ADHA - Real or just an excuse?

[gl1koz3]

It's very real for people to be overly impulsive, impatient, inattentive.

But the catch is that it's not the people's fault. It's the environment who pushes them into situations they never cared to be in. Such people really can't pay attention, unless it's of top interest. I don't see what's wrong with it - something is so boring for them that it isn't worth paying attention to, yet the other side exists, too. If it's interesting, then they just can't stop. Maybe it's not the true definition of ADHD, but I think this can be an asset in certain situations in which other personalities wouldn't quite be up to spec.

Just for FYI, I'm not ADHD. But we are very impulsive in our family, and guessing from what my parents have told me about raising me and what I've experienced myself as I watched the little sister grow up, I must say I can extrapolate what can it be. So lets stop the ignorant posts about "bad parenting". If it was bad parenting, such people would be long dead before they actually learned to control themselves.

 

[quantumsoul]

Oh it exists. Not every case should be medicated. I just don't like it being treated like a disability. It has it's advantages and disadvantages.

 

[Mr.Numbers]

How conincidental is that!? I was halfway thorugh starting a thread which is totally identical after reading and commenting on this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.261615-Poll-If-you-were-spanked-as-a-child-do-you-think-it-made-you-a-better-person#9862349] thread and I thought tht I better do a Forum Search first.

I am 33 now and when I was in school, there was no such thing as ADD or Asperger's. It's an excuse in today's namby-pamby overly PC society to explain away kids that need a good thump!

I find that horribly offensive since the small form of autism I mentioned earlier is, in fact, Aspergeurs. And anyway, inciting child abuse is NEVER ever on, and I hope a moderator catches on to that.

Seriously, before I was diagnosed I was miserable, didn't understand why I didn't fit in at school and was honest to god borderline suicidal. That is not an overreaction, I often went on to the roof of an extremely tall building every day (My school) and just looked out and thought "What if".

Since the diagnosis and counseler apointments at school, I've learnt how to (Mostly) function as a normal human being. My Dad used to hit me with a belt and all it did was make it worse. If you just hit kids with mental conditions, what do you think would happen, their brains would fix itself?! No, if that happened once more I woulda done myself in, not fixed myself up.


The only thing that has ever helped is treatment. Beating never solves anything.

 

[ilessthanthreetea]

I think ADHA, ADD and the whole sub classfications do exist, I see them as part of a larger problem in the way that children are being brought up. Alot of people think its crap but then children are incontact more with additives, E numbers, pollution, and generally have a different childhood enviroment than 15 years ago. With this disorders like Aspergers and Autism have seen to be on the rise, ADHA and ADD are minor traits of these disorders.

As Gethsemani stated the problem is prescription and the reliance of pills to make something go away or lessen. It is now a huge global market in which there needs to be a constant demand for, hence many just say bad behaviour is such and such and then you take such and such.

I have diagnosed with dysgraphia (language and written form dylsexia) at the age of 22, and in my 3rd year of Uni. Basically I have taught myself how to handle my dyslexia and this is what is left. Alot of people say it is just bad grammar, spelling, I don't read enough, I wasn't read to enough as a kid, when I actually read alot, do a heavy reading and writing based degree and yet I still can't get the hang of transfering my thoughts onto paper in a logical construct.

This has also been linked with my bi-polar and also I show signs of slight aspergers. This is why it annoys me that people just get branded as ADD or ADHD as it is normally part of something on the grander scale which has alternatives to just drugging up your children in hope of a cure.

 

[Chibz]

Just putting it out there, anyone who denies the existance of ADHD or (God help them) ASD is a troll and should be treated as one. Report and move on.

I have to put up with these ignorant bitches IRL, why should I have to hear them here (on a supposedly moderated forum of all places).

