parents of adhd children talk here

[trisherina]

Diagnosis of ADHD or ADD should not be made via symptom list; it should be made by symptom checklist plus psychological testing. There is no question that the CT and PET scans of people with clinically diagnosable ADHD differ from norm. When the ADD brain attempts to concentrate, activity in the prefrontal cortex decreases, rather than increasing as it should. This is why, somewhat paradoxically, if the prefrontal cortex is stimulated through the use of Dexedrine or Ritalin, concentration actually improves in the ADD cohort. I'm sorry for the lack of elegance, but this is the short and stupid version of how it works.

There is no question that the etiology of many of the symptoms is biogenetic. This is not to say that aspects of it cannot be dealt with it behaviourally, through superior parenting, and whatnot. Generally speaking, though, you can't wish it away. Sometimes people "grow out of" aspects of their ADD-related difficulties, owing to learning various coping and life management skills, and owing to changing expectations as one matures. Other aspects are much more kindly treated through the use of medication. We don't expect people with asthma to be able to stop coughing and breathe easy by virtue of will alone. It alarms me sometimes that we apply such cruel judgments to psychiatric disorders.

I would not trust a practitioner who wished to prescribe meds without first taking a thorough history, some lab work to rule out possible straightforward physiological causes for symptoms, and running a number of functional analyses via psych. testing for memory, intelligence, performance, attention, distractibility, etc. etc. I know there are many less than scrupulous practitioners who are happy to prescribe Dexedrine and Ritalin without doing all these things, but they suck, and suck deeply.

i agree that you can try to "life manage it" however, in my brother's case this is not possible; a lot of other factors have a say: motivation, self-esteem, maturity, self-awareness

in his case it's always been determining whether the side effects (walking around like a zombie, completely losing his appetite and losing weight, from weird and intense interactions to completely ignoring people from intense concentration, headaches, lower self-esteem) make the medicine worth it; although his medicine(s) aid the problem, the side effects (new problems) raise a lot of questions he dislikes handling and he's particularly sensitive

i think he'd prefer to cope than take the medicine, though i think he just "gets by" rather than make any effort to "life-manage"

he's in college now, though, so he may have become seduced by the rush of readily available prescription drugs (though i doubt it)

[Magpie]

* 14 yr old son is diagnosed OCD and Bipolar
* 12 yr old daughter is diagnosed Bipolar only.
* 8 yr old shows concerning signs and tendancies, but I chose
to 'be' in denial until absolutely necessary to believe otherwise.

Although I'm pretty familliar with ADHD as my 2 nephews have it, my kids struggle w/something different. But I can definately speak to the use of meds in kids to treat mental illness.

Believe me, when my kids were tiny I was completely opposed to treating them w/meds of any kind. Shoot, I was the mom that had her babies at home naturally, breast fed them all for 2 yrs each, blendered fresh food and froze it into ice cube trays instead of feeding them commercial baby food; you get the picture. I was NOT an easy sell on meds.

But until you see your child's quality of life so deeply affected, until you see your child controlled by an invisible monster that prevents them from feeling like a "normal" kid, until you rock one of your child's sobbing siblings - trying to comfort them through the suffering they endure as a sibling... I don't believe any parent can truly know how they feel about treating their child w/meds. Through in a public school system who doesn't have a clue what(or resources) to do with your kid and you've got a nightmare.

Granted, my son's illness is difficult to treat (meds for ocd make bipolar worse) and only by trial and error have we found "cocktails" that have stabilized him for periods of time AND the side effects were tollerable... only to lose ground when puberty burst through our door. I've lost count how many meds he's tried in the past 7 years... it sadens me (he's ramping up on a new regimine now matter of fact).

Like any other physical illness that requires daily treatment, monitoring, med. adjustment for a person to function... the need to treat biochemical illness is no different.

As an aside, go check out your local hospital's pediatric/adolesent psych ward some time. If they even exist, they are often the forgotten wing of the hospital. Psych facillities don't carry the "glamour" and interest that breast cancer, etc. do so they are often under funded. When my son was hospitalized at Denver's top notch Children's Hospital, the hosp. was undergoing a huge renovation. The areas the public sees most were just beautiful, modern, kid/family friendly, really inovative. The psych ward remained old, dirtier, 60's hosp. green, not exactly a "healing" place Just do a search on the kids psychiatric care crisis in this country, it's ridiculous. Think of it the next time you're looking to donate mula.

oops i'm not a parent

[Willow Sylph]

oops i'm not a parent

Your input was interesting, Fodder.