Poll: How do you feel about A.D.D.

[Con Carne]

This may be a touchy subject for some, but bare with me. I'm not trying to say that the examples that I use are the be all end all experience for everyone, but they can often be the case.

I've been thinking about A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) and the fact that people from my parents generation didn't really experience it. Was it because of their lack of technology compared to what we have today? Because it hadn't really been a majorly diagnosed problem? Did no one care? Or does it just not really exist?
Think about it. Back in the day, let's say between the 40's and early 70's, if you showed signs that could be A.D.D. (acting up, not paying attention, not focusing etc.) What happened to you? You'd get popped one. Then you'd act "right" again. Kinda like an old Nintendo. Guess what? that generation seems fine. Now let's fast forward to present day. You act up, parents take you to see potentially multiple doctors, they prescribe you special drugs, you take said drugs, you become a vegetable or more incoherent than you were when you didn't focus.
Now I'm not condoning domestic abuse or anything, but did our grandparents have the right idea by popping their children, or do present day parents have the right idea by doping their kids up?

Feel free to add anything else you'd like to this conversation, but please people let's remain civil. I have been in quite a few heated debates about this topic.

I personally would rather give them a slightly forceful bop on the head or a firm slap on the hand. (If I had kids)
I don't like the idea of giving my kids drugs for focusing. It's called stepping up and being a parent and making time for your kid. Don't let pills, movies, or games babysit them.

 

[Pappytech]

Whoops, think I acctidently hit the pills option. I meant to select verbal discipline.

I've personally dealt with some learning disability issues (I've got a form of dyslexia), and was once told I had to be put on Ritalin. It did not end well.

Once I actually got off the pills and just started working harder, I found that I could bypass my disability with a bit of extra effort, and proceeded to become an academic success.

Bottom line, I don't believe pills are ever the answer when it comes to learning disabilities. I'm pretty sure anyone can do great if they're willing to just put in the extra effort. So, if my kids had A.D.D., just talk to them and give them some encouragement.

 

[thiosk]

ADD is over diagnosed, no question. Its nice that there are drugs to correct psychiatric imbalances. However, I have family experience with a mother who medicated a son when she was the one with the psychiatric problems. This is not an isolated case. I won't vote because each individual case is valid for some cases; pills or poppin' em one won't work in every case.

 

[TheDooD]

I know drugs aren't the answer unless they're extreme cases. Most kids until they get 15 you truly can't tell it's really ADD or the child is just naturally hyper. I was very hyper as a child but when I got into high school I ended up mellowing out.

 

[viranimus]

You do realize that people experienced things long before they had words for it, right?

Now granted, much like you pointed out, before recent history the "treatment" usually involved physical violence. (not that Im dissuading or supporting that as viable)

First and foremost, it IS an actual condition. Secondly it is one of the singularly most over diagnosed conditions for children. You are right in the effect that using medication to baby sit instead of holding up parental responsibility is weak and passive, but there are some instances where it is actually required and its legitimate.

Typically you look at the medication. What kids with ADD get prescribed isnt anti depressants or other things that make people zombie like, they typically get prescribed speed such as amphetamine derivatives such as Ritalin and Adderal. That is illustrative of the fact that it does in fact work. Taking a fidgety overactive child who cannot focus, and pumping them full of speed? Sounds like a recipe for a nightmare. However typically the childs body chemistry is wired backwards to begin with. So by giving them the opposite they typically have the opposite effect of what they do under normal conditions.

There is a degree of legitimacy to this. Certainly not at the level it gets diagnosed, but that doesnt exactly mean we should give up a working treatment because parents/headshrinkers get lazy.

 

[Lord Merik]

Well I have it. Drugs just don't work for me. They make my brain feel like its swimming in molasses. What works? For me I have to get rid of all distractions (such as turning off the internet) and just get down to work.

 

[Voxgizer]

It depends on what they're doing. Running around acting like an ass in public? A quick slap on the ass and a bit of verbal warning.

A kid being a kid and just having too much energy? Ok, that's fine. I've called bullshit on A.D.D. since it's "creation". I don't think it's a real case, and consider it to just be kids being kids. They're not supposed to be able to pay attention to something for hours on end, they're kids.

 

[Jedoro]

Smack 'em upside the head, they'll learn to focus pretty quick. Problem is, people think that's abuse, so they go for the pills that our for-profit pharmaceutical companies made to treat this problem.