 

[CrazyDave DC]

To be honest, I don't even know why this is even up for discussion. Of course, ADD and ADHD exist (though I have no idea what ADHA is), and it is a disease that a lot of unfortunate people have to live with in their day-to-day lives. I understand that there are sick people out there who would like to believe that they have these disorders for the purposes of shirking their responsibilities, however, to claim that they do not exist, to even speculate that these diseases are nothing more than falsehoods is an extremely ignorant thing to say. For your sake, I hope that no one reading this thread is deeply offended by your ignorance, for if I knew someone who had either of these diseases, or indeed, if I had one myself, you can safely assume that I would not be as civil as I am right now.

 

[Batfred]

How conincidental is that!? I was halfway thorugh starting a thread which is totally identical after reading and commenting on this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.261615-Poll-If-you-were-spanked-as-a-child-do-you-think-it-made-you-a-better-person#9862349] thread and I thought tht I better do a Forum Search first.

I am 33 now and when I was in school, there was no such thing as ADD or Asperger's. It's an excuse in today's namby-pamby overly PC society to explain away kids that need a good thump!

I find that horribly offensive since the small form of autism I mentioned earlier is, in fact, Aspergeurs. And anyway, inciting child abuse is NEVER ever on, and I hope a moderator catches on to that.

Seriously, before I was diagnosed I was miserable, didn't understand why I didn't fit in at school and was honest to god borderline suicidal. That is not an overreaction, I often went on to the roof of an extremely tall building every day (My school) and just looked out and thought "What if".

Since the diagnosis and counseler apointments at school, I've learnt how to (Mostly) function as a normal human being. My Dad used to hit me with a belt and all it did was make it worse. If you just hit kids with mental conditions, what do you think would happen, their brains would fix itself?! No, if that happened once more I woulda done myself in, not fixed myself up.


The only thing that has ever helped is treatment. Beating never solves anything.

If you read the other thread that I alluded to though, you would see that beating and spanking have been agreed to be two very different things. Beating is out order and should NEVER be an excuse. Spanking was an acceptable form of child discipline and was what the previous debate was about - should it still be acceptable - and I think for the most part we said "yes".

As to causing offence, I am truly sorry. That was not the intent. I do however actually know a couple of kids diagnosed with Asperger's and they are just plain and simple naughty kids who have taken advantage of their soft parents for far too long. The diagnosis is how that parents feel that they can justify the poor job that they have done. Not my feelings, but fact as only 1 in 3 opinions by professionals has testified to.

I still stick by my original comments though and from the rest of the comments that I have read I think that again the vast majority agree, it is an excuse used in the majority and is poorly diagnosed. To clarify though, I never said that it didn't exist as that is ovbiously incorrect.

Lastly, poor form in asking for a moderator telling off. That's the equivalent of waving an imaginary yellow card. Boo to you.

 

[SofaEater]

I take about 6 pills a day to keep myself stable. Now I believe that kids, below the age of 17, shouldn't be given ADD/ADHD meds or any other prescribed mind altering medication unless absolutely necessary. their body and brains are still developing and strong medications like that will fuck 'em over. Parents just gotta take away distractions, and set up a study schedule, and they'll learn by repetition.

Now I take pills for my depression, which is both genetic and cause by traumatizing incidents as a child. And I take pills for ADD, it started about sophomore year of high school. And I tried all that crap, but now, at 18 I've started on the meds after I got .7 GPA at college and it helps. I couldn't concentration on anything, 'cept when I was hyper-focusing. Now I don't hyper-focus as much. I can do work, and I can write again.

but this was my last resort, I always thought having ADD/ADHD was a weakness but after trying everything else to help it, I guess its just a problem I can't fix with my chemically fucked up brain. But a lot of the people who say they have ADD and ADHD, are just looking for a quick fix. And thats the problem with a lot of things these days. The damage that these medications cause is stomach turning scary. I probability wont have a working liver but 60. But not taking them is actually so much worse.

try to understand that no matter the medication, or service, or anything for that matter. Some people will abuse it, and others will too if its a quick fix. But, the few who do, actually need it are criticized and punished because of the afore mentioned groups.

props to the topic btw. needed a good mini rant

 

[WolfThomas]

Real but very very overdiagnosed and self-diagnosed. I was almost put on ritalin as a child because of my behaviour (I was a real little bastard) but I outgrew it and I'm glad I didn't have to deal with all it's side effects, especially growth stuntage.

