Do you think ADD/ADHD is a myth?

[mahon83050]

I was diagnosed with minor ADD and OCD when I was an adolescent. While the latter is a true, real disease....I am not so sure about the first one.

Yea, If I don't write things down at work, I will forget. I misplace my carkeys alot. I have a hard time concentrating or reading something that is boring. I daydream alot. I have a hard time paying attention to somone or reading a book with alot of distractions (e.g. loud talking, construction)

HOWEVER, DOESN"T THIS HAPPEN TO ALOT OF PEOPLE?

 

[KontrollerX]

That does happen to a lot of people but I think most things are categorized as a disorder when they become self destructive.

 

[Michele l'Arcangelo]

i dont know about it being a "disease"... "disease" is labeled on too many things (acne is a disease!), but ADD and ADHD is real.

some people cannot sit still during class... some have to try really... REALLY hard to concentrate, but still cannot.

i agree with kontrollerx. doctors will prescribe adderal or concerta in your best interest, they won't do it if you were successful... but you lost your keys one day. they'll most likely prescribe meds for you when ADD is stopping you from success.

 

[Last Man Standing]

99% of the shyt "they" tell you is a disease is NOT a disease - "Falsehood" seems to be the greatest of all diseases today!!!

 

[Phyzzle]

I think it largely is. The ADD diagnosis comes from the current economic structure of both parents working, or one parent missing. In addition to the "sit down and shutup" model of child education in our compulsory public schools.

Without a full-time caretaker, a child who would have been called "boisterous" in 1950 becomes an overwhelming burden. Frazzled parents or teachers demand a solution . . . and there aren't any multi-billion dollar corporations out there trying to market therapy.

Adderall is legalized meth. Maybe somewhat milder, but people who abuse it can get a little sketchy.

Some severe cases of ADHD may be real. There are some 5 year olders who keep breaking their bones because they go into rages where they can't feel pain, so they don't respond to punishment either.

But 10% of school age children are mentally ill? WTF?

 

[Bible_Belt]

I could have gotten an ADD diagnosis, but it involved paying attention to a long and involved process, showing up for all of these appointments. I lost interest right away.

 

[theunflushables]

^^^ :crackup:

Seriously though, its real. Very overdiagnosed but real. I wasnt diagnosed until I was 21. It was causing serious probelms for me in college. I can not pay attention for the life of me. My thoughts are so scattered and random I can barely put things together unles I try my hardest to pay attention. I blame the TV. I can't wait until I get insurance so I can get on Adderal again. I miss the laser like focus!

 

[Create Reality]

Yes, the "sit down and shut up" model of learning will disintegrate a kid who doesn't give a **** about what the teachers are teaching. Then they will say it's ADD. I WAS "ADD" but only for my english homework I got A's in math.

 

[The Sperminator]

People used to think I had it but it was just because I was bored as hell in school. I could focus if I wanted to but just choose not to. But I know some people who you can't even have a long conversation because they can't focus so I think it is real. I think many doctors misdiagnose many people and say they have it when they really don't. But now and days everything is a disease. Even being a nerd is considered a disease it's called Aspergers.

 

[Michele l'Arcangelo]

i think my 3rd grade teacher ****ed up my life.

she thought i needed one of these pills. she told my mom to take me to the doc because she thought i had ADD.

the pills made me like a zombie, and my school grades didn't go up, but they made me worse. they made me super lazy, and not motivated to hangout with anyone.

why did she think i needed the pills?

because i acted like any other 3rd grader who was hyper.

i think it made me permenantly lazy through out school... i think i would have been one of the more active people at school... but i just was never motivated again.

it's either that i "matured" WAY before everyone else (thinking that everything that people did was stupid, and that they did it for selfish reasons), or the pill just ruined my personality.

 

[Last Man Standing]

I feel sorry for you young ones!!! Not only are you being brainwashed on a daily basis, but are also being made into "zombies" as well - say "No" to pharmaceutical DRUGS!!!! You are being made into docile bytches!!

 

[Mr. Highroller]

^^^ :crackup:

I blame the TV.

For me I blame the internet, especially high speed internet.

 

[theunflushables]

LMS do you even know what the fvck you're talking about?

Michele, it sounds like you were misdiagnosed. Which is a huge problem with children especially boys.

 

[penkitten]

Michele, it sounds like you were misdiagnosed. Which is a huge problem with children especially boys.

i believe that lots of people especially boys are misdiagnosed.
although it is all very real for some people, for lots of others who are just experiencing common things, they are misdiagnosed.
i'm sure it must be hard to diagnose someone because either the kid is young and they cant tell or he is bad and they just say he meets some of the criteria and class him as that OR the person is of enough age to want attention and fake a little of it.
then you got the school system. if your kid doesn't sit down and remain quiet - they think he has it. if your kid gets bored easy= they think he has it. if your kid is hyper in the least (which is actually healthy) they think he has it. if your kid gives the school any problems they think he has it.
then the school systems demand you go get your kid tested and guilt you about being a good parent.
why? because they have convinced themselves that your kid has it, they want your kid on meds and they get a kickback from the school system (extra funding) for any kids that have this or any other disability.

