ADHD DIAGNOSES SOAR 43% IN THE USA IN THE FIRST Decade of the century now 10% have adhd not 5%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And when you are the parent of a child whose life has been completely changed by the better due to psychiatric medication, conspiracy theories about drugs being force-fed to normal children by anxious parents and greedy insurance companies are offensive.

Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of diabetic children into buying insulin. Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of children with cancer to buy chemotherapy!

Diabetes and cancer have objective, quantifiable diagnostic lab tests that are replicable over time. With physiological markers that are also quantifiable in absolute numerical terms.

ADHD has a checklist with undefined terms like 'distractible'

So are you saying because the way ADHD is diagnosed is not as rigorous as diagnosing cancer, ADHD doesn't exist and should not be treated?

[Anonymous]

2/3 of people diagnosed with ADHD grow out of it with brain maturity by their mid-twenties but for many, the damage has already been done.

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It is mild enough that I went to an Ivy, 10 top law school, etc. without a diagnosis/accommodations/meds and I know several others around my age mid 40ties up who are the same.

But I am sure there are many others who were not so fortunate and I am very very happy that my DS's ADHD was caught early and is being treated with medication. He is going to have a much happier childhood because of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And when you are the parent of a child whose life has been completely changed by the better due to psychiatric medication, conspiracy theories about drugs being force-fed to normal children by anxious parents and greedy insurance companies are offensive.

Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of diabetic children into buying insulin. Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of children with cancer to buy chemotherapy!

How can you dare to compare life-threatening illnesses to a condition that is nothing more than a constellation of personality traits that are in absolutely no way life-threatening? And don't claim something like the increased risk of drug-dependency as a threat to life. First of all, there is no evidence of an increased risk in those who don't take medication to those who do.

I say this as a parent who was forced the idea by teachers and administrators for years that my child had ADHD and needed medication. We resisted and the child is now a successful middle-schooler in a school that many consider to be a Big 3 with nothing but praise for being a great thinker, active and positive participator, and overall likable kid. Never medicated, never treated...just good old-fashioned parenting and hard work on the kids' part. Except in very extreme cases, there just is no such thing as ADHD. To families dealing with real medical struggles, statements like this are beyond offensive.

My Son has ADHD - No, I would not compare ADHD meds to insulin or chemotherapy. It's a terrible analogy. However, ADHD is not merely a "constellation of personality traits." I'm glad things worked out for your child PP, but I'm having a "how dare you" moment myself when my son struggles daily, and I struggle daily to help him, while ignorant people suggest it's his personality and my parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And when you are the parent of a child whose life has been completely changed by the better due to psychiatric medication, conspiracy theories about drugs being force-fed to normal children by anxious parents and greedy insurance companies are offensive.

Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of diabetic children into buying insulin. Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of children with cancer to buy chemotherapy!

How can you dare to compare life-threatening illnesses to a condition that is nothing more than a constellation of personality traits that are in absolutely no way life-threatening? And don't claim something like the increased risk of drug-dependency as a threat to life. First of all, there is no evidence of an increased risk in those who don't take medication to those who do.

I say this as a parent who was forced the idea by teachers and administrators for years that my child had ADHD and needed medication. We resisted and the child is now a successful middle-schooler in a school that many consider to be a Big 3 with nothing but praise for being a great thinker, active and positive participator, and overall likable kid. Never medicated, never treated...just good old-fashioned parenting and hard work on the kids' part. Except in very extreme cases, there just is no such thing as ADHD. To families dealing with real medical struggles, statements like this are beyond offensive.

My Son has ADHD - No, I would not compare ADHD meds to insulin or chemotherapy. It's a terrible analogy. However, ADHD is not merely a "constellation of personality traits." I'm glad things worked out for your child PP, but I'm having a "how dare you" moment myself when my son struggles daily, and I struggle daily to help him, while ignorant people suggest it's his personality and my parenting.

