5 ms·

What could a 3 year old possibly have to focus on that they need to take amphetamines?

RankingMember 12y ago
I'm imagining either a really intense game of peekaboo or the kid is Doogie Howser and having trouble with his MCATs at age 3.
mikevm 12y ago
ADHD is a grossly mislabled condition. It should be more appropriately called "Executive function disorder"[1]. Kids who have the hyperactive "subtype" of ADHD tend to move non-stop to the point where they injure themselves, and they also don't seem to listen to their parents. I'm not sure how much of this behavior shows for 3 year olds though... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions
- ctdonath 12y ago
  tend to move non-stop to the point where they injure themselves, and they also don't seem to listen to their parents. Sounds like a quintessential 3 year old.
  - chimeracoder 12y ago
    The symptoms of depression, when described glibly, "sound" like a quintessential teenager. That doesn't mean it's not possible (or useful) to distinguish between a "normal" teenager and one who is depressed and needs treatment.
    - mkohlmyr 12y ago
      Of course the point he was making is that the distinction made by that description is weak.
- chimeracoder 12y ago
  I agree with your statement that ADHD is a completely mislabled condition. HOWEVER, "executive function disorder" is too general. Medically, it refers to a class of disorders that includes not just ADHD, but also Asperger's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and more[0]. I agree with your general sentiment; I just want to point out that we cannot use the term interchangeably, as many people who have executive function disorders do not have ADHD. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction#Executive_dysfunction_in_clinical_populations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction#Executiv...
  - mikevm 12y ago
    Thanks for the clarification!
- jforman 12y ago
  My one year old moves constantly and injures herself unless we hover non-stop. I hear I was the same as an infant/toddler, and I'm sure I could get an ADHD diagnosis now as an adult. I would never consider medicating her even if this kept up for years, though — despite my hyperactivity I'm happy and operate just fine in society. When I got bored in chemistry and math classes as a kid and had trouble paying attention, they put me in advanced classes (or even let me do experiments in the back of the classroom during lecture), where I continued to learn effectively. Sometimes when a human being and society are misaligned, the society should adapt rather than the human being.
- ollysb 12y ago
  People did not evolve to politely sit still all day, the thought of medicating children to comply with our current sedentary habits (which are doing a good job of damaging our health) seems perverse to say the least...
  - mikevm 12y ago
    Yes, but ADHD is much more than just not being able to sit still all day. There are working memory problems, time management problems and much much more. It affects interpersonal relationships, job performance and many other parts of a person's life. As a person with ADHD-Hyperactive-Impulsive type grows up, he will start showing less and less hyperactivity (the impulsivity is still there though).
    - ollysb 12y ago
      The problem is that the number of children being diagnosed with ADHD seems dubious(I accept that there's real cases). According to the stats in[1] 20% of boys aged between 14-17 have been diagnosed at some point with ADHD. When you're diagnosing 20% of the male population with a condition isn't it time to accept that it isn't a condition, rather it's within the normal range of behaviour (many of the symptoms would be simply be considered an aspect of one's personality in other times). http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/31/us/adhd-in-children.html?ref=health http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/31/us/adhd-in-chi...
pirateking 12y ago
"Look at little Johnny concentrate on his iPad. You know those great new user interfaces... easy enough for a baby! He has been so well behaved lately, maybe we can buy him some Candy Quest Coins as a treat? Oh, and don't forget his pills at noon." D.A.R.E. - To keep kids OFF the streets (where they could engage in dangerous activities such as "play"), and to keep them ON drugs (where they are easy money).
aidenn0 12y ago
All issues with the article aside, it does seem like a poor idea to prescribe stimulants to a 3 year old for a disorder that is still hard to diagnose in early elementary school.
tthomas48 12y ago
This is one of the frightening thing about ADHD prescriptions. With children with ADHD the amphetamines are supposed to work as a depressant. If your kid is getting focus from the drugs they don't have ADHD. You have a kid on speed.
GHFigs 12y ago
Getting into Harvard.
bayesianhorse 12y ago
There are certain children who even at this age are extremely uncontrollable. From the outside, this is mostly ascribed to bad parenting, like "What else could it be?" Well, it turns out, these children often can't be helped by "good parenting" or non-pharmaceutical therapy. They are still destroying their homes, terrorizing their parents and peers. And even though they are the aggressors, they suffer immensely, let alone their parents. Also, even in much milder cases it has been shown that beating or otherwise severely punishing children (emotionally might count, too), actually increases the behavioral problems in the long term. If ADHD medications helps these children to actually choose peacefulness, I'm not entirely against it.

