Is there anyone whose male child doesn't have ADHD or ADD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ADD is alarmingly overdiagnosed. 5% is the upper limit of valid diagnosis, but in actuality 33% of young boys are being diagnosed. That means for every 6 people on here who have been told their son has ADD, only one of them actually has the condituon. That is a potential of 5 boys being given amphetamines unnecessarily.

These parents are claiming their boys being on stimulants are a "Godsend", "miracle", and "life-changing". Well no sh*t captain obvious. Anyone taking a powerful amphetamine is going to see amazing results. Your results wont be so quick if you put thr hard work in as a parent and help guide yiur child through normal behavior challenges kids go through Of course now you have possibly permanantly altered your sons brain chemistry which carries long after exposure has ceased and this is assumingthry dont become addicts. Amphetimines should be a very last resort for those "real" 5% of actual ADD patients.

The problem I have with people like you is you've created an environment in which a large percentage of kids struggle, then you turn around and attack parents for trying to help their kids. The hard work is making fundamental changes to our education model but that hard work is out of the reach of most parents. I know at least one person who went and created her own school but I think we'd all agree that most of us aren't going to be able to do that. I know other parents who've pulled their kids out and are homeschooling, but again, many of us need to work to generate a paycheck.

So a better solution is to give 5 out of the 6 kids who are over diagnosed amphetamines? Addreall, the same drug that can cause Anhedonia? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307593/

Exposure to addreall should be the absolute last resort. There is something seriously wrong with a society that jumps to these dangerous drugs that absolutly and clinically proven to sometimes have devastating permanent effects on their growing brains. 5 of our 6 kids are exposed necessarily.

I get it, take addreall to cram for a test, clean the fu*k out of your house, but daily use? You are nuts! You don't have to go any further than the adderall message boards to read from these people who are addicts and are dealing with long term devastating side effects.

I don’t know any parent who medicated a kid lightly. Or just because. And it takes a real asshole to use scare tactics on parents doing what they and their Socorro think is best for their kid. If you aren’t dealing with this decision, it is not your place to judge. Take your opinions of how others should parent and scare tactics somewhere else.

Plus, you know nothing about how Adderall works for ADHD. Maybe it gives you the pep to be a Stepford wife. And your kid the ability for a test. But in an ADHD brain, it is not an energy boost or something that helps you do a million things at once. If you feel wound up, energized, and like you can do it all, you don’t have ADHD and you are abusing it. In true ADHD, stimulants slow things down, and help people focus on one or two things, rather her than being overwhelmed and unable to start anything. You should not feel receding up. You should feel calmer.

Im not scaring anyone. Just stating what NIH and Harvard have published. Of course kids feel calmer on amphetimines, nobody disputes that. They are a godsend, right? Amphetimines push dopamine out to the synapses and then it prevents the re-uptake of dopamine, artificially holding the dopamine at high levels. This creates that wonderful sense of euphoria. And then of course after that brain has been flooded with dopamine, they then get the dope crash. Drug addicts aren't called dope heads for no reason. They chase this dopamine. Anyone would if given daily.

You think this has no serious long term effects? You think the 5 out of 6 over DX'd kids are going to be A OK? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an ADHD 15 year old. With medication, a 504 and an executive functioning coach, he is doing much better, and each year gets more mature. Right now, he is succeeding as a TJ sophomore. I expect him to have great college options, but to need to chose thoughtfully. Specifically, he will need to look at a small college that focuses on undergrads (Mudd or Rose Hullman for Engineering, Davidson, Swarthmore, Claremont colleges, WM as an I State option, etc. if he does liberal arts).

Boys develop EF skills later than girls, so we are taking it year by year. This is the first year he is able to manage a TJ workload without an EF coach. Which means he should be able to manage a college workload— if he stays on task and doesn’t disappear down a video game rabbit hole. He will be on medication for the foreseeable future, but once he is 18, it will be his choice.

We are talking to him about a gap year to work, intern and gain extra maturity and EF skills, so he is in the best possible position to start college. He seems open to the idea.