 

[penkitten]

i think my 3rd grade teacher ****ed up my life.

she thought i needed one of these pills. she told my mom to take me to the doc because she thought i had ADD.

the pills made me like a zombie, and my school grades didn't go up, but they made me worse. they made me super lazy, and not motivated to hangout with anyone.

why did she think i needed the pills?

because i acted like any other 3rd grader who was hyper.

i think it made me permenantly lazy through out school... i think i would have been one of the more active people at school... but i just was never motivated again.

it's either that i "matured" WAY before everyone else (thinking that everything that people did was stupid, and that they did it for selfish reasons), or the pill just ruined my personality.

kids die from those meds!
other kids get used to the zombie state when on them and when they grow up they dont take them anymore but they start using illegal drugs to "self medicate" themselves.
please visit these sites and become an advocate and speak out against it:
http://ritalindeath.com/Questions-to-ask-yourself.htm
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/methylphenidate/ritalin.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041220013546.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030306075745.htm

people have to start sticking up for the children who have no choice but to choke down one of these pills and sit down and shut up because the parents, school or dr either misdiagnosed them, didnt want to deal with them OR just thought the problems would cure themselves with meds alone and no other help.
their hearts can not handle these meds and they die horrible deaths.

 

[Mental]

I was diagnosed with minor ADD and OCD when I was an adolescent. While the latter is a true, real disease....I am not so sure about the first one.

Yea, If I don't write things down at work, I will forget. I misplace my carkeys alot. I have a hard time concentrating or reading something that is boring. I daydream alot. I have a hard time paying attention to somone or reading a book with alot of distractions (e.g. loud talking, construction)

HOWEVER, DOESN"T THIS HAPPEN TO ALOT OF PEOPLE?

I don't belie-- oh look! a dog!

 

[speakeasy]

I don't know if I have ADD, but I do have a VERY hard time concentrating or reading something unless it is something I'm quite interested in, and even then, it's easy for me to put the book down and get distracted. I have a lot of daydreaming, sometimes right in the middle of conversations then realize the person has been talking and I'm not even listening, particularly when I'm not all the interested in the subject of conversation or the person and I'm just going "uh huh, yeah, right, uh huh. hmmm...I see, yeah..."

Don't know if that's a "disease", probably just the way some are wired and they need more mental stimulation.

 

[GQ_Confidence_1]

I'm very, VERY skeptical of all these "diseases" now days. Honestly, I think millions of people are getting ripped off by the drug industry and their fear mongering advertising.

If you're a pharmacuetical company, boy, it sure is handy to have all these "diseases" around. And you just happen to have a "cure" (at a profit of course).

Did anyone have these "diseases" 100 years ago? ADD in the 19th century? How did people make it before ritalin and all these pills? How did people concentrate before Pfizer or Merck came to the rescue?

Hmmm....there's alot of guys out there that have trouble talking to girls..

(Hmmmm...thinking to myself)

Actually it's a new disease...MFS..mind freeze up syndrome. The chemicals in your brain don't work right in the presence of women. Up until now, there's been no cure..

But now...introducing....a revolutionary breakthrough for sufferers of MFS...

The whole thing is a crock.

I also don't believe the "Sugar makes kids hyper" arguement. You hear that all the time. It's crazy. Kids ate sugar 100 years ago, they weren't labeled hyper.

The whole thing is madness.

 

[Jvesti]

I personally think adhd is simply a personality type that is beneficial for certain roles in society.

Its as simply as an adhd individual requires more mental stimulation to feel on level.

There's a spectrum of low mental arousal to high arousal. Meaning that everyone sits on this spectrum. For some people it takes more umpfh to garner their attention. So they go out and seek beyond their piers. Whether that be from risky behaviors, business ventures, drugs, get locked into things. ADHD tend to have hyper focus when really interested in something whether it be a video game, making music, trying to accomplish a task where they are very interested. You see it can be good or bad.

Coincidently most entrepreneurs tend to be adhd. Its believed the likes of Edison, abraham lincoln, Ben Franklin,

studies have shown that those with adhd outperform non-adhd individuals in emergency situations as well

Here is a list of famous people who are suspected or confirmed to have adhd http://www.adhdrelief.com/famous.html

I attribute my adhd to my need to start entrepreneurial ventures and my success in martial arts

The bottom line is a lot of those qualities dont carry over into fitting in to typical societal roles and a lot of the cog in wheel type of stuff that traditional schooling is made to turn out.

 

[Jvesti]

here is an interesting theory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_vs._farmer_theory

Another noteable thing you'll notice is that adhd individuals tend to on average have higher IQ's than the general population