And really, nobody is saying ADHD is as serious as cancer, but that's as ridiculous as saying it isn't a medical issue that should be treated when appropriate. Heck, even in more severe physical medical conditions, the decision to medicate is often made on a case by case basis and is not so cut and dry. Medicine is not as clearly understood in many health conditions as the public would like to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And when you are the parent of a child whose life has been completely changed by the better due to psychiatric medication, conspiracy theories about drugs being force-fed to normal children by anxious parents and greedy insurance companies are offensive.

Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of diabetic children into buying insulin. Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of children with cancer to buy chemotherapy!

I agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How can you dare to compare life-threatening illnesses to a condition that is nothing more than a constellation of personality traits that are in absolutely no way life-threatening? And don't claim something like the increased risk of drug-dependency as a threat to life. First of all, there is no evidence of an increased risk in those who don't take medication to those who do.

I say this as a parent who was forced the idea by teachers and administrators for years that my child had ADHD and needed medication. We resisted and the child is now a successful middle-schooler in a school that many consider to be a Big 3 with nothing but praise for being a great thinker, active and positive participator, and overall likable kid. Never medicated, never treated...just good old-fashioned parenting and hard work on the kids' part. Except in very extreme cases, there just is no such thing as ADHD. To families dealing with real medical struggles, statements like this are beyond offensive.

Your child's teachers and administrators told you your child needed medication? What did your doctor say? Did you ever get your child evaluated?

ADHD, or whatever you want to call it.. a constellation of personality traits
And just because your child has made it to middle school doesn't mean that this constellation of personality traits that the teachers and administrators have observed magically goes away.
Your good old fashioned parenting (no medication, no treatments) is helping your child's executive functioning skills, which is good and well but that constellation of personality traits will eventually come out in other ways.
Your refusal to keep an open mind is what will end up hurting your child in the future.

ADHD is a medical struggle. And sure, while it's not life threatening like cancer, it totally threatens a chld's quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How can you dare to compare life-threatening illnesses to a condition that is nothing more than a constellation of personality traits that are in absolutely no way life-threatening? And don't claim something like the increased risk of drug-dependency as a threat to life. First of all, there is no evidence of an increased risk in those who don't take medication to those who do.

I say this as a parent who was forced the idea by teachers and administrators for years that my child had ADHD and needed medication. We resisted and the child is now a successful middle-schooler in a school that many consider to be a Big 3 with nothing but praise for being a great thinker, active and positive participator, and overall likable kid. Never medicated, never treated...just good old-fashioned parenting and hard work on the kids' part. Except in very extreme cases, there just is no such thing as ADHD. To families dealing with real medical struggles, statements like this are beyond offensive.

Your child's teachers and administrators told you your child needed medication? What did your doctor say? Did you ever get your child evaluated?

ADHD, or whatever you want to call it.. a constellation of personality traits
And just because your child has made it to middle school doesn't mean that this constellation of personality traits that the teachers and administrators have observed magically goes away.
Your good old fashioned parenting (no medication, no treatments) is helping your child's executive functioning skills, which is good and well but that constellation of personality traits will eventually come out in other ways.
Your refusal to keep an open mind is what will end up hurting your child in the future.

ADHD is a medical struggle. And sure, while it's not life threatening like cancer, it totally threatens a chld's quality of life.

Interesting how you went from "constellation of personality traits" to "medical struggle." I think it's clear that ADHD meds help some people. But there is also plenty of evidence that they don't help everyone. It's also clear to me that ADHD traits are directly linked to considerable strengths - it's extremely reductive (and insulting) to tag ADHD kids as disabled and lacking "executive function."

[Anonymous]

Diagnoses up, sure. Incidence, not so much. ADHD runs in my family. Both DC have it mildly and are bright so they compensate well without formal accommodations, but I have a severely impaired high IQ brother who was in SPED and dropped out of HS because it was such torture. Most of my students with IEPs and 504s are more like my DC than my brother. I understand why parents want diagnoses and services. Let's focus on maximizing early screening, proper diagnosis, and appropriate services. If we do that, no time to panic that something awful is happening to our gene pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And when you are the parent of a child whose life has been completely changed by the better due to psychiatric medication, conspiracy theories about drugs being force-fed to normal children by anxious parents and greedy insurance companies are offensive.

Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of diabetic children into buying insulin. Those greedy insurance companies! Forcing parents of children with cancer to buy chemotherapy!

This. I am so sick of people with neurotypical kids judging the lives of those struggling with something like add or a spectrum disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2/3 of people diagnosed with ADHD grow out of it with brain maturity by their mid-twenties but for many, the damage has already been done.

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It is mild enough that I went to an Ivy, 10 top law school, etc. without a diagnosis/accommodations/meds and I know several others around my age mid 40ties up who are the same.

But I am sure there are many others who were not so fortunate and I am very very happy that my DS's ADHD was caught early and is being treated with medication. He is going to have a much happier childhood because of it.

This. I know a number of people who were successful in spite of their add, but sadly too many others whose lives were ruined, academically, their confidence shattered, interpersonal relationships destroyed, etc. Untreated add is not only a detriment academically and socially, but it leads to a much higher rate of alcohol and drug abuse as the individual "self-medicates."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Interesting how you went from "constellation of personality traits" to "medical struggle." I think it's clear that ADHD meds help some people. But there is also plenty of evidence that they don't help everyone. It's also clear to me that ADHD traits are directly linked to considerable strengths - it's extremely reductive (and insulting) to tag ADHD kids as disabled and lacking "executive function."

ADHD is a delay in the development of executive function. That is what it is. It manifests as a constellation of personality traits but the underlying cause is neurological. And it's true that all ADHD meds don't help all people with ADHD but that is true of most medications and conditions. Would you argue against medication for severe depression because all depression medication doesn't help all people with depression?

It's entirely possible ADHD is over-diagnosed ... probably by teachers and parents who diagnose from a checklist and never get a proper evaluation. But coming here and dismissing the very real and severe life impact of untreated ADHD is offensive at best. There are a lot of people on this board who's families went through real crises because of ADHD or who watched relatives with undiagnosed and untreated ADHD destroy their lives either figuratively or literally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Interesting how you went from "constellation of personality traits" to "medical struggle." I think it's clear that ADHD meds help some people. But there is also plenty of evidence that they don't help everyone. It's also clear to me that ADHD traits are directly linked to considerable strengths - it's extremely reductive (and insulting) to tag ADHD kids as disabled and lacking "executive function."

ADHD is a delay in the development of executive function. That is what it is. It manifests as a constellation of personality traits but the underlying cause is neurological. And it's true that all ADHD meds don't help all people with ADHD but that is true of most medications and conditions. Would you argue against medication for severe depression because all depression medication doesn't help all people with depression?

It's entirely possible ADHD is over-diagnosed ... probably by teachers and parents who diagnose from a checklist and never get a proper evaluation. But coming here and dismissing the very real and severe life impact of untreated ADHD is offensive at best. There are a lot of people on this board who's families went through real crises because of ADHD or who watched relatives with undiagnosed and untreated ADHD destroy their lives either figuratively or literally.

Are you offended by PP-s statement or by OP's study, and the disparity of diagnosis between different states?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to understand why there's such a low incidence in other Western nations like let's say...France.

I think the task of devoted parenting is much more respectable in Europe than here. Therefore they take the responsibility more seriously, not just "winging it" like here. People providing supplemental care are more respected than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to understand why there's such a low incidence in other Western nations like let's say...France.

I think the task of devoted parenting is much more respectable in Europe than here. Therefore they take the responsibility more seriously, not just "winging it" like here. People providing supplemental care are more respected than here.

It's not a "low incidence" in France. They just do not diagnose it. There are probably many people suffering from ADHD in France who are never diagnosed or treated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to understand why there's such a low incidence in other Western nations like let's say...France.

I think the task of devoted parenting is much more respectable in Europe than here. Therefore they take the responsibility more seriously, not just "winging it" like here. People providing supplemental care are more respected than here.

It's not a "low incidence" in France. They just do not diagnose it. There are probably many people suffering from ADHD in France who are never diagnosed or treated.

You say that based on what? Nothing.