I have seen things get better each year. But DH is also ADHD, so I don’t think it will ever be “cured”. I think it can be managed so that he can go to a good college, have a great career and a fulfilling life— if he makes smart choices.

For some reason, this seems a little unfair that he goes to TJ and gets so much help. My average non-ADHD son could do well there too with a lot of help.

Do you think the same thing for students who need wheel chairs or guide dogs?

NP ... No ... But drugging a kid up so he can go to the best school, vs non-medicated at a normal school? Seems like the academic equivalent of taking steroids to excel at a sport.

PP with the TJ kid. And we reached the point he needed to be medicated in middle school. So— at an ordinary school. ADHD meds don’t make him smarter. ThEy help with emotional regulation. Make him less anxious. Keep him from being overwhelmed. TJ is actually helpful, because he does badly with being bored. But he would absolutely be on medication— likely the same medication, same dose— at his base school. His psychiatrist is very against him taking “medication breaks,” because he has such a hard time when he does not take his medication.

LOL...of couse! Withdrawl From amphetamines SUCKS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ADD is alarmingly overdiagnosed. 5% is the upper limit of valid diagnosis, but in actuality 33% of young boys are being diagnosed. That means for every 6 people on here who have been told their son has ADD, only one of them actually has the condituon. That is a potential of 5 boys being given amphetamines unnecessarily.

These parents are claiming their boys being on stimulants are a "Godsend", "miracle", and "life-changing". Well no sh*t captain obvious. Anyone taking a powerful amphetamine is going to see amazing results. Your results wont be so quick if you put thr hard work in as a parent and help guide yiur child through normal behavior challenges kids go through Of course now you have possibly permanantly altered your sons brain chemistry which carries long after exposure has ceased and this is assumingthry dont become addicts. Amphetimines should be a very last resort for those "real" 5% of actual ADD patients.

The problem I have with people like you is you've created an environment in which a large percentage of kids struggle, then you turn around and attack parents for trying to help their kids. The hard work is making fundamental changes to our education model but that hard work is out of the reach of most parents. I know at least one person who went and created her own school but I think we'd all agree that most of us aren't going to be able to do that. I know other parents who've pulled their kids out and are homeschooling, but again, many of us need to work to generate a paycheck.

So a better solution is to give 5 out of the 6 kids who are over diagnosed amphetamines? Addreall, the same drug that can cause Anhedonia? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307593/

Exposure to addreall should be the absolute last resort. There is something seriously wrong with a society that jumps to these dangerous drugs that absolutly and clinically proven to sometimes have devastating permanent effects on their growing brains. 5 of our 6 kids are exposed necessarily.

I get it, take addreall to cram for a test, clean the fu*k out of your house, but daily use? You are nuts! You don't have to go any further than the adderall message boards to read from these people who are addicts and are dealing with long term devastating side effects.

I don’t know any parent who medicated a kid lightly. Or just because. And it takes a real asshole to use scare tactics on parents doing what they and their Socorro think is best for their kid. If you aren’t dealing with this decision, it is not your place to judge. Take your opinions of how others should parent and scare tactics somewhere else.

Plus, you know nothing about how Adderall works for ADHD. Maybe it gives you the pep to be a Stepford wife. And your kid the ability for a test. But in an ADHD brain, it is not an energy boost or something that helps you do a million things at once. If you feel wound up, energized, and like you can do it all, you don’t have ADHD and you are abusing it. In true ADHD, stimulants slow things down, and help people focus on one or two things, rather her than being overwhelmed and unable to start anything. You should not feel receding up. You should feel calmer.

Im not scaring anyone. Just stating what NIH and Harvard have published. Of course kids feel calmer on amphetimines, nobody disputes that. They are a godsend, right? Amphetimines push dopamine out to the synapses and then it prevents the re-uptake of dopamine, artificially holding the dopamine at high levels. This creates that wonderful sense of euphoria. And then of course after that brain has been flooded with dopamine, they then get the dope crash. Drug addicts aren't called dope heads for no reason. They chase this dopamine. Anyone would if given daily.

