ADHD

BACKGROUND On May 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report titled Mental Health Surveillance Among Children – United States, 2005-2011. The CDC is based in Atlanta, Georgia and is a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC’s report runs to 40 pages, including tables and references. It received a fair amount of media coverage, and will likely inform legislation and other government action for several years. ...

The routine drugging of children for the ordinary problems of childhood is destructive for two reasons: firstly because of the toxic effects of the pharmaceutical products, and secondly because it conveys to the child the message that drugs are an acceptable way to deal with life’s problems. This latter kind of damage is graphically illustrated in a tragic NY Times article by Ted Gup. You can see it here. Ted is a fellow of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard. ...

It is a central theme of this website that there are no mental illnesses/disorders, and that the psychiatric medicalization of ordinary human problems is arbitrary, spurious, and destructive. The widespread acceptance of ADHD as a mental illness/chemical imbalance has no scientific underpinning, but rather is based on marketing and promotion. The ADHD “diagnosis” is particularly destructive, in that it targets children, and serves as the justification for “treating” these children with dangerous drugs. ...

Duncan Double is a British psychiatrist who has a website called Critical Psychiatry. On October 12 he published a post under the heading: “The majority of psychiatrists think adult ADHD is an example of the over-medicalisation of everyday life.” Here are some quotes: “When I trained, adult ADHD was never mentioned - it's a relatively new concept, gaining popularity in the 1990s. Many psychiatrists don't feel happy diagnosing a condition in adults that they were taught children generally grow out of.” ...

About a week ago an article appeared on the ‘net concerning an attempt by parents to ban ice cream vendors from a playground in Brooklyn, New York. The piece was reprinted in the New York Post. Apparently some of the parents are upset because the arrival of the vendors stimulates requests for ice cream from the children, which results in confrontation and bitterness. Responsible parents everywhere will recognize the dilemma. Ice cream has little or no nutritional value, but children like it. So do we stand our ground or do we give in? ...

Last week Reuters ran an article by Toni Clarke: “Insight: Shortage of ADHD Drug Adderall seen persisting.” Here are the first five paragraphs: “A shortage of Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, shows little sign of easing as manufacturers struggle to get enough active ingredient to make the drug and demand climbs. Adderall, a stimulant, is a controlled substance, meaning it is addictive and has the potential to be abused. The Drug Enforcement Administration tightly regulates how much of the drug's active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) can be distributed to manufacturers each year. ...

I am writing this post as a response to a comment posted by medical blog in my previous post, More on So-called Bipolar Disorder. In the summer of 2001 I became very ill. The symptoms were exhaustion and mild nosebleeds. I went to three different practitioners, but they all were dismissive of my concerns, assured me that I was in good health, and sent me on my way. On August 8th of that year I was admitted to the hospital in Greeley, Colorado with complete kidney failure. The nephrologist at the hospital gave me the diagnosis that had eluded the earlier doctors: Wegener’s Granulomatosis - a rare autoimmune disease that attacks lungs, kidneys, and airways. I have been on dialysis every since. ...

CONDUCT DISORDER The essential feature of Conduct Disorder, according to the APA, is a “repetitive and persistent pattern” of rule breaking or activity which violates other people’s basic rights. The manual identifies four broad categories of behavior under this heading: aggression; destruction of property; theft or deceitfulness; and serious violation of rules. DSM goes on to state that individuals with this disorder display little concern for the feelings or welfare of others, are frequently callous and indifferent to other people’s pain and loss, and show little in the way of feelings of guilt or remorse. Poor frustration tolerance, irritability, temper tantrums, and recklessness are cited as frequently associated features. ...

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is defined as “a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperimpulsivity that is more frequent and severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development.” There is a requirement that the problem existed before age seven and that some of the problems are present in at least two settings. There also must be clear evidence that the inappropriate activity interferes with the individual’s social, academic, or occupational functioning. With regards to the actual diagnostic procedure, the APA lists eighteen behavioral indicators, nine under the heading “inattention,” six under “hyperactivity,” and three under “impulsivity.” For the diagnosis to be considered positive, the child must exhibit at least six problems from either the inattention list or the hyperimpulsivity lists. ...