Do you 'believe' in ADD and ADHD

[xnmd1]

This is my first debate thread, hope it's okay.

I know a lot of people who do think ADD and ADHD are real, and a lot of people who don't, so just wondering what you lot thought about it.

It seems like every male I know has or had ADD or ADHD.

Personally, I do think it is a real disorder but (atleast in my area) , ridiculously over diagnosed.

It seems like where I live, any boy who misbehaves as a child is put on ADD medication. I think there are some people who truly need it, but I think a large percentage of children who are on the medication, don't need to be.

Whats your thoughts?

 

[Mrs Mayhem]

This is something that I have often given thought to, especially coming across so many people diagnosed.
My husband was diagnosed as a child of having ADHD, however, I fully believe that he didn't it was just that his piece of shit mum treated him badly and he learnt to react in order to gain attention etc. Now, as an adult he looks back and would agree with this on the whole.

I think a lot of it comes down to behavioural factors and discipline. A number of people I have come across who have received this diagnosis have had similar backgrounds in that their parents mistreated them/ignored them/had a number of children where they had to fight for attention by escalating behaviour.

However, on the other hand, there are also so many children diagnosed who come from good backgrounds with decent parents, good relationships, reasonable discipline etc....

Years back there was no name for this, it was mainly seen as being 'naughty kids'.

I guess i have waffled on but not really come to a point
My point is, I don't know. I do agree in that I think it is a widely overused term and it worries me that many children are placed on medication for this when it's not necessarily needed.

 

[moomin_troll]

my husband had adhd but he wasnt medicated, he controled his adhd himself and wasnt bad with it at all. the only time he showed he had it was the fact he couldnt sit down and just have a do nothing day, he always had to be up and moving. so i bought him a rubix cube to keep him entertained lol

i do think it is just thrown at people who are just badly behaved tho and dont always have adhd

 

[blahblahblah]

I agree with OP. I believe they are real conditions, but that they are ridiculously over-diagnosed. There seems to be a big trend for children having labels at the moment.

 

[Nic1107]

Definitely over-diagnosed, but definitely real as well. People don't always understand that ADD/ADHD has to do with so much more than just being hyper or having a short attention span. It is related to autism spectrum disorders and often comes with a lot of the same issues; my brother has ADD and experience a lot of the same things I experience with Asperger's syndrome. We just have entirely different/opposite ways of dealing with overstimulation and interpersonal relationships. When he is overstimulated or frustrated he gets loud and upset; but the big difference between the two of us is that he's also very easily understimulated. I could happily sit in a quiet room with blank walls and just read or let my mind wander, but it would drive him crazy. He needs the light on, the TV, or loud music to occupy part of his mind so he can have the rest of it left to focus on tasks, otherwise the whole thing will pack up and run away on him. However, the 'wrong' noise will bother him a lot, and he is very sensitive to touch and taste, to the point where his diet is extremely limited because new tastes or odd textures actually makes him feel like he can't breathe. I wish ADD wasn't so overdiagnosed and taken so lightly, because with that comes serious myths and misinformation and people like my brother (he's 18 btw) have trouble finding someone to take them seriously and get the help they need.

 

[Eve]

Under diagnosed, and very very very real.
I made the "over diagnosed" argument when they diagnosed my son after being in the treatment center for a hours, doing numerous tests and the specialist explained it is very common now in children, due to many many things but that sadly it's under diagnosed....

 

[Nic1107]

Perhaps a mix of both, under and over-diagnosed? As in, diagnosed in the wrong people or for the wrong reasons, due to a lack of understanding of the syndrome or disparity in different families' access to a diagnosis, due to economic or other factors?

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

hmm not sure to be honest. My son has ASD and obv the diagnostic process is V. Different to ADHD. Even so, some people have said I done it just for the DLA. (Rolls eyes) to be honest, I could not have lied even if I wanted to. He was seen by 10 different professionals over 3 years, he used to have appointments on his own for 3 hours while they watched him play etc. I was not even involved much at all. We all had to submit forms and things and so did the preschool and school. You cant really lie. I had no input in the schools report.