You think this has no serious long term effects? You think the 5 out of 6 over DX'd kids are going to be A OK? Please.

Oh, you hush. She’s not interested in the science of how the drugs work. Science be damned, parents of ADHD kids are convinced that their kids have a “chemical imbalance” which ADHD medication “corrects”. They like to think of themselves as enlightened for putting their kids on medications that no one really understands the long term side effects of on a developing brain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of this thread? It seems deliberately combative- my son has ADHD and it's a daily struggle. Currently we don't medicate and we revisit the decision often. He doesn't eat foods any different than other kids his age-- the nutritional game changer for him is protein. Poorly regulated blood sugar affects mood which affects behavior. Exercise, sleep, and a predictable routine help. None of it makes the ADHD go away- merely controls the worst symptoms.ADHD is a serious condition- it impacts all areas of functioning. Our current worry as my son enters the teen years is emotional self regulation and depression we watch for it closely-- that is the tipping point and that is the time he will be on meds. Judgey parents who have no idea what it's like to see your kid struggle, to make friends, to keep up-- you have no idea.

This is exactly the problem. It's quite possible that your child NEEDS to eat different foods than other kids his age.

And yes, I know it's hard. You'll probably find that some parents are "judgey" because WE DO KNOW what it's like. And we just can't believe that you'd rather see your kid suffer all the time than exhaust all possibilities for trying to help him.

My own kids are on a very restricted diet. It sucks. They can't have ANY processed food, or dairy or soy or gluten or egg whites, or they get all sorts of reactions. But you know what? They aren't on medication.

I promise you that medication a few times per day would be a thousand times easier than what we deal with. But we do it because it works and it's the best thing for our kids. The funny thing is that we didn't know that it would work when we tried it. We were desperate and we wanted to exhaust all possibilities. You have to commit and try it.

I know you don't see it this way, but right now, it's actually YOU who is judging... judging that it won't work... that testing for minerals etc is a waste of time... that your kid SHOULD be able to handle eating what everyone else is eating because that's what's fair or whatever. I agree with you that it's not fair. It's not fair at all that my kids can't eat the crap that other kids can eat and apparently still function fine. It's not fair that my kids had such messed up test results that the labs and doctors didn't believe it and had to do the tests again. But it is what it is. Some kids are different, and they need parents to acknowledge that and advocate for them in every way. And that includes seeking out a doctor who knows about these things (they're called functional or integrative doctors) and trying to heal your kid, rather than just putting on a bandaid so it's easier to get through the day.

Sounds like your kid has food intolerances and allergies, not adhd.

NP here. Not necessarily. You don’t have to be allergic to a food for it to exacerbate neurological inflammation.

“Neurological inflammation”?!? Sounds like that’s right up there with leaky gut. And chronic Lyme.

[Anonymous]

Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

[Anonymous]

Mexico, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East. I can't think of a single culture that resorts to the ADHD diagnosis as often as white Americans do.

[Anonymous]

Mexico, South America, Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East. I can't think of a single culture that resorts to the ADHD diagnosis as often as white Americans do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of this thread? It seems deliberately combative- my son has ADHD and it's a daily struggle. Currently we don't medicate and we revisit the decision often. He doesn't eat foods any different than other kids his age-- the nutritional game changer for him is protein. Poorly regulated blood sugar affects mood which affects behavior. Exercise, sleep, and a predictable routine help. None of it makes the ADHD go away- merely controls the worst symptoms.ADHD is a serious condition- it impacts all areas of functioning. Our current worry as my son enters the teen years is emotional self regulation and depression we watch for it closely-- that is the tipping point and that is the time he will be on meds. Judgey parents who have no idea what it's like to see your kid struggle, to make friends, to keep up-- you have no idea.

pp here- ADHD is a brain difference. Not an issue with dopamine and not an issue with food. Not to say that medication or a change in diet (in limited cases imo- I'm skeptical) won't help manage symptoms but it is an issue with delayed development in certain regions of the brain that can be seen on an MRI. Sometimes the brain catches up, most often it does not. It's often comorbid woth anxiety, depression, and specific learning disabilities. It is hopefully diagnosed carefully via a neuropsych-- the biggest danger is not that there "is nothing wrong" - it's misdiagnosis (anxiety, bipolar, etc) and the child is receiving the wrong treatment. Most reasonable people (imo) would not confuse normal behavior with ADHD - we fought the need for a neuropsych exam for years until we started hearing from teachers and school counselors.

