Do you believe ADD and ADHD are authentic diseases?

1. 60

   Dr. Wendyposted 13 years ago

   Do you believe ADD and ADHD are authentic diseases?

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2. 43

   malongeposted 13 years ago

   While I think there is some truth to attention problems, I have often wondered how much of it is caused by expecting children to act like adults in that they are expected to sit still, be quiet, concentrate, focus.  It often times goes against a child's natural feelings of wanting to move, and wiggle and talk and laugh.  It's a good question.  If I had to answer,  I would answer the question with a NO.

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3. 60

   Ummijjposted 13 years ago

   Yes, I believe they are legitimate disorders. I have worked as a Support person for a few children that suffered from the disorder.  Often times due to people's reluctance to believe the disorder is real, the children, as well as their parents truly suffer. Many parents are in denial and do not want the children on much needed medication, which in turn causes the child to suffer, especially in school.
   
   This disorder goes way beyond wanting children to sit still and not wiggle, and it is often accompanied by what is called ODD, oppositional defiance disorder. It was extremely sad and stressful to watch the children who also have learning disabilities and everything else that is associated with this disorder.

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4. 0

   hemustincreaseposted 13 years ago

   Yes i do believe they are authentic diseases. Everything that affects the body affects the mind and everything that affects the mind affects the body. There are very many ‘new’ diseases facing todays generation that 50 years ago were unheard of. But that in no way makes them fake in some way. I worked in haematology and the degree of immunological problems facing todays population is virtually 100% more than seen 100 years ago. Especially the autoimmune diseases. I think these labels (ADD and ADHD) are quite probably given to many many children who in truth have NO true disease whatsoever and who stand in need only of a great deal more loving (which would include better diet, proper daily intake of exercise and sleep and also proper nurturing and training in terms of self control and self discipline in studying and such like). BUT i also believe that there are some very genuine cases of behavioural problems which do have their origin in biochemical genetics. And of course many genetic disorders find external influence as having been at least a contributory factor if not a cause in their coming about. In this case, there are innumerable factors that could play a part. Not least the diet and environment of parents and grandparents etc along with many of the new so called ‘health benefits’ such as vaccinations etc. Disease which can be seen on a blood test is rarely disputed. (And actually many of these ought to be disputed more than they are!) But those families who suffer from diseases which nobody can actually see on a medical test chart, often tend to be written off as hypochondriacs or worse. The doctors who diagnose illness (whatever that may be) and the parents or the adult being diagnosed, have to take the full responsibility for either accepting or rejecting a diagnosis and being confident in that decision. It is always easy to tell somebody else what is wrong with them and what is not.

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5. 61

   nightwork4posted 13 years ago

   not in the way people think they are. i think they have both always been there but today people look for excuses for everything and if they can say i'm like this because of a disease it justifies their behavior. we are becoming a society where we look for excuses instead of try to take control of our problems.

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6. 64

   wingedcentaurposted 13 years ago

   No I do not. I am especially appalled at the abomination of so-called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I believe these terms emanated out of the public school system.
   
   You know, if "Johnny" isn't learning, well its because he has Attention Deficit Disorder; It's not MY fault or anything!
   
   Hyperactivity? Maybe the rest of us are just severely UNDERACTIVE. If we're talking about America, you know this is so. I hear we're the most overweight, out of shape, and most stressed out, pill-popping population on the planet.
   
   Hyperactivity? What we find, sometimes, is that some kids, some people in general, have to move to think! Not everyone can learn in the same way.
   
   A lot of these easy labelling terms have to do with a shameful period in the history of psychiatry when the scientific community gave up on trying to actually understand human behavior and resorted to computerized mathematical models and a number system to merely label and medicalize normal human suffering.
   
   There's a great documentary film, which covers some of this. Its called "The Trap" a BBC three-part, three-hour documentary, which you can watch online for free. Adam Curtis is the producer and narrator.

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7. 77

   zoey24posted 13 years ago

   I was told my eleven year old son had ADHD because he was naughty at home and wouldn't stop talking in school and they said he found it hard sitting still or concentrating for long. This was when my son was seven, he is now eleven and doing excelent at school, is above average in ICT and is generaly well behaved at home. When i was a child i too fidgeted a lot and got easily distracted and as a typical child i was no angel at home either, but when i was a child it did not get labeled like it does now. Yes i admit there are children that go beyond typical childhood naughtyness and i think it is good that they get the help they need at a young age instead of letting it esculate into adulthood. Having said that i think schools and doctors are often to quick to brand a child with ADHD when this is sometimes not the case at all.

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8. 84

   the50marathons17posted 13 years ago

   I strongly believe these are authentic diseases. If anyone has doubt on whether or not this is, I suggest you read my article I am about to post (been working on it all day).  It will quickly change your mind.

