Attention Deficite Disorders.

[fromthe heart]

What are your views of kids on drugs for ADD? Do you feel it will help or hurt more in the long run? Do you think some parents put their kids on these drugs to just cope better with them?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Some Children with ADD are very troubled indeed. and may be drug help is vital.
Others are only just on the edge of normal behaviour and I think love and care is more important.
Still others have no real problems. But it the parents who can't cope and need the help

Thereare many causes of ADD symptoms A friends child is set off by Coke and other coloured sugar drinks and candies. otherwise he is quite normal.

Terry
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Blessed are those who bring peace, they shall be children of God

 

[fromthe heart]

But...now they say there are adults who have these disorders...the symptoms of it in my opinion put most all humans at one time or another in these categories...why is it do you feel this is happening?

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I think it is called a syndrome because as yet the causes are not known.
they have lumped all the common symptoms together and called it ADD.
I am sure it shows up in adults, may be they always had it and it got worse or more noticable.
Some of the symptoms look to me like some one who is over tired but who's mind is over active and can't sleep.and become irratable.
It is certainly fashionable to say a difficult child has ADD. But I think some times it is just a phase. though if it persists there is a problem that needs sorting one way or another,


Terry
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Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

 

[Melody]

What are your views of kids on drugs for ADD? Do you feel it will help or hurt more in the long run? Do you think some parents put their kids on these drugs to just cope better with them?

Don't get me started. While there are both children and adults with ADD, it is ridiculously overdiagnosed. If a kid so much as twitches his eyes towards the window after sitting in a desk for 3 hours, the teachers begin screaming "ADD!" and push the parents towards putting the kid on drugs. The absolute worst I've ever heard was an acquantain whose 3 and 5 year old were on Ritalin for ADD. Geez....at that age, you can't even tell whether it's ADD or just a normal toddler! :banghead3 Yes, I think some parents put their kids on drugs because they just can't handle an active toddler and/or they are so busy with their own lives that they don't have time for an active toddler.

My middle son has ADD. I suspected it when he was 6, but it wasn't until he was 9 that it became apparent that his problems were getting worse, rather than better. We chose not to go the Ritalin road and instead taught him coping skills. It was a long, hard battle but he's now 20 years old and a senior, majoring in prelaw at the university. I've only discovered in the last 2 years that my husband is also ADD...but he's also developed some wonderful coping mechanisms.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

When I was a kid, I was a bit of a wild man....I just could not sit still and be quiet in school, or anywhere else for that matter. I would run off at parks or in department stores, I would roll around like a maniac in the back seat of the car, and I could never remember when homework assignments were due (or even remember half of them being assigned in the first place). I was basically a good kid....I didn't intend to get into trouble, I was just very active and had a personality akin to that of Curious George. I was probably what people today would assume to be a classic case of ADD.

Thankfully, my parents refused to put me on medication, and as I got older I matured and settled down. Many relatives and friends who knew me as a little kid can't believe how much I've changed.

I think medication for ADD is vastly over-prescribed and the long-term effects of it are largely unknown, especially on young kids whose minds and bodies are still developing. Kudos to you, Melody, for giving your kid the best medication of all--good parenting.

 

[almifkhar]

i have never been a believer in the ADD or ADHD bit. why, because i think that everyone has different personalities and as a result approches life differently than others. some need more attention than others, some can organize while others cant. as far as drugging our youth, i think it is flat out wrong. i think that it is flat out wrong for teachers to coax parents into getting their kids diganosed and drugging them for add or adhd. especially when they use the bit of "your kid would do so much better in school if they were on diganoised and were on these meds crap. i would really like to know what these people are really doing to our kids with these meds, especially when you consider that canada was seriously considering banning ritlin and the like. i'm not sure if they did in fact ban them, but i do know that there was serious debate on the issue. the funny thing is when a parent finally realizes its a schame and refuses to give the child in question the meds, the schools go on the attack. i have personally seen this drama go down, and its not cool.

 

[Lintu]

I have adult ADD. Because it has geneally been a positive part of my life, I was never medicated for it. It has made me great at multitasking and has gotten me to participate in a lot of different hobbies and activities. There have been a couple of times it was a problem, like when in middle school the algebra teacher would play music during our tests, or in college, when kids would tap tap tap their pens during quizzes. In those situations it's nearly impossible to do anything. I think it's primarily the ADHD that's considered a problem--the hyperactivity part, specifically--and hyperactivity is relatively normal in children. Lack of attention and hyperactive behavior in schools that don't even allow recess or proper phys. ed time is definitely no surprise. The answer is not usually medication, but proper outlets for energy and engaging schoolwork/lessons.