As for other cultures who do not diagnose ADHD, I would be curious how undiagnosed children are treated? Historically, in the US, kids with undiagnosed learning issues were mistreated by schools and peers.

Maybe just read some research and educate yourselves before telling people their kids don't have ADHD, or that medication isn't necessary for functioning, or that kids with brain differences shouldn't receive some consideration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

We are Germans here for 4 years with our children for my husbands job. This is absolutly not a thing in Germany. It has been so shocking to see how many kids are on drugs here for basically bad behavior. The standard for behavior for German children, our expectations for independence and organization is so different from Americans. If an American kid is not maturing, not listening, not getting good grades, out dispensed the drugs and thearapy. In Germany, the parents are the leaders, German kids are expected to fall in line and most do. I clearly see why there are so many social problems, so much drug addiction, and so much violence here. I mever unserstood it, until i saw with my eyeshow "sick" everyone is.

This country has a lot to offer, but Im very grateful that i dont have to raise my kids here. So, definitly not normal for kids in Germany to he diagnosed with ADHD and then given glorified street drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

We are Germans here for 4 years with our children for my husbands job. This is absolutly not a thing in Germany. It has been so shocking to see how many kids are on drugs here for basically bad behavior. The standard for behavior for German children, our expectations for independence and organization is so different from Americans. If an American kid is not maturing, not listening, not getting good grades, out dispensed the drugs and thearapy. In Germany, the parents are the leaders, German kids are expected to fall in line and most do. I clearly see why there are so many social problems, so much drug addiction, and so much violence here. I mever unserstood it, until i saw with my eyeshow "sick" everyone is.

This country has a lot to offer, but Im very grateful that i dont have to raise my kids here. So, definitly not normal for kids in Germany to he diagnosed with ADHD and then given glorified street drugs.

I’m an American and have lived here my whole life. I 100% agree with you on this. Actually, there are many of us who also agree with you, but would never say so in public because the drugs are so prevalent and many of our friends’ kids are on them. Americans who state views similar to yours are called ignorant and degraded.

May I ask why you think this is so prevalent in the US? What do you attribute it to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 15 year old started ADHD meds in 2nd grade, and they were life changing. He was basically unable to sit through class and starting to suffer a lot of anxiety and depression in school. As he's matured, the meds have mattered less. At this point as a high school sophomore taking lots of AP classes and no longer taking meds.

This tells me your son didn't have adhd. It was just immaturity. Seems like you drugged him just to make life easier. I get it, but it doesn't seem like he has adhd. I have a 12 yr old DS, and he was pretty challenging at 7, too. But, he doesn't have adhd. He was just a boy full of energy and lots of things going around his head, like most 7 yr olds.

Stop opining on things you don't know about. The research shows that there are differences in brain structure of people with adhd versus those who don't have it. For some people, the brain development "catches up" and in other people it does not. They don't know why but there is ongoing research on this.

And they eventually grow out of it, apparently. Yes, we all have different rates of development. That doesn't mean the person has some medical condition.

It's the "they don't know so it must be adhd, so if we put him on some drugs the kid should be "normal"" that I think is the issue.

In this country we have a culture of "there must be something or someone to blame for x" mentality. Something bad happen? It' got to be someone's fault so we will sue. Kid is challenging? He must have adhd so let' medicate.

I'm not saying adhd is not a real condition. But as a PP noted, it's over diagnosed in this country. Why isn't it so prevalent in other countries as it is here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

We are Germans here for 4 years with our children for my husbands job. This is absolutly not a thing in Germany. It has been so shocking to see how many kids are on drugs here for basically bad behavior. The standard for behavior for German children, our expectations for independence and organization is so different from Americans. If an American kid is not maturing, not listening, not getting good grades, out dispensed the drugs and thearapy. In Germany, the parents are the leaders, German kids are expected to fall in line and most do. I clearly see why there are so many social problems, so much drug addiction, and so much violence here. I mever unserstood it, until i saw with my eyeshow "sick" everyone is.