 

[Jordi]

Before going to a doctor (and knowing it's ADD), I'd probably try to discipline my child so that it behaves. When that doesn't work, I want to get diagnoses from different doctors, because I know even doctors overdiagnose this condition, and I would also want to get different perspectives and advice on how to deal with it. Right now, I don't know, but I'd get information. I'm hesitant to use pills and therapy and would try to deal with it myself (or "ourselves", with the rest of my hypothetical family), but I'll just do whatever it turns out to take (preferring therapy to pills if necessary).

 

[Joe Biden His Time]

The problem is that ADD is a very misunderstood disorder and as a result it is being far too widely diagnosed. My father and I both have it, and I can tell you it is not fixed as simply as a 'bop on the head'. Imagine having 200 TV screens in front of you all showing different things and trying to pay attention to all of them, that's sort of what actual ADD is like. But as I said before it is very mistakenly diagnosed a lot of the time because Doctors aren't really trained in identifying it (this therefor leads to it being taken less seriously as a disorder). That being said, my personal experience is that pills genuinely help those who have it, given that it's the proper dosage and brand.

 

[Pharsalus]

I'd go verbal if a kid is just being a spaz, if their truly misbehaving then give em a slap. Pills don't help, they just create a dependency and an excuse for the child not to actually gain any good behavioral habits.

 

[loc978]

Pretty much the physical discipline thing, as far as I'm concerned. I won't say the condition doesn't exist, just that it's manageable without the use of drugs. My older brother was diagnosed with ADHD when he was a kid, and the doc tried to proscribe ritalin. My parents refused. They let my brother know straight up that they were going to force him to work through it, and he did. He's 33 now, still a little hyperactive, but healthy... and far from the trainwreck I've seen forced ritalin junkies become.

I think the biggest problem with ADD/ADHD isn't with the kids or the condition, it is as follows:​

Sir Ken Robinson has the right ideas, I think. I've been called very smart my entire life, while my brother has been called below average... but in many ways, he's much smarter than me.​

 

[Voxgizer]

I was Diagnosed with A.D.D By someone once. They were the wrongest person in wrong town. I kinda agree with your statement. Just another false ailment to get a pill shoved in your face.

The last line sums up my idea about it pretty well.

And did you laugh at them for it?

 

[Voxgizer]

I was Diagnosed with A.D.D By someone once. They were the wrongest person in wrong town. I kinda agree with your statement. Just another false ailment to get a pill shoved in your face.

The last line sums up my idea about it pretty well.

And did you laugh at them for it?

Nah. I just sat there patiently without fidgeting or breaking eye contact. It made my point more firm to them lol.

Oh wow, that probably creeped them out too. lol

 

[jim1398]

It's hard to give a single answer because it depends entirely on the context. ADD is very much the go to excuse for lacklustre parenting ('it's not my fault my kid is acting up, he has ADD'), however that doesn't mean it's not an actual condition. It's just that for every child that does actually have it, a dosen more are said to have it simply because their parents fail to understand that a child is basically like a chimp and if you don't take the time to teach them what they should and shouldn't do, they aren't going to just magically learn it themselves (and no, a TV is not an adequate substitute).

In most cases a little verbal discipline is more than enough in normal circumstances (assuming that up until that point you've not been one of those parents who don't discipline your child at all, otherwise they just aren't going to take you seriously). On the occasions where that fails, move onto actual punishments such as grounding them, removing their TV, computer, phone, etc (no point in forcing them to stay in their room if all their stuff is still there). Actual physical discipline should be avoided if possible, but it should still be an option. Obviously I'm not talking about just beating on your child, but a quick clip around the ear, back of the legs or a smack on the behind shouldn't be frowned upon like it is. If they're acting up in public, don't wait until you get home either (I see this so often) because by the time you do, chances are they will have forgotton what they are being punished for. Drugs should always be a last resort and you should always ask for alternative treatments and/or a second opinion.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

I apparently have ADD, either that or a REALLY short attention span.
But, i think we can't just keep chucking pills and special sheletered groups, it isolates you and when you get to the point in which you don't have those things anymore, reality will destroy you.

Luckily i don't have it like that, and although i am horribly taunted at school (was, left now) It's made me a stronger person.
That being said, i'm still pathetic.

 

[BoredDragon]

Well it's a very interesting subject in which my opinion is... oh what's that?