<p>anytime there is a realization that your body needs help to function, you have a transition before acceptance.
Whether it is something short lived like a broken arm, or whether you have a managable disease like diabetes or asthma or a progressive disease like ALS.
But IMO acceptance is necessary before you can move on & get on with your life. Yes with ADHD as with other things, there are things you can do to make it better, without medication. Hiring a coach to help you impose some external structure can be a help as can getting regular exercise especially aerobic.
BUt medication is available, and effective. You might as well be the optimum best person you can be- by using medication for ADHD, you may find you can get much more out of those external structures like a coach and exercise :)</p>
<p>I'd say the problem is less with over-diagnosing, and more with over-medicating.</p>
<p>But I'll leave it at that, rather than feed the troll.</p>
<p>Some kids diagnosed with AD(HD) have valid, psychological disorders. But many of them are wrongly diagnosed and medicated as a kind of excuse for their poor performance. School psychologists are the worst about this. So yes and no.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Even if it was just laziness, if there's a cure for it or atleast a psychological impact (Placebo) then why not medicate?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Because there is no cure for ADD. The medication is for TREATMENT meaning you spend your whole life taking pills and the problem never gets fixed. And haven't you listened to drug commercials before? For example: Here are the side effects for Ritalin.</p>
<p>Reduced appetite
Rebound
Headache
Jittery feeling
Gastrointestinal upset
Sleep difficulty
Irritability
Depression
Anxiety
Blood glucose changes
Increased blood pressure
Tics and stereotyped (repetitive) movements
Psychosis or paranoia
Seizures
Sudden Death</p>
<p>To me, that doesn't justify any reason for taking Ritalin or other drugs. Some of the side effects are worse than having ADD.</p>
<p>I think I'd take ADD over having headaches, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, depression, anxiety, and seizures....sudden death doesn't sound too fun either.</p>
<p>I guess you don't realize that those don't always happen. You get an undesired side effect, switch drugs. I know that my mother said adderal messed with me in strange ways(I took it when i was like, 11), so i didn't take that for that long. The add pills i am on right now deffinately help, but sometimes it leaves me feeling tired.(I think its the pills doing that)</p>
<p>Aodh, if u don't mind, what do u take now? My son is on Adderall. I don't know if these are side effects of his medication or stress due to college, but he has had alot of problems with anxiety and feelings of frustrations since being in college (also when he started med)</p>
<p>Adderall:</p>
<pre><code>* nervousness
* restlessness
* difficulty falling or staying asleep
* mood swings
* agitation
* dizziness
* tiredness
* weakness
* shaking hands that you cannot control
* headache
* changes in sex drive or ability
* dry mouth
* stomach pain
* upset stomach
* vomiting
* diarrhea
* constipation
* loss of appetite
* weight loss
* bad taste in mouth
* fast or pounding heartbeat
* motor tics or verbal tics
* sore throat, fever, chills, or other signs of infection
* psychosis (loss of contact with reality)
* hives
</code></pre>
<p>Also, keep in mind that as you take drugs, your body gets accustomed to them until they have no effect on you anymore.</p>
<p>I am on wellbutrin right now, here is a good page i just found where different people say different things (works for some, not for others, some it is only good in combinations with others):
<a href="http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_well_does_Wellbutrin_treat_ADD%5B/url%5D">http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/How_well_does_Wellbutrin_treat_ADD</a></p>
<p>I agree w/ citation x... So many people are blaming their minor lack of attention to ADD. Everyone gets bored from time to time listening to lectures in class or something, but so many people label it as ADD when they haven't truly been diagnosed with it. It's used so often, most of the time jokingly. How many times have you heard someone say, "That kid is soooo ADD" or "My teacher is so boring; I think I have ADD" ??</p>
<p>whats wrong with that? clearly there are some people who have the ability to learn and absorb an overwhelming majority of the time while others do not fare so well from time to time. if we can scientificaly find some physiological difference between these people and potentially even treat it to put them on level ground...how is that bad?</p>
<p>How many times have you heard someone say, "That kid is soooo ADD" or "My teacher is so boring; I think I have ADD" ??</p>
<p>Never actually
There is quite a stigma still towards any type of brain difference
Whether it is early onset Alzheimers,dyslexia, depression,OCD or ADHD.
When new medications are brought on the market with the hope that people who previously havent been getting help, f*or whatever reason, either because the side affects from current medications are too severe, or they just don't work,* there are also new articles stating that this medication will be over used by people who cant just accept their limitations and work as hard as the rest of us.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, while ADHD has been studied extensively, some of the most effective medication is too expensive for ins companies to cover, as well as the worry of taking any medication at all, even if it helps a little.</p>
<p>I had been treated for depression previously, and the medication for that, was so strong that I couldn't get to a theraputic dose because of side effects.