As for ADHD. He has been tried for that too, we had to fill in a form, as did the school. Someone came to see him in school over a course of 6 weeks. He had to go to the centre and see a few more people (I was not always present). He did get diagnosed with ADHD too.

As for medication, he does not currently use any. Sometimes Melatonin for nights but nothing for his behaviour in the day.

I would hate to judge anyone's child on it because the diagnosis process is draining and stressful.

 

[annawrigley]

Definitely real, but often misdiagnosed, eg. FOB's cousin's son (6 years old) is a very naughty kid. I hate using that word, but he is. Its not his fault, its his mum's fault IMO but he is still naughty... He has a flat head at the back because as a baby his mum would just sit him in his carseat watching TV for hours on end. He gets in from school, and sits watching TV or playing on his DS until he goes to bed and watches TV in bed or plays on his DS in bed. His mum never interacts with him or his brother, chats to them, asks how their day was none of that. She also doesnt discipline them at all. If they do something "naughty" (by this I mean saying he hates Noah and wants to stab a knife through his head, or smearing the oil from my door hinge all over my cream wall) she doesnt do anything. I discipline him more than she does and I barely see him! Someone else always has to tell him off, and then she will weakly repeat it. To me its obvious hes crying out for attention and so playing up, but she apparently had him assessed after he got suspended from school for kicking a teacher, and they said he had Autism, ADHD and tics Which he is supposedly getting put on medication for. I say 'apparently' and 'supposedly' cos I'm not sure if this is actually true, but if it is I think its shocking. He doesnt have any of the above! The 'tics' thing I guess his because of his foul mouth but whenever he swears he looks to the adult with a smug look like "What you gonna do about it?" Autism and ADHD my brother has/had and I know its very different to how this kid behaves, and that they cant help it. Everything this child does is a cry for attention IMO (like the thing with Noah, yeah it was a horrible thing to say and kinda disturbing coming from a 6yo but as soon as Noah was born he became like the golden child, when this child had previously been the 'baby', so of course he must have felt pushed out)

 

[moomin_troll]

my brother is autistic and for someone to be told they have that and dont really gets on my nerves. its my sils job to interview children and see if they are autistic ect, god knows how she got that job she cant even tell that i hate her! lol

they give people too many titles and not enough actual experience with children with such problems, thats why its so easy for children to be labled when they are just shy or naughty

 

[katrina1987]

I believe some children have this, but I also think a small minority of parents choose for there child to have this label to cover up there behaviour or to get careres allowance. I have seen this done by people. I also think it's unfair for peole that really have children with ADD or ADHD because when they tell people I can imagine they don't believe them and judge them when something is really wrong

 

[Every Rose]

Perhaps a mix of both, under and over-diagnosed? As in, diagnosed in the wrong people or for the wrong reasons, due to a lack of understanding of the syndrome or disparity in different families' access to a diagnosis, due to economic or other factors?

I agree with this

 

[indy and lara]

Yes it exists. I think it is hugey insulting for parents who are struggling to deal with children with ADD/ADHD to constantly see people in the media stating that the only problem is poor parenting. I have a lot of experience of ADHD both in my professional and personal life. I raise my hat to the legions of parents who are dealing with this on a daily basis.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

i used to think it was a cop out to be honest, a way for every parent with a naughty child to have an excuse and i do still think that this can be the case,although now i believe it is real, but over used by people who have no idea what they are on about..

edit: i will add that the former opinion was from when i was a child myself... just to clear it up x

 

[angelandbump]

My little cousin Zoe has been diagnosed with ADHD. Since she was 2 years old there was something not right... she was to be honest a little pain in the bum. She would spit, shout, have awful tantrums, and wonder off in her own little world to the point you would have to stand infront of her and raise your voice to get her attention.