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9. 61

   TheSeniorposted 13 years ago

   I am still out on this.  I really used to think that these were the old type of a kid just acting out because of boredom or a hyper kid that needed a major dose of stimulating energy from education.  In the past the teachers would take this person and sit them down and talk with them and then the parents and try and find out what was going on.
   
   Nowaday it seems that education/teachers do not have the time to deal with these people which is sad.  In years past these type of kids almost always turned out fine, but nowadays it's give the kid a pill to turn them off and slow the learning process for them.
   
   I think that part of the problem is also the food that they eat or for that matter don't eat - all this junk food that is high in carbs, fat, and salt.  My folks would never have sent me to school without a deceant breakfast and us kids also had a good hot lunch that wasn't starch based.
   
   I do know that proper nutrition can do a lot but todays society if all about pills so that teachers can teach or so they say.

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    Tatjana-Mihaelaposted 13 years ago

    No, I don`t believe they are, at least not on the way these diseases are promoted and treated (with medications, while not searching for the real cause). 
    Of course I do believe that there are many people already born with "weak" or damaged nerves (due to the medications mothers use during the pregnancy, wrong diet, a lot of stress etc).
    Ability to be calm and properly focused has nothing to do with any disorder - in human nature is to get focused only on the objects of the high interest - some people are able to move focus constantly because so many things are new and interesting- in the age when we are exposed to too many information, various media contents they automatically change in the front of us (TV, Internet... movies, news, games... exposure to constant marketing offers),  various types of communication, noise and speed of modern life - isn`t it natural that young people develop lack of proper focus because they get exposed to this over-dynamic and chaotic way of life from the earliest age?
    Brain overactivity often leads to physical overactivity, but brain overactivity is caused by constant change of various interesting (colourful and noisy) content which also, very often teaches people how to - misbehave,  be hisyterical, do not listen authorities, that there is no need for patience, that everything can be achieved instantly and immediately etc.etc.
    
    Mentioned epidemy of those disorders is direct product of "development" of human society.

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    fallenpixie09posted 13 years ago

    Yes i do believe that these are real diseases. For years, I struggled in school trying to focus on and understand what the teacher was going over. I would get so frustrated because i love to read and i would have to re read a page at least 10 times just to remember and know what i was reading about. I was diagnosed with ADHD when i was 15 and the doctor put me on medicine for it. My focus was better and my grades improved alot!

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    duffsmomposted 13 years ago

    I believe it is a legitimate condition, but that it is too often placed on a child that may not actually be ADD or ADHA.  I have a granddaughter who behavior started to get out of control. She has a loving, stable home but was angry, and hyper at age 4.
    
    Her mother researched food additives and took her off anything with Sodium Benzoate and Red40.  She became a different child in a matter of days--she became delightful. That was 2 years ago and it has been an amazing transformation. 
    
    I think parents who receive this diagnosis would do well to overhaul their child's diet.  Certainly couldn't hurt.

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    mkvealshposted 13 years ago

    I worked for a few years as a teacher's assistant in a school for children with handicaps and learning disabilities, and I do believe that there are legitimate cases of ADD.  I also believe there are a lot of children who are mislabeled. 
    We had one little girl in our class who was medicated for ADHD, and she didn't talk--just babbled.  The psychiatrist had said she would probably never talk, and wouldn't be able to function without drugs.  The teacher of our class believed this to be a wrong diagnosis, and felt sorry for her because she was so droopy from the meds.  She talked the parents into taking her off the drugs during school hours, and changing her diet.  Within a few weeks we had her not only speaking beautifully, but learning academically, which she couldn't do on the drugs.
    For so many kids, drugs are the easy answer, but not the right answer.  Even for a child who is diagnosed correctly, if the parents would take the time and effort to change the lifestyle, those drug companies would be making way less money!!

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14. 77

    thebluestarposted 13 years ago

    ADHD is a very real and genuine disorder for the people who live with it everyday. It is a chemical unbalance in the front lobal area of the brain and has also been proven to be heredity.
    
    It is not purely a behaviour disorder such as "naughty boy/girl syndrome" who when chastised know they are doing wrong. Nor is it as simple as hyperactivity, which lets face it, we can all suffer from. ADHD is a distressful condition that affects everyone's lives who comes into contact with the sufferer.
    
    My son has ADHD and is charming, lovable and very bright. He took all his exams and went on to qualify as Northern Irelands youngest tree surgeon.  He is happy in his relationship of 5 years and has just become a daddy.
    
    His school years where a nightmare, but once the teachers, who I must commend, realised that my son just learnt in a different way to others, helped make his transitions in school so much easier.

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    Patty Inglish, MSposted 12 years ago

    Meet the Middle Aged Madman of TV! Come along and see what the awesome Patrick McKenna of "The Red Green Show" and other shows has to say about his experiences with ADD.  I love him - you'll love him. read more

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