I'm imagining either a really intense game of peekaboo or the kid is Doogie Howser and having trouble with his MCATs at age 3.

mikevm 12y ago

ADHD is a grossly mislabled condition. It should be more appropriately called "Executive function disorder"[1]. Kids who have the hyperactive "subtype" of ADHD tend to move non-stop to the point where they injure themselves, and they also don't seem to listen to their parents. I'm not sure how much of this behavior shows for 3 year olds though... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions

ctdonath 12y ago
tend to move non-stop to the point where they injure themselves, and they also don't seem to listen to their parents. Sounds like a quintessential 3 year old.
- chimeracoder 12y ago
  The symptoms of depression, when described glibly, "sound" like a quintessential teenager. That doesn't mean it's not possible (or useful) to distinguish between a "normal" teenager and one who is depressed and needs treatment.
  - mkohlmyr 12y ago
    Of course the point he was making is that the distinction made by that description is weak.
chimeracoder 12y ago
I agree with your statement that ADHD is a completely mislabled condition. HOWEVER, "executive function disorder" is too general. Medically, it refers to a class of disorders that includes not just ADHD, but also Asperger's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and more[0]. I agree with your general sentiment; I just want to point out that we cannot use the term interchangeably, as many people who have executive function disorders do not have ADHD. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction#Executive_dysfunction_in_clinical_populations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction#Executiv...
- mikevm 12y ago
  Thanks for the clarification!
jforman 12y ago
My one year old moves constantly and injures herself unless we hover non-stop. I hear I was the same as an infant/toddler, and I'm sure I could get an ADHD diagnosis now as an adult. I would never consider medicating her even if this kept up for years, though — despite my hyperactivity I'm happy and operate just fine in society. When I got bored in chemistry and math classes as a kid and had trouble paying attention, they put me in advanced classes (or even let me do experiments in the back of the classroom during lecture), where I continued to learn effectively. Sometimes when a human being and society are misaligned, the society should adapt rather than the human being.
ollysb 12y ago
People did not evolve to politely sit still all day, the thought of medicating children to comply with our current sedentary habits (which are doing a good job of damaging our health) seems perverse to say the least...
- mikevm 12y ago
  Yes, but ADHD is much more than just not being able to sit still all day. There are working memory problems, time management problems and much much more. It affects interpersonal relationships, job performance and many other parts of a person's life. As a person with ADHD-Hyperactive-Impulsive type grows up, he will start showing less and less hyperactivity (the impulsivity is still there though).
  - ollysb 12y ago
    The problem is that the number of children being diagnosed with ADHD seems dubious(I accept that there's real cases). According to the stats in[1] 20% of boys aged between 14-17 have been diagnosed at some point with ADHD. When you're diagnosing 20% of the male population with a condition isn't it time to accept that it isn't a condition, rather it's within the normal range of behaviour (many of the symptoms would be simply be considered an aspect of one's personality in other times). http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/31/us/adhd-in-children.html?ref=health http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/31/us/adhd-in-chi...

pirateking 12y ago

"Look at little Johnny concentrate on his iPad. You know those great new user interfaces... easy enough for a baby! He has been so well behaved lately, maybe we can buy him some Candy Quest Coins as a treat? Oh, and don't forget his pills at noon." D.A.R.E. - To keep kids OFF the streets (where they could engage in dangerous activities such as "play"), and to keep them ON drugs (where they are easy money).

aidenn0 12y ago

All issues with the article aside, it does seem like a poor idea to prescribe stimulants to a 3 year old for a disorder that is still hard to diagnose in early elementary school.

tthomas48 12y ago

This is one of the frightening thing about ADHD prescriptions. With children with ADHD the amphetamines are supposed to work as a depressant. If your kid is getting focus from the drugs they don't have ADHD. You have a kid on speed.

GHFigs 12y ago

Getting into Harvard.

bayesianhorse 12y ago

There are certain children who even at this age are extremely uncontrollable. From the outside, this is mostly ascribed to bad parenting, like "What else could it be?" Well, it turns out, these children often can't be helped by "good parenting" or non-pharmaceutical therapy. They are still destroying their homes, terrorizing their parents and peers. And even though they are the aggressors, they suffer immensely, let alone their parents. Also, even in much milder cases it has been shown that beating or otherwise severely punishing children (emotionally might count, too), actually increases the behavioral problems in the long term. If ADHD medications helps these children to actually choose peacefulness, I'm not entirely against it.