ADD is Quite The Overused Excuse, it Would Seem...

[Eggsnham]

I've observed over the years that anybody who exhibits a minor problem with paying attention or a small hyperactive tendency is immediately diagnosed with either ADD or ADHD.

This is just a small gripe I have, as I have ADD bad (my brother has it worse). we're talkin' not being able to sit still and listen to jack shit for more than a few seconds bad.

Whereas pretty much every kid I know supposedly has it even though they have near prefect grades and are probably some of the most relaxed people I know (off medication, mind you).

Now I'm not going to tell you all that ADD is a horrible affliction that ruins your life etc. But what I will say is that it can be... Tiring. To say the least and that it kinda makes me mad that every doctor calls every kid that wants to be loud and have fun hyperactive.

I personally think there should be clearer guidelines for ADD and ADHD.

Okay, I'm done bitching in circles now.

 

[Aesir23]

I agree. I think it's mostly because it's difficult to diagnose as true ADD or the kid just being hyperactive.

I was diagnosed with it when I was eight years old, but currently I'm trying to figure out whether it was a false diagnosis or if I "grew out of it" if such a thing is possible. Because I've been off my medication for about a year and I seem to be doing fine. A little distracted, but fine.

 

[Vampire cat]

Yeah... Freakin' everyone has ADD now adays. I was diagnosed with it when I was 8. I never mention that anymore, even when people ask, cause it's as common as black and white socks >>.

 

[Wintermoot]

I have been diagnosed with ADHD in 20min as a small child while I actual have asperges syndrome I hade to take ritalin for a few years being inlfuenced by ritalin while you dont need it is horrible

 

[wkrepelin]

I'm sorry I couldn't get through the whole OT. You see, I have ADD.

EDIT: I should probably put more than a bad joke in here. I do agree with you and I do have mild ADD. It mostly manifests itself as reading a page over and over without absorbing a single word or other, similar, mind wanderings.

I think that part of the reason that so many people want to claim it is that:

1. we have shortened attention spans due to television and things like twitter and other short form media.

2. Parents don't give their kids enough room to run around and be kids but jack them up on caffiene and processed sugar.

3. drug companies like money.

I have found that my ADD has mellowed with age and study of complex subjects (maths and physics). So perhaps a regiment of focus would help as much or more than drugs.

There, I contributed instead of just being a git.

 

[Hashime]

I know of a few of my friends that got recommendations from their teachers to go see a doctor about it. The teacher couldn't hold their attention so she tried to get them medicated to make her job easier.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Hm, I don't know anyone with it in my area, except for one person with ADHD (it shows). Perhaps that's the old "Yorkshire Mentality" - no one is ill unless a limb is missing and they're covered in plague boils.

 

[savageoblivi0n]

i was diagnosed with ADD as a child but during treatment in a veterans hospital for depression and mood swings it was revealed to me that it was actually childhood indication of future bipolar disorder..though the treatment and counseling i received for it truly helped and made a lot of the problems i had when i was younger actually make sense

 

[Insanum]

I dont have ADD, I can sit and listen to stuff that interests me for hours on end, and i can sit still all i want, But then again im 21.

Notice how you never seen any adults with ADD...Do you just grow out of it?

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

I knew a kid who had ADHD once we where quite good freinds...
But anyway, I guess it is easy to lable somone with it don't know too much about it though.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

Umm... yes? I really don't know what else I can contribute, but I agree completely. Too many people who really are just annoying get diagnosed with ADD; it is then socially unacceptable to hate them.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Well, the problem is a combination of two facts One, the primary affect, hyperactivity, is something that most children exhibit at one point or another. And two, if you, like me, have the misfortune to live under the American healthcare system, then this is combined with the fact that doctors here make more money when their patients are sick than they do when their patients are healthy, and it's easy to understand why they would want to diagnose so many children with ADD or ADHD.

 

[Jack_Uzi]

They do have some guidlines for these kind of diagnosis most of the time they use this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-5 It's also used as far as I know, to diagnose ADD and ADHD with.

 

[Woodsey]

Along with being bi, it's very "popular" to have it.

 

[Abedeus]

Well, there's always the Army to straighten a kid out. More specifically, Cpl Punishment.

"- I wanna play, I wanna play, I wanna play...
- SHUT UP AND STUDY! *WHACK!*"

 

[twillman15]

i was diagnosed with ADD as a child but during treatment in a veterans hospital for depression and mood swings it was revealed to me that it was actually childhood indication of future bipolar disorder..though the treatment and counseling i received for it truly helped and made a lot of the problems i had when i was younger actually make sense

I saw a video in my psyche class last year where a kid who was diagnosed with ADD then bipolar disorder then some more personality disorders. The mother then was tired of watching him taking so many pills she put him in a hospital and made him quit taking the pills cold turkey. He now lives a normal life except for a uncontrollable neck spasm that he now has.