ADHD in America

[IAMWILL]

A friend of mine recently shared this (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd) article with me, and I found it pretty shocking. I encourage you to read the article too (from Psychology Today), and then discuss, do you think American doctors/culture is to quick to treat behavioral problems with prescription drugs, instead of attempting to treat the underlying causes? Are we a culture that prefers to solve problems with easy, immediate solutions that wear off rather than long term ones that can actually end these behavioral issues?

After reading up on this subject, I think we are. It seems as though the standards children in America are held to are much lower than the standards many children in foreign countries are held to, but the issue is that our culture seems to accept that children have these behavioral issues, as if they are normal.

Thoughts?

[FrostWraith]

American doctors love to diagnose conditions and prescribe drugs because many of them get paid to do so. It seems to me like ADHD functions mainly as a "crutch" or excuse for poor performance; while there are underlying causes, the main remedy seems to be medication. I agree that we should take the European approach on this issue; curing problems is generally more effective than temporary treatment.

[britishboy]

the majority of people are normal, and if your not take the pills and quit moaning, theyre there to help you

[Stronk Serb]

the majority of people are normal, and if your not take the pills and quit moaning, theyre there to help you


The thing is, you will get the medication shoved in your mouth even though it is treatable by psychotherapy. The medication is there to remove the effects, not to cure the problems. By what I read, the French do psychotherapy which handles ADHD problems better then medication.

[britishboy]

The thing is, you will get the medication shoved in your mouth even though it is treatable by psychotherapy. The medication is there to remove the effects, not to cure the problems. By what I read, the French do psychotherapy which handles ADHD problems better then medication.

people in britian have both, however in america its too expensive for most, and when your declared mentally ill your not deemed fit to decide, for example a mentally ill man can be force fed and giving medical treatment without consent, but this is needed

[Stronk Serb]

people in britian have both, however in america its too expensive for most, and when your declared mentally ill your not deemed fit to decide, for example a mentally ill man can be force fed and giving medical treatment without consent, but this is needed

That is the problem, try psychotherapy and if that does not work, take the medication, not just shove a whole package up his throat without any psychological treatment.

[britishboy]

That is the problem, try psychotherapy and if that does not work, take the medication, not just shove a whole package up his throat without any psychological treatment.

tables dont exactly do harm and improve your symptoms

[Stronk Serb]

tables dont exactly do harm and improve your symptoms


Some do have side effects.

[Harry Smith]

tables dont exactly do harm and improve your symptoms

Are you from the 19th Century? Look at the drug Thalidomide in the 1950's, it was used to treat morning sickness but ended up deforming millions of babies. Tablets can have do a lot of damage

the majority of people are normal, and if your not take the pills and quit moaning, theyre there to help you

Are you from the 19th Century? So the answer to life is to take the pills and quite moaning? 50 years ago people try to 'cure' homosexuality by giving them pills or medicine, that didn't work out to well did it?

[TheDeepestDepths]

First I'd like to clarify that I am not at all trying to say that things like ADHD and Dyslexia don't exist because they most certainly do, but I do not believe that they are as common and widespread as is diagnosed.

I believe that doctors are too quick to diagnose people with disorders and are definitely too quick to prescribe drugs. I know of several people who have told me that they have been diagnosed with Dyslexia and everyone but the doctors disagree. If English class is not their strong point then they must have Dyslexia! It's ridiculous. People do have Dyslexia, I am not trying to say that they don't and their life must be a lot more difficult when this is the case. But a friend of mine was diagnosed because she found reading hard, she worked at it and spent quite a lot of time reading. And it got easier, so now she reads at the same pace as I do.

I know this thread was about ADHD but Dyslexia was a commonly diagnosed disorder I was more familiar with. What frustrates me about ADHD is parents latch onto it as a way to excuse their child's bad behaviour. Because obviously it's much better for your child to have a disorder than for you to just be unable to discipline them properly. Some people have ADHD, and for parents to use something probably quite difficult to deal with as a scapegoat is sickening to me.

[Walter Powers]

First I'd like to clarify that I am not at all trying to say that things like ADHD and Dyslexia don't exist because they most certainly do, but I do not believe that they are as common and widespread as is diagnosed.

I believe that doctors are too quick to diagnose people with disorders and are definitely too quick to prescribe drugs. I know of several people who have told me that they have been diagnosed with Dyslexia and everyone but the doctors disagree. If English class is not their strong point then they must have Dyslexia! It's ridiculous. People do have Dyslexia, I am not trying to say that they don't and their life must be a lot more difficult when this is the case. But a friend of mine was diagnosed because she found reading hard, she worked at it and spent quite a lot of time reading. And it got easier, so now she reads at the same pace as I do.

I know this thread was about ADHD but Dyslexia was a commonly diagnosed disorder I was more familiar with. What frustrates me about ADHD is parents latch onto it as a way to excuse their child's bad behaviour. Because obviously it's much better for your child to have a disorder than for you to just be unable to discipline them properly. Some people have ADHD, and for parents to use something probably quite difficult to deal with as a scapegoat is sickening to me.

I completely agree. Good points.