 

[Chibz]

Super Snip Attack!

You're right. Parents of kids with ASD should CLEARLY just beat their kids until their brains work properly. Clearly spanking a kid enough will change how their brains work!

But don't waste your time (and significant cure anything through spankings talent) here! Take your message to doctors, and other health care professionals![footnote]You just don't get it, do you?[/footnote]

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I recognise ADD and ADHD (and all other abbreviated conditions)as genuine conditions but I've seen first hand how people diagnosed with them abuse it. My cousin has ADHD and whenever he starts going batshit insane he just blames everything on his ADHD so he doesn't take a thrashing off my uncle for it. The funny thing is that he can behave himself perfectly whenever there's something in it for him.

It's like many 'conditions' that are diagnosed, they end up defining the person that has them.

 

[Dys]

Spoiler

I can't even express how much I hate ignorant fucks like you. Please consider fellating a shotgun, both of you.[footnote]Moderator edit: Tone it down, this sort of reaction is unacceptable. Don't insult users or bother posting if you have nothing to contribute to the discussion.[/footnote]

That's a bit extreme, I mean ADD or ADHD aren't as diagnosable as other psychological disorders, and given the huge push by pharmaceutical companies to sell ritalin. I mean, I'm not usually one to call foul on this kind of thing, but it literally seems that everytime a kid misbehaves in class (provided he's/her parents don't discipline the child) they get a handful of drugs and a diagnosis. What's more, further detracting from the main credibility of the disorder is that symptoms have been directly linked to the consumption of certain preservatives....How many diagnoses cases of ADHD are, in face, ADHD and not lazy parents or a poor diet?

 

[spartan231490]

My younger brother has ?ADHA? I personally think that this is just and excuse my mum uses when he is out of control. He can get what he wants and act how he wants no matter what she or anybody says. (I have some pretty mind-boggling stories about his ridiculous behaviour if anyone?s interested.) I?ve spoken to several people about ADHD, including Doctors who don?t believe it exists.
So I was wondering what you guys think. I?d love to hear your thoughts on this and any experiences you may have had.

Good mix. I think that almost no cases of ADHD/ADD are anything more than poor parenting combined with a hyper child, but does it matter? it's accepted as an medical problem now, too many people are enjoying it to ever let it stop being an excuse. I remember back in my day,(lol, 20 years is way to young to say that) when me or any of my cousins got hopped up on sugar or adrenaline, we got either spanked or put in time-out, depending on how badly we were freaking out, and it actually worked. Surprise surprise, disciplining your kid is usually more than enough to bring them back under control, even when they are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD by a psychologist. There are some cases where the kid needs meds, god knows my friend Erik is friggin psycho even on his medication, but these cases are very rare, much rarer than the diagnosis. That's my opinion, backed by all 2 semesters of basic psych classes and my world-weary cynicism, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Dastardly]

My younger brother has ?ADHA? I personally think that this is just and excuse my mum uses when he is out of control. He can get what he wants and act how he wants no matter what she or anybody says. (I have some pretty mind-boggling stories about his ridiculous behaviour if anyone?s interested.) I?ve spoken to several people about ADHD, including Doctors who don?t believe it exists.
So I was wondering what you guys think. I?d love to hear your thoughts on this and any experiences you may have had.

The hard answer: Both.

Some people really have it. Others get an armchair diagnosis and run with it. And officially telling the difference is next to impossible because of how vague the symptoms and testing are. So, to my mind, treat everyone the same.

