There's not a doubt in my mind that the US is over diagnosing. This is yet another reason that I am glad I grew up when I did. I was extremely hyper as a child, and I'm willing to bet that I would have been diagnosed with ADHD today.

 

I was socially awkward, and tended to focus heavily on certain subjects. I think I would have been labeled as having Asperger's syndrome if I had been born 20 years later.

I really don't care if I get raked for this comment or not, and I surely agree that some of the kids today need meds, but we live in an era of absentee parenting. Over diagnosis, over treatment, chemical babysitters. I see it every day.

I really don't care if I get raked for this comment or not, and I surely agree that some of the kids today need meds, but we live in an era of absentee parenting. Over diagnosis, over treatment, chemical babysitters. I see it every day.

 

 

I agree 100%

Connection?

 

Learn more: Every mass shooting over last 20 years has one thing in common... and it's not guns

 

Yes, but you can look at each of these from different prospectives.

 

We're the kid troubled before being medicated or just the product of bad parenting?

 

Did they take their medications as prescribed?

 

Did they take illegal drugs with these drugs?

 

We're they improperly medicated by their physicians?

 

Were they given counseling in addition to medication?

 

When things go this bad, there is more than one factor that causes it.

Yes, but you can look at each of these from different prospectives.

 

We're the kid troubled before being medicated or just the product of bad parenting?

 

Did they take their medications as prescribed?

 

Did they take illegal drugs with these drugs?

 

We're they improperly medicated by their physicians?

 

Were they given counseling in addition to medication?

 

When things go this bad, there is more than one factor that causes it.

In a vacuum it would be nice to know if you changed those kids environments if things would have been different. I know I always lean towards simplicity, but I can't help but think it would have changed their circumstances drastically.

Yes, but you can look at each of these from different prospectives.

 

We're the kid troubled before being medicated or just the product of bad parenting?

 

Did they take their medications as prescribed?

 

Did they take illegal drugs with these drugs?

 

We're they improperly medicated by their physicians?

 

Were they given counseling in addition to medication?

 

When things go this bad, there is more than one factor that causes it.

Good questions, of which we don't have an answer. There is a connection between each, Psychotropic Drugs being prescribed to these kids. I wonder how many if any would have occured if no drugs were prescribed? We will never know.

I really don't care if I get raked for this comment or not, and I surely agree that some of the kids today need meds, but we live in an era of absentee parenting. Over diagnosis, over treatment, chemical babysitters. I see it every day.

This is so true!

I've never been a fan of the drugs that alter the levels of dopamine or serotonin and the like. Especially in a teen. I know most trials are just that, trial and error, but the science behind the Rx is poor.

In a vacuum it would be nice to know if you changed those kids environments if things would have been different. I know I always lean towards simplicity, but I can't help but think it would have changed their circumstances drastically.

There is a lot of debate as to whether these disorders are a result of dysfunctional families or a contributing cause of them.

When I was in school ADHD especially the HD part was dealt with by using a long flat piece of wood with a handle applied to the students backside. Hyperactivity seemed to subside after one of those treatments, very few relapses either.

 

I agree. Some or even Most of these ADHD kids would calm down with a good ole butt whipping.

Timeouts and meds have increased exponentially.

This is my unscientific theory on ADHD, specifically:

 

A lot of kids would benefit from stronger discipline and more physical activity. While I believe ADHD is a legitimate disorder, I feel like it's become the diagnosis for a lot of kids who haven't had structure in their lives and the lack of structure coupled with an imbalance of physical activity cause these kids to be haywire. Parents have to provide both from the earliest age, IMO.

^Perfect.

ADHD is the remnants of the hunter-gene in our farmer society.

 

We live in a 'farmer's world'. Planned, step-by-step, predictable cycles....boring....

 

'ADHD traits' that a problem in the farmer world are actually positives if you are in a hunter's world. The problem is teachers hate hunters. They are always looking around (scanning for threats or food), fidgety (since they need to move a lot to chase prey), easily distracted (seeking out the easiest prey to hunt), and get hyper-focused and shut out other inputs at times (narrowing in on the kill).

 

If ADHD were a 'defective' gene it would not be dominate. It would be washed out of the pool if were a defect.

 

The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child: Thom Hartmann, Lucy Jo Palladino: 9781594770494: Amazon.com: Books

 

Hunter vs. farmer hypothesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In France psychiatrists do recognize ADHD but only .5% of students are diagnosed. They approach it by family counseling and intervention first which does evidently work. However, this is very costly and would our government take on this expense. Instead of schools both private and public receiving $$ for teachers and aides the $$ would go to social worker agencies. Maybe an easy solution, but probably hard to implement. It would be interesting to weigh the cost differences. There is no doubt environmental factors play into the decisions to identify.