 

[Scuba Pete]

I have adult ADD as well, and take meds for it. Big whoop! Just don't tell Tom Cruise about it.

 

[Saw11_2000]

If you need them take them.

 

[Dinogrrl]

I've got a form of ADHD where I seem to be 'lacking attention' because I basically have no short-term memory.

However, I don't take any meds for that. There's really nothing that can be done for it specifically.

I /do/ have to take drugs for my depression, which, coupled with the ADHD, turns me into a listless, melancholy, angry person. The drugs have helped my depression (which runs in my family...yay), but I'm having to learn how to deal with no short-term memory on my own (which really starts to suck when I'm in class and trying to take notes. I often end up leaving out/forgetting major points in my notes).

IMHO...I think that most people, especially children (who are still /growing/, btw...), should be able to learn skills to combat ADD/ADHD. Drugs should not be the end-all for that. Just like depression drugs, the pills will only work the way they're supposed to when they're used with conseling (or some other form of help).
Children who seriously cannot function without medication have a different problem, the way I see it, and it should NOT be treated as ADD/ADHD.

 

[Saw11_2000]

Certain disorders I believe can't be helped with counselling. Most doctors say the best treatment for some is pills and counselling, and some just counselling. Depends on the person and the disorder.

 

[Original Freak]

I had a good friend in University with ADD who came to school one day and forgot to take his Ritalin. It was pretty obvious from the start he needed it. He was a VERY smart guy but that day he couldn't concentrate on anything. When talking to him he would hold 4 or 5 converstaions with me at the same time and I could only sit there and try to peice sentances together. He had a bit of a laugh at it the next day, but what a massive change. I don't know much about ADD but I know Ritalin was helping him out, A LOT!!!

 

[Melody]

i have never been a believer in the ADD or ADHD bit. why, because i think that everyone has different personalities and as a result approches life differently than others. some need more attention than others, some can organize while others cant.

Almifkhar...it's a bit more than that. ADD has to do with the way the brain processes information. Most of us are able to focus and concentrate by unconsciously tuning out what isn't important at the time. Want to know how an ADD child feels? Go into a room and turn your radio on full blast. Then, turn the tv on really loud, while leaving the radio on as well. Now, get the kids to run around the room laughing and talking loudly. Finally, try to carry on a conversation with someone without losing focus.

Now, imagine an ADD child in a classroom with 25 other kids, all moving and doing things, the teacher moving around the room, bees buzzing by the window....and you get the idea.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

One thing is that AD/HD affects girls much differently than boys. The classic stereotype of the 'can't sit still' child is because this behavior is more prevelant in males than in females, and boys, who act out more are more prone to gaining attention to their disorder. Girls tend to read a lot, and to withdraw into themselves.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and I think I would have done a lot better in school and in life in general as a child if I were to have been diagnosed at a younger age. But, then again, one could just as easily make an argument against medication.

 

[Dinogrrl]

*nod* I'll definitely agree with the 'girls are affected differently than boys' thing. I'm a very quiet person by nature, so I'm sure my ADHD went unnoticed (or, at least, not noticeable enough for my parents to take me to a doctor) for so long is because, well...they simply /couldn't/ notice it. I'm perfectly fine sitting and doing my own thing, so the signs that I'm not getting all the information I need comes much later. It was hard to put two and two together.

It was frustrating that last doctor visit I had. She was a new doctor for me, so she hadn't known me my whole life, and she was trying to convince me that I didn't have ADHD after talking to me for five or ten minutes. I just kinda sat there and gave her a "..." look XD.

 

[fromthe heart]

So are you saying males and females are diagnosised differently? GOSH...not everything in life comes down to PMS right girls?:jam:

 

[Dinogrrl]

XD No, that's not what I'm saying. Not /diagnosed/ differently, necessarily, but the manifestations can vary according to gender or even the individual.

 

[jamaesi]

When I was younger I was "diagnosed" with ADD and put on Ritalin.

In reality I have a /hearing and learning disorder/. (CAPD and a delayed response to be exact.) Needless to say being drugged didn't help. : P


Do I think ADD/ADHD is waaaay overdiagnosed and sometimes just because the doctor doesn't want to be a doctor and actually work and figure out what's really wrong? Oh heck yes.

 

[john313]

What are your views of kids on drugs for ADD? Do you feel it will help or hurt more in the long run? Do you think some parents put their kids on these drugs to just cope better with them?

i am pretty anti prescription drug unless it is absolutely necessary. i would look into natural cures and herbs to try before prescription medication. doctors like to prescribe ongoing medication rather than try to cure the problem.