Her parents are both doctors and they tried everything including going to parent classes as they didn't want her labled with 'ADHD' but once the school got involved and got a specialist in, they confirmed it was and as it was getting worse she is on a mini sedative to help work with her.

Now in my area of the north east, nearly all kids are told they have it. To be honest i think it is in 95% of cases are fake so parents can claim DLA and also so they don't have to accept responsibility for a naughty child.
I have even heard of parents reserching the symptoms and signs of ADHD just so they knew what to say to the doctor!...

To the parents like my aunty and uncle who deal with a genuine case of ADHD in a child on a day to day basis... i take my hat off to you as i have seen first hand how hard they are to cope with!

 

[PepsiChic]

i agree witht he OP, its a real problem, but way over-diagnosed. infact, my babys doctor is a childrens doctor only.

he has an ipad type thing to do all his work on he carries from room to room, on the front page of it it shows statistics for how many of what cases he treated that day and that week and that month and so far that year.

vaccines are second on the list, cold/flu is the 3rd...1st is ADHD/ADD. in one day he saw 54 patients with suspected ADHD/ADD. i couldnt believe it.

I asked him if he though it was over diagnosed and he agreed. he said that mothers are typically the ones who push for a diagnosis, and even if he disagrees with them then he said they take them to every other doctor till one of them finally gives in adn agrees. he also agreed with me that half the time its either a phase the child is going through or that the parents just dont know how or dont want to know how to control their child so they look for an easier option.

i think hes right and its terribly sad because like my husband said that day "it makes those who genuinly have the problem less likely to get the attention and care they actually need.

 

[xnmd1]

it was honestly to the point, when I was in highschool, that so many of the kids their "had" ADD that there were kids all over the place selling their medication .. and there was a big problem with it because everyone was taking the damn stuff.

I really wish it would be taken more seriously and ADD medication wouldn't be handed out to practically anyone who asks for it. Because then - the kids who need the medication would be taking it ... not the entire school. iykwim.

 

[annawrigley]

it was honestly to the point, when I was in highschool, that so many of the kids their "had" ADD that there were kids all over the place selling their medication .. and there was a big problem with it because everyone was taking the damn stuff.

I really wish it would be taken more seriously and ADD medication wouldn't be handed out to practically anyone who asks for it. Because then - the kids who need the medication would be taking it ... not the entire school. iykwim.

Yeah my friend was like this. He reckons he has every illness under the sun. Seriously everything, cancer, syphilis, a tumour, TB, schizophrenia, psychosis and many more... and he's deadly serious when he says he thinks he's got them. Anyway he got medication for ADHD (god knows how, his doctor must have been sick to the back teeth of him by this point ) in like Year 10 (age 14-15) and was debating whether to sell it, crush it up and sell it as coke, or to take it all in one go to get 'high'

 

[xnmd1]

it was honestly to the point, when I was in highschool, that so many of the kids their "had" ADD that there were kids all over the place selling their medication .. and there was a big problem with it because everyone was taking the damn stuff.

I really wish it would be taken more seriously and ADD medication wouldn't be handed out to practically anyone who asks for it. Because then - the kids who need the medication would be taking it ... not the entire school. iykwim.

Yeah my friend was like this. He reckons he has every illness under the sun. Seriously everything, cancer, syphilis, a tumour, TB, schizophrenia, psychosis and many more... and he's deadly serious when he says he thinks he's got them. Anyway he got medication for ADHD (god knows how, his doctor must have been sick to the back teeth of him by this point ) in like Year 10 (age 14-15) and was debating whether to sell it, crush it up and sell it as coke, or to take it all in one go to get 'high'

people around here crush it up and sniff it

my OH used to do it in highschool .. piss me the fuck off.
the people "parachute" it all well (crush it upm wrap it in a tissue, and swallow it
)

 

[annawrigley]

Oh the cool kids round here call that "bomb"ing