This country has a lot to offer, but Im very grateful that i dont have to raise my kids here. So, definitly not normal for kids in Germany to he diagnosed with ADHD and then given glorified street drugs.

My friend from India says the same thing. She is appalled by the number of dumb kids and high school dropouts here in America, and the school issues with students that act out. She said they just didn't have those problems where she comes from in India.

It's very interesting to see how the rest of the world views our country. Very eye opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 15 year old started ADHD meds in 2nd grade, and they were life changing. He was basically unable to sit through class and starting to suffer a lot of anxiety and depression in school. As he's matured, the meds have mattered less. At this point as a high school sophomore taking lots of AP classes and no longer taking meds.

This tells me your son didn't have adhd. It was just immaturity. Seems like you drugged him just to make life easier. I get it, but it doesn't seem like he has adhd. I have a 12 yr old DS, and he was pretty challenging at 7, too. But, he doesn't have adhd. He was just a boy full of energy and lots of things going around his head, like most 7 yr olds.

This tells me that you're an idiot. If you knew anything g about ADHD you would realiza that it's completely normal for some kids to outgrow it as their brain develops. There is actually a huge long term study going on at NIH right now to study this that involves imaging kids' brains. Guess what dumbass: kids with ADHD can be distinguished through brain imaging.

Christ, you're stupid.

For f@ck's sake, crack a book before you embarrass yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

We are Germans here for 4 years with our children for my husbands job. This is absolutly not a thing in Germany. It has been so shocking to see how many kids are on drugs here for basically bad behavior. The standard for behavior for German children, our expectations for independence and organization is so different from Americans. If an American kid is not maturing, not listening, not getting good grades, out dispensed the drugs and thearapy. In Germany, the parents are the leaders, German kids are expected to fall in line and most do. I clearly see why there are so many social problems, so much drug addiction, and so much violence here. I mever unserstood it, until i saw with my eyeshow "sick" everyone is.

This country has a lot to offer, but Im very grateful that i dont have to raise my kids here. So, definitly not normal for kids in Germany to he diagnosed with ADHD and then given glorified street drugs.

Oh, now we hear from a lady from the country that kicks kids out of high school and I to a vocational track if they don't toe the line. Thanks, but no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other countries have similar levels of ADD/ADHD diagnoses as America? Or is it like obesity and diabetes where we alone top the charts?

From what I can tell, this is an American problem. You never hear of people from other continents and cultures complaining their kid has ADHD and MUST be put on meds to function in life. That is strictly an American thing, and very sad. Makes you wonder how cave people functioned back in the day, since they didn't have shrinks and do tors to dole out false diagnoses and get them addicted to legal drugs.

We are Germans here for 4 years with our children for my husbands job. This is absolutly not a thing in Germany. It has been so shocking to see how many kids are on drugs here for basically bad behavior. The standard for behavior for German children, our expectations for independence and organization is so different from Americans. If an American kid is not maturing, not listening, not getting good grades, out dispensed the drugs and thearapy. In Germany, the parents are the leaders, German kids are expected to fall in line and most do. I clearly see why there are so many social problems, so much drug addiction, and so much violence here. I mever unserstood it, until i saw with my eyeshow "sick" everyone is.

This country has a lot to offer, but Im very grateful that i dont have to raise my kids here. So, definitly not normal for kids in Germany to he diagnosed with ADHD and then given glorified street drugs.

My friend from India says the same thing. She is appalled by the number of dumb kids and high school dropouts here in America, and the school issues with students that act out. She said they just didn't have those problems where she comes from in India.

It's very interesting to see how the rest of the world views our country. Very eye opening.

And now education advice from a country that's 26% illiterate and where women are stoned to death for being taped. Awesome!