball player you might ask him about. When you meet Greg you'll quickly learn that he is about the happiest, most caring, compassionate, loving individual you could ever meet and he rarely forgets anyone's name. I hadn't seen him in over 25 years and recently his father passed away and when I went to the funeral and saw Greg, you'd think we had never been apart. He introduced me to everyone as "his friend" as he put his arm around my shoulder. What a wonderful man to know!

So here's what I've wondered about a time or two. Who is more normal...me or Greg???? Maybe I'm the one that doesn't fit into the box because I have to fight my anger, my lusts, my selfishness, and my sinful desires whereas Greg is content in life and loves the Lord with all his heart.
 
WIP said:
I hope I wasn't understood to say that all diagnosis of ADD/ADHD is wrong. My point is that we like to put people in neat little boxes and when someone doesn't quite fit into our little box, we want to do something to squeeze them in. An easy solution in many cases is to give them some kind of stimulant or suppressant to get them in.
Click to expand...
I agree.
In schools especially, drugging an active child is so much easier then actually helping them.
The last time I looked there were far more boys on these calming drugs than girls. Sheesh..Maybe that's just a clue that teachers and parents don't want to deal with Huck Finn and Tow Sawyer. Boys are traditionally the ones who are more likely to be clowns in the class, the pranksters :wink, and just harder to keep their minds on boring things like English grammar. They day dream about how to get the snake in the teacher's desk drawer. Boys are boys, thank God for that. It would be a boring world without them. Schools are busy turning them into sluggish, unimaginative, bumps on logs. Sorry, that is just my opinion.
WIP said:
So here's what I've wondered about a time or two. Who is more normal...me or Greg???? Maybe I'm the one that doesn't fit into the box because I have to fight my anger, my lusts, my selfishness, and my sinful desires whereas Greg is content in life and loves the Lord with all his heart.
Click to expand...
:idea
 
Deborah13 said:
I agree.
In schools especially, drugging an active child is so much easier then actually helping them.
The last time I looked there were far more boys on these calming drugs than girls. Sheesh..Maybe that's just a clue that teachers and parents don't want to deal with Huck Finn and Tow Sawyer. Boys are traditionally the ones who are more likely to be clowns in the class, the pranksters :wink, and just harder to keep their minds on boring things like English grammar. They day dream about how to get the snake in the teacher's desk drawer. Boys are boys, thank God for that. It would be a boring world without them. Schools are busy turning them into sluggish, unimaginative, bumps on logs. Sorry, that is just my opinion.

:idea
Click to expand...
I like how you said that!
Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer!
I used to have to deal with boys like that at a literacy program where I was coordinator of a site.
One time, one of our less happy little boys I caught wandering far from his classroom.
Like Huck, who would wander and then get himself into trouble.
He used to get into trouble all of the time with his teachers, and at home, life wasn't so good.
We had a short chat. He really didn't want to have to spend his mornings learning how to read, even when the team teaching him was full of nice people.
So I made it be entirely up to him. I don't know why, but it worked. But I don't take credit for that at all. I think it may well have been the Holy Spirit at work on us both that day.
I basically asked him if he knew what he would miss out on throughout his life if he wouldn't be able to read and write with adequate skill.
I said, "Well, it's up to you. All I can say is what I'd do if I were in your shoes."
You know what?
He marched right back to that class and later I caught him smiling again.
I guess sometimes young boys and young men need the opportunity to blow off a lil' male steam--and then learn what's provoked them, and also be shown that it's the choices we make through life that can shape destiny.
:study
 
We live in such an age where old morales like family values get out weighed by ways of making money. Parenting like everything else is a cycle. If the parent was neglected as a child then chances are they will do the same.

IMO,
I think it mainly stems from lack of discipline. If it is a mental problem then it needs to be dealt with understanding, patience, and love. Instead TV is the parent and energy goes unused or maybe even put towards evil acts. If something physical like asthma can be cured by physical activity, then surely ADD can be cured by helping the child focus his/her energy and thoughts on better activities.
Just my thoughts on it.
 
Deborah13 said:
Quite right ADD and ADHD are not diseases.
Click to expand...

Here's a topic. While in prison, my wife run around having sex with some guy she met and tried to juggle the enemy having a place and taking care of our two boys.

In the process of this, both my children were failing school, and both on 3 different types of a mix of ADD and ADHD medications. Each took 3 pills a night.

Just coming back home after being away, you want to play it cool, but despite my wife growing up in church and attending all her life, she was about as spiritually smart as our neighbors dog.

I heard what this "Disease" was. It is suppose to make children have a hard time concentrating. Funny thing though, playing video games all day and watching TV seemed to present no issues with concentration.

About the 3rd day home of making observations, I had enough. I took authority over it in Jesus name and threw all those medications away. Wife was freaked out, but remember what I said about the neighbors dog.