I now believe, that it was primarily my ADD, and inability to manage that ( as well as not being diagnosed correctly) that was the primary problem and was contributing to the depression. ( only recently have those without the hyperactive aspect have also been considered to have ADHD- and some Drs also are still unaware that it isnt something that is "grown out of"</p>
<p>We have much research- indicating that not only have we found genetic markers for ADHD, but we have research that illustrates that those with ADHD have brains that operate differently than neurotypical brains, and we can identify where those differences are- doing similar tasks.</p>
<p>Since it benefits a society to have as large of a percentage of its population functioning at as high a level as they can, I dont understand the resistance by some to deny that a difference like ADHD exists, particulary when it has been known to exist by hundreds of thousands of individuals and medical doctors all over the world for years.</p>
<p>its damn near impossible for people that dont have ADHD/ADD to empathize with it isnt it.</p>
<p>qozon is absolutely right. If you don't have a child with ADHD or you don't have it yourself, you have no place commenting on it.</p>
<p>I'm an ADHD kid at Yale without any meds. I've lived my life without them, and while I lose everything, have trouble being organized, sitting down, standing still, etc. I have an energy that nobody around me does. I am fully aware of the complications, but at the same time, I rather be this hyperactive, somewhat childish big kid than dull. </p>
<p>But that's just me. I can still function without meds. For those that need them, eh.</p>
<p>ADHD is not a real problem. Its called laziness. It is not easy for anyone to focus at school. No one enjoys studying and its hard for everyone. Suck it up and stop copping out and getting your stupid little pills. Pills do nothing except get rid of the problem when you are taking them they dont make you change.</p>
<p>yes, there are a lot of people "diagnosed" with adhd that do not have it, but that is no excuse to dismiss it as lazieness for those of us that are actually affected by it. it's over diagnosed because they hand out amphetamines to any parent who says their little kid runs around in circles all day driving them nuts. those people aside, adhd is very real. unfortunately, they do not require a complete evaluation to be given to kids before they are diagnosed, because they are too expensive. i endured 8 hours of testing, which concluded that i had very obvious adhd. (inattentive type) i was called lazy by my teacher and parents throughout school, even though i always had good grades. i didn't understand why people thought i wasn't trying hard, because i was really doing the VERY best that i could.</p>
<p>If an alternative is viable, then why force students to go through class lectures?</p>
<p>There are differences in personality and learning style between students. This follows from basic predictions from evolutionary psychology/behavioral genetics. It logically follows that students will find some environments more stimulating than other environments.</p>
<p>The problem is that the educational system assumes a one-size-fits-all curriculum for all students. This completely disregards the variation in personality types between students.</p>
<p>Those with ADD may be seen as lazy in a traditional environment. The problem is that we have not even seen how well they would do in an alternative environment. It consists of the lack of imagination among those in the educational industry.</p>
<p>Has any student been exposed to video lectures instead of in-class lectures? One may bring in the cliched argument that students learn better than someone is physically present - but that argument again betrays a lack of imagination - since these same people have not envisioned an alternative way of learning to compare it with. Of course the current learning paradigm will be the best paradigm if there is no alternative. If you compare two inefficient programs with each other, one will be better than another, even if they are both inefficient. Moreover, video lectures can be massly distributed with little cost, and can come from the best teachers in the nation. When a student's mind wanders, he falls behind in a traditional classroom. In a video lecture, he can pause it.</p>
<p>Not to mention that some people don't even need lectures to learn the course material. The educational institution is structured in such a way such that people become psychologically dependent on schools in order to learn the material. School sucks? Blame the school, not yourself. Why don't they have the imagination to just self-study the material instead? Lectures may be informal, but so are many instructive books that are highly regarded. Moreover, most of one's learning is done independently of the institution. Yet, people believe that they need to take a course to learn the material. As if there wasn't an alternative, such as <em>gasp</em> checking out a library book on the subject!</p>
<p>The problem is, that within the traditional learning environment, that those with some personality types cannot focus at all unless they get medication. Research clearly demonstrates that willpower spent on one task will diminish the amount of willpower available for another task. It's known as "ego depletion," or "thought suppression produces a rebound effect". Link: <a href="http://www.psy.fsu.edu/%7Ebaumeistertice/egodepletion.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/egodepletion.html</a>. It's not their fault that they were biologically this way.</p>
<p>I'm going to be among the first to try this. I'm going to skip all the rest of my lecture courses, and make an arrangement to self-study the rest of my college-level material with professors (using resources like MIT OCW and Stanford EPGY). I have no other alternative than to fail courses. And I'm no idiot. I self-studied 4 APs in 10th grade, with 3 5's and 1 4, and I got 790 Chem and 800 Math IICs in the same year. Some with ADD have problems with tests, some don't. Tests, at least, are a form of active learning. And at least the Collegeboard is willing to provide accommodations.</p>
<p>I accidentally posted this in the Adderall thread.</p>
<p>Incidentally, VTBoy seems to primarily post in the Business Major forum. While most business majors are relatively innocuous, it does appear that a relatively large number of intolerant people (who believe that everyone is capable of an equal amount of success in society, and that those who do not achieve "success" are lazy, rather than procuring a disadvantaged position on the lottery of birth) do come to business.</p>
<p>It is possible that ADD/ADHD is over diagnosed, but why would people be angry about it? Simulants like Ritalin and Addreral are often used to treat ADHD. Do you know what happens when you give someone a stimulant that does not have the disorder? They become MORE hyperactive. It only works if you actually HAVE ADD.
I have lived w/ADHD my entire life. I have ten times the energy of the average person & I've NEVER been called lazy. I'm a hard worker, but not always an effective one.
I am very curious. Why would anyone who does not have ADHD or is not struggling to help someone who has it be interested in this thread? Do you really have so much time on your hands that you just randomly search CC for topics? What is it about ADHD or people taking medication for it that is so threatening to some people?</p>