6 ms·

This is welcome news. I recently got diagnosed and after taking the medication, I've found a great increase in the quality of life. There are a few who are ver

by tomlin 15y ago

This is welcome news. I recently got diagnosed and after taking the medication, I've found a great increase in the quality of life. There are a few who are very anti-drug when it comes to this condition and their children. Let me tell you from personal experience, these people are doing more harm to their children than good. Education is important. Depending on the severity, each year a parent doesn't take action is a year lost for their child.

Shenglong 15y ago
I think more, parents don't want to admit that their child has a problem. How do you know your child has ADHD, or if he/she is just being lazy, or not concentrating hard enough? A lot of Asian parents find the two synonymous.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  I've seen the opposite more often: people who set no boundaries for their children have out-of-control kids. Instead of it being bad parenting, it must be ADHD. Quick, medicate him so I don't have to put up with him. At least in the pediatrics office my wife works in, they are trying to stop that. Btw, I don't mean to imply ADHD doesn't exist or is only a result of bad parenting. It does and it isn't.
jriddycuz 15y ago
I'm glad to hear this as well, and even more glad to hear it today. Despite being medicated, I still struggle to focus on activities which are not intrinsically interesting to me. Even though I want to focus, paying attention to work that is not intrinsically interesting to me requires extreme levels of self-control and leaves me feeling mentally and emotionally drained. And just yesterday, when I was unable to access my medication for 24 hours, I had what can really only be described as a nervous breakdown at work from trying to make myself focus. I don't want to use this as an excuse for not achieving, but having scientific evidence that this is a "real" thing--and not just a set of bad habits and lack of concer--helps reduce the stigma that only compounds my problems. I don't want to be held to a lower standard, but I do want to be afforded the grace given to people with other mental health issues.
- _delirium 15y ago
  I also have that problem, inability to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental activities combined with huge emotional/energy drain when I force myself to. I'm curious how normal it is for humans to be able to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental work, though. I can believe that there's a range of skill in it, but can't seem to find data on the range. From what I can tell in academia, very few people actually have the level of concentration considered "normal" or "expected" without either taking some variety of medication, or mustering exceptionally draining bouts of force-yourself-to-concentrate. There are a few exceptionally-good-at-concentrating people, but I suspect they're actually the abnormal cases, representing the top 10% of some bell curve. It'd be interesting to see data, anyway. For example, I'd be interested to know what the average +/- 1 or 2 stddevs is among the population on a test of ability to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental work (if that can somehow be measured). Similarly, for diagnosis myself, I'd be more interested in a percentile number than anything; rather than just saying that I suffer from poor concentration on non-intrinsically-interesting tasks, I'd like to know how poor my concentration is relative to the median. Does "poor" just mean that I can't match what the top 10% of the population does? Or does it mean I'm in the bottom 10%?
  - JimboOmega 15y ago
    The standard workplace expects you to concentrate on work for 8 hours a day. Barring the occasional firedrill (which provides enough stimulation) I struggle with it too. Does nobody else surf the internet when they should be working? Do people actually work for a solid 8 hours (not just be at work, but actually working?) I think the idea of it as a bell curve is a good one - ADHD is supposed to be the poor bottom end. But I do wonder what average really looks like.
Alex3917 15y ago
"Let me tell you from personal experience, these people are doing more harm to their children than good." The problem is that the science clearly says the opposite: "At the end of 14 months, core ADHD symptoms were reduced more in the children treated with stimulants than with behavioral therapy. However, at the end of three years, 'medication use was a significant marker not of beneficial outcome, but of deterioration. That is, participants using medication in the 24-to-36 month period actually showed increased symptomatology during that interval relative to those not taking medication.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/3-year%20followup%20of%20the%20NIMH%20MTA%20Study.PDF http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "At the end of six years, medication use was 'associated with worse hyperactivity-impulsivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms,' and with greater 'overall functional impairment.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Mta%20at%208%20years.PDF http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "Within 21 months, 11 percent of children treated with a stimulant for ADHD developed 'psychotic symptoms.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Psychotic%20side%20effects%20of%20stimulants.pdf http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "Two-thirds of the adolescent patients hospitalized for mania at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center had been on stimulants 'prior to the onset of an affective episode.' Stimulants, the researchers concluded, may 'precipitate depression and/or mania in children who would not have otherwise developed bipolar disorder.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Prior%20stimulant%20treatment%20in%20adolescents%20with%20bipolar%20disorder_%20association%20with%20age%20at%20onset.pdf http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... via http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children.html http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children.html
- tomlin 15y ago
  If we're getting into a debate of whether medications can have other effects than intended, I cannot argue that. ADHD and ADD should be treated in completely different ways. People diagnosed with ADHD have a much higher chance of psychotic symptoms than those who are only of the inattentive type. Then there is the old saying, "if you've seen one child with ADHD, you've seen one child with ADHD." In my experience, and for many others, it has provided a world untold, halted depression, increased motivation and enjoyment in life. Stimulants aren't perfect, but we're throwing the baby out with the bath water when we ignore their usefulness.

by tomlin 15y ago

Shenglong 15y ago

I think more, parents don't want to admit that their child has a problem. How do you know your child has ADHD, or if he/she is just being lazy, or not concentrating hard enough? A lot of Asian parents find the two synonymous.