If a person has a bum leg, we make certain concessions for them (like ramps and elevators). But we still expect them to move around on their own, just like we expect from everyone else. They have a harder time of it, but that's for them to adjust to. We don't carry the world to them on a platter because they had some hard luck.

Same goes for this. Some are real, many are fakes, treat them all the same.

 

[Cavouku]

I have a buddy who once told me he has ADD, so he couldn't do the work we had to do in the group, because he wasn't on his medication.

Turns out all he needed was some coercion and a simplified explanation of the task at hand, he really had no problem actually doing the work. He was a case of wrongly diagnosed, this is for certain, but the problem is he was trying to use it as an excuse.

Another kid I know, younger than me, claims to have ADHD, and even wrote a song about it;

"The squares on the bus go square square square
Square square square, square square square,
The squares on the bus go square square square
'Cause I have ADHD!"

I wish I was making that up (and also wish "square" wasn't such an uncomfortable word to type).

But the thing is he can sit down and stop being ridiculous for at least a few hours, and isn't on medication, either. I believe he's just an example of a kid with energy. A lot of the time we forget that kids are naturally energetic.

It exists, certainly, but if I were to go into a clinic, I'm afraid they would tell me I have it if I acted convincingly, and I most certainly do not. There needs to be stricter methods of classification, because its like Chef said "For every kid that actually has ADD, you're giving Ritalin to a hundred kids that don't." (Paraphrased)

Let those with the actual condition get the treatment, please.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

I'm sure there are people out there with ADD and ADHD, but I'm sure that most of the people who claim or were "diagnosed" (probably by a psychiatrist rather than a psychologist) really don't have it. People will go slightly off-topic in a conversation and go "Oh sorry, its my ADD" and all I can think is "You don't have ADD, you made a clear connection between two subjects then switched. If you had ADD you wouldn't be able to have a conversation with me with medication or something similar." It's probably the "in" mental disorder to have right now (along with depression) so if you act like anything slightly off from a "normal" human you have something wrong with you. And then there are all those kids who are told that they have ADD when really there just being kids. I mean kids have always been pretty active and odd times. Just wait for them to crash, they will.

Shame is that there are people out there who really do have it, but they don't get treated the way they should because everyone "has" it.

 

[SofaEater]

"The squares on the bus go square square square
Square square square, square square square,
The squares on the bus go square square square
'Cause I have ADHD!"

I wish I was making that up (and also wish "square" wasn't such an uncomfortable word to type).

HOLY SHIT, square is awkward to type work to type.

But y'all should remember that companies that make the medication give physiologist all this stuff to promote there new drug. Money is money, and if you can trick a couple hundred thousand kids to take medication when it isn't cause they have lazy parents. Why would they care.

I forgot to add that my friend is one of those falsely ADD people, cause his parents over bearing freaks who control his life, (but nooo he wanted to take a year off, so hes stuck with them) but because he knows this he hasn't taken them in over 4 years, to prove his parents wrong.

 

[sibrenfetter]

As a psychologist I can tell you it is real. It has been proven repeatedly on a behavioral and genetic level. Also, for some years it is now included in the DSM4 and 5, as a separate affliction. However, I agree with many comments here on the page that it is over diagnosed. Many parents use it as an excuse for an ill behaving child and drugs are administered way too easily (especially the USA is well known for this practice). I also have a friend with ADHD and there is no mistaking the difference between him taking his medication and not. At the same time, medication is not enough and each individual will have to learn (often with help) to cope with ADHD. I would also like to point out that your average doctor is often not very knowledgeable about these type of afflictions. I strongly suggest you find an expert that has an actual degree in the field of psychopathology or psychotherapy. Good luck

 

[DTWolfwood]

i dont remember my parents generation having this problem. Curious y there is one now. Use to remember getting a serious whooping for going out of control.

Don't they usually just put these kids up on meds for having this "disease?"