Well, it was rough, and I got nasty letters from the teachers. I also learned that spending day and night in the Word for two years did not make me a great dad. However, I believed what I spoke, and settled it despite 2 years of bad grades and issue after issue at school. I was learning also on how to be a parent.

Well, My oldest son graduated with perfect grades from his freshman year to his senior year. Not just perfect but above, because he would just loose it if there was one point missing he felt he should have gotten.

The youngest son, not as great, but he did graduate.

I never had any drug issues with my kids, no disobedience issues, no issues trusting them if they wanted to go out. They both serve God.
Looking back, I can promise it was not because I was up for dad of the year. God helped me big time.

One thing my children saw though, despite being a sub-par parent was they both saw the power of God in my life. My son get sick, He came to me to speak over it. No doubt in my kids minds that God was not real. Kids need to see God in a parents life, not religion.

Well, we had a daughter years later, she is 8 now. She ripped her finger nail off today riding a skateboard. After I got it bandaged she came to me and said, "Dad, by Jesus stripes I am healed, this is not an issue."

I wanted to say, by my stripes you going to start doing your homework, but I kept quit.
 
Brother Mike said:
Here's a topic. While in prison, my wife run around having sex with some guy she met and tried to juggle the enemy having a place and taking care of our two boys.

In the process of this, both my children were failing school, and both on 3 different types of a mix of ADD and ADHD medications. Each took 3 pills a night.

Just coming back home after being away, you want to play it cool, but despite my wife growing up in church and attending all her life, she was about as spiritually smart as our neighbors dog.

I heard what this "Disease" was. It is suppose to make children have a hard time concentrating. Funny thing though, playing video games all day and watching TV seemed to present no issues with concentration.

About the 3rd day home of making observations, I had enough. I took authority over it in Jesus name and threw all those medications away. Wife was freaked out, but remember what I said about the neighbors dog.

Well, it was rough, and I got nasty letters from the teachers. I also learned that spending day and night in the Word for two years did not make me a great dad. However, I believed what I spoke, and settled it despite 2 years of bad grades and issue after issue at school. I was learning also on how to be a parent.

Well, My oldest son graduated with perfect grades from his freshman year to his senior year. Not just perfect but above, because he would just loose it if there was one point missing he felt he should have gotten.

The youngest son, not as great, but he did graduate.

I never had any drug issues with my kids, no disobedience issues, no issues trusting them if they wanted to go out. They both serve God.
Looking back, I can promise it was not because I was up for dad of the year. God helped me big time.

One thing my children saw though, despite being a sub-par parent was they both saw the power of God in my life. My son get sick, He came to me to speak over it. No doubt in my kids minds that God was not real. Kids need to see God in a parents life, not religion.

Well, we had a daughter years later, she is 8 now. She ripped her finger nail off today riding a skateboard. After I got it bandaged she came to me and said, "Dad, by Jesus stripes I am healed, this is not an issue."

I wanted to say, by my stripes you going to start doing your homework, but I kept quit.
Click to expand...
I'm very glad that worked out for you. You could observe your own children and their behaviors and make a determination of their needs based on that.
 
Deborah13 said:
I'm very glad that worked out for you. You could observe your own children and their behaviors and make a determination of their needs based on that.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't say how accurate my determination was at the place I was, with the understanding I had. I did make a choice though. Looking at my own mother, I can see what these mind altering drugs can do to a person. They may help stop the voices, but at what cost?
 
And Brother Mike , your boys needs may have changed because their situation at home changed. Maybe they were having problems staying focused in school because their parents were not together. They were confused and miserable. Had you been in jail part of that time, so not in their lives at all?
Changing the circumstances in their home life may have been the solution all along.
 
Deborah13 said:
And Brother Mike , your boys needs may have changed because their situation at home changed. Maybe they were having problems staying focused in school because their parents were not together. They were confused and miserable. Had you been in jail part of that time, so not in their lives at all?
Changing the circumstances in their home life may have been the solution all along.
Click to expand...

I don't honestly know. I was a horrible Father, and Husband before going to prison for a couple years. Thank you Lord for having mercy and showing me many things in Prison.

Looking back, I did change things, did try to get involved in spelling test and homework and talking to teachers. I could have done so many things so much better though. If you don't know, you don't know. Being able to quote hundreds of scriptures does not make you a great Dad.

Parents that stay together, keep a schedule, keep consistency in a child's life, being involved in their schooling with interest, I would "Guess" that child has a better chance of doing well. If all a child see's is a chaotic home life, where nothing is the same, then I am sure that chaotic way of jumping from one thing to another might carry over into school.

However, I believe those things have to be in place, and mom and dad need to serve God, praying with and for the kids. I don't think my own efforts are to credit for the outcome I have gotten.

Be blessed Deborah.
 
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