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
I've seen the opposite more often: people who set no boundaries for their children have out-of-control kids. Instead of it being bad parenting, it must be ADHD. Quick, medicate him so I don't have to put up with him. At least in the pediatrics office my wife works in, they are trying to stop that. Btw, I don't mean to imply ADHD doesn't exist or is only a result of bad parenting. It does and it isn't.

jriddycuz 15y ago

I'm glad to hear this as well, and even more glad to hear it today. Despite being medicated, I still struggle to focus on activities which are not intrinsically interesting to me. Even though I want to focus, paying attention to work that is not intrinsically interesting to me requires extreme levels of self-control and leaves me feeling mentally and emotionally drained. And just yesterday, when I was unable to access my medication for 24 hours, I had what can really only be described as a nervous breakdown at work from trying to make myself focus. I don't want to use this as an excuse for not achieving, but having scientific evidence that this is a "real" thing--and not just a set of bad habits and lack of concer--helps reduce the stigma that only compounds my problems. I don't want to be held to a lower standard, but I do want to be afforded the grace given to people with other mental health issues.

_delirium 15y ago
I also have that problem, inability to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental activities combined with huge emotional/energy drain when I force myself to. I'm curious how normal it is for humans to be able to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental work, though. I can believe that there's a range of skill in it, but can't seem to find data on the range. From what I can tell in academia, very few people actually have the level of concentration considered "normal" or "expected" without either taking some variety of medication, or mustering exceptionally draining bouts of force-yourself-to-concentrate. There are a few exceptionally-good-at-concentrating people, but I suspect they're actually the abnormal cases, representing the top 10% of some bell curve. It'd be interesting to see data, anyway. For example, I'd be interested to know what the average +/- 1 or 2 stddevs is among the population on a test of ability to concentrate on non-intrinsically-interesting mental work (if that can somehow be measured). Similarly, for diagnosis myself, I'd be more interested in a percentile number than anything; rather than just saying that I suffer from poor concentration on non-intrinsically-interesting tasks, I'd like to know how poor my concentration is relative to the median. Does "poor" just mean that I can't match what the top 10% of the population does? Or does it mean I'm in the bottom 10%?
- JimboOmega 15y ago
  The standard workplace expects you to concentrate on work for 8 hours a day. Barring the occasional firedrill (which provides enough stimulation) I struggle with it too. Does nobody else surf the internet when they should be working? Do people actually work for a solid 8 hours (not just be at work, but actually working?) I think the idea of it as a bell curve is a good one - ADHD is supposed to be the poor bottom end. But I do wonder what average really looks like.

Alex3917 15y ago

"Let me tell you from personal experience, these people are doing more harm to their children than good." The problem is that the science clearly says the opposite: "At the end of 14 months, core ADHD symptoms were reduced more in the children treated with stimulants than with behavioral therapy. However, at the end of three years, 'medication use was a significant marker not of beneficial outcome, but of deterioration. That is, participants using medication in the 24-to-36 month period actually showed increased symptomatology during that interval relative to those not taking medication.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/3-year%20followup%20of%20the%20NIMH%20MTA%20Study.PDF http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "At the end of six years, medication use was 'associated with worse hyperactivity-impulsivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms,' and with greater 'overall functional impairment.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Mta%20at%208%20years.PDF http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "Within 21 months, 11 percent of children treated with a stimulant for ADHD developed 'psychotic symptoms.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Psychotic%20side%20effects%20of%20stimulants.pdf http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... "Two-thirds of the adolescent patients hospitalized for mania at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center had been on stimulants 'prior to the onset of an affective episode.' Stimulants, the researchers concluded, may 'precipitate depression and/or mania in children who would not have otherwise developed bipolar disorder.'" http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/Prior%20stimulant%20treatment%20in%20adolescents%20with%20bipolar%20disorder_%20association%20with%20age%20at%20onset.pdf http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children_files/... via http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children.html http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Children.html

tomlin 15y ago
If we're getting into a debate of whether medications can have other effects than intended, I cannot argue that. ADHD and ADD should be treated in completely different ways. People diagnosed with ADHD have a much higher chance of psychotic symptoms than those who are only of the inattentive type. Then there is the old saying, "if you've seen one child with ADHD, you've seen one child with ADHD." In my experience, and for many others, it has provided a world untold, halted depression, increased motivation and enjoyment in life. Stimulants aren't perfect, but we're throwing the baby out with the bath water when we ignore their usefulness.