My daughter has been diagnosed with ADD and put on a small dose of ritalin. I have searched the net and found many sites both pro and con. I mean either it is a “disease” or it’s not. Why is there such division?
What do dopers think?
I think it’s definitely real – a disease? Idunno. A condition? I would have to say …
Oooh look, a squirrel!
No, seriously, I think the condition is real, but then it may be so misunderstood that ADD is frequently attributed to those who don’t really have it.
In conclusion – I do put stock in it, but I’m not sure how much stock I put in just throwing drugs at it.
More research needed.
FWIW, I remember listening to the Dr. Laura show and her discussing that very subject with a distressed mom whose child was diagnosed with ADD. Dr. Laura’s point of view was that ADD and ADHD do exist as medical conditions but that most kids diagnosed with one or the other disease has been misdiagnosed. She asked the mom a question: “Can your kid sit in front of the Nintendo for hours at a time and play the same game without even looking up?” The mom said yes. Then, concluded Dr. Laura, your kid doesn’t have an attention deficit. The problem likely was somewhere else, whether it was boredom at school, or trying to be class clown, or whatever.
IMHO, if my kid was diagnosed as having ADD, I’d be very careful to be sure that s/he was truly incapable of focussing, or if the diagnosis was simply one of expediency.
Dr. Laura’s degree is in physiology, I feel compelled to add. I wonder if that is a real sign of not having ADD/ADHD, or not.
Kids who have ADD/ADHD are sometimes put on mild stimulants. If you put a regular kid on them, they get hyperactive. If you put a kid with ADD/ADHD on them, apparently they become able to focus on tasks. Sounds to me like there is a real problem out there - whether kids are being properly diagnosed and treated is another matter entirely.
Yes, it does exist. When I am on ritalin, I am 3 times more productive than without it. I can focus and think better.
I just hope that your daughter went through a strong battery of tests before a doctor came to the conclusion. I was diagnosed at 15 (again about 21 and again at 28) by a doctor that speicalizes in ADD/ADHD. I was in there for an entire day taking various psychological tests along with a thorough medical work up to ensure there wasn’t anything else going on.
Some people “outgrow” ADD/ADHD others are dealing with it for life like me. It is controllable but there is also behavior management to look into. Schedules are very important, especially when ritalin is introduced.
IMO, the two conditions and a host of other malidies are most often mis-used, mis-diagnosed, used as excuses, used to blame bad behavior, etc.
No doubt that the conditions actually exist, but I’m with others here in thinking that there is no possible way that ALL the kids that are being put on Ritalin, etc. ALL have these conditions. Doctors being how they are and all, I have a major feeling that the whole thing was almost cooked up out of the blue to boost drug sales and doctor income.
But then, I’m a major cynic a lot of the time.
I’m an MD who has been treated for ADHD for several years now.
First of all, just to clear it up: it is all ADHD. It is divided into three types–Primarily Inattentive, Primarily Hyperactive, and Mixed Type. “ADD” is not a separate entity in the official terminology, though IIRC it used to be.
As for the OP, you’re not really asking the right question. ADHD is not the name of a specific pathologic process; it is a symptom complex. There is a list of criteria, and if you meet those criteria, you have ADHD. There’s no “maybe” about it.
The question you mean to ask is more like, “Is there a specific pathologic process in the brain that causes ADHD?” The answer to that one is not so clear; such processes have been suggested, but nothing definite has been found.
The question we should be asking is, “Can medication be beneficial to those who have ADHD?” We do have an answer to that one–an overwhelming yes. A good majority of those with ADHD can be helped by medications. It’s also fair to ask whether people so diagnosed can resolve the symptoms as well without the medication, and that is a harder one to answer, but like the 8-ball says, signs point to “no”. There are things that people can do to improve their function if they have ADHD, but nothing has been shown to be nearly as effective as the medications.
We like to know that there is a specific pathologic process underlying something before we can feel justified taking medication for it. I don’t really understand why. If the medicine works, it works, no matter what processes underly the symptoms.
This is what happens when you look for medical and psychologic advice from a Ph. D. in physiology. Despite the name, ADHD is not so much an inability to focus, but an inability to control that focus. I’m always focused on something, but it probably isn’t what I want to be focused on. It’s like there’s someone else inside my head who is hogging the remote.
People with ADHD can often “hyperfocus”, such as the aforementioned Nintendo sessions. “If you can stare at that video game for hours,” an exasperated parent says, “why can’t you listen to your teachers for more than ten minutes at a time?” “I don’t know, I just can’t,” the kid might say, and that sums it up pretty well. I can occasionally focus on something for a long period of time–the Ritalin helps in that regard–but I certainly don’t do it or not do it by choice.
I went through 22 years of having no control over what I could focus on, being constantly labeled as lazy or bored. I wouldn’t wish the same on anyone.
What DoctorJ said. I have ADHD and when I hyperfocus, sometimes I get so involved I’ll neglect eating, sleeping, etc.
It’s not fun at all. And I can FEEL the difference on Ritalin. Without it, I can’t function at all, I’m wired, can’t sit still, can’t concentrate, my appetite is enormous, etc. It sucks.
When we had my son diagnosed we went through alot of blood work to make sure it wasn’t some type of allergy and then we went to a shrink for lots of other tests.
It was a very long and hard decision but a wise one in the end.
His grades improved, we got sleep at night, and the other kids were a bit less bruised and battered.
The nintendo thing is a bunch of crap in my oppinion. When you play a video game there are so many things that are going on that it not nessecarily keeps there attention but keeps their minds busy.
My son could bounce around a room and be in twenty different directions and still tell you verbatim what you were talking about. But, give him one single directive and you would have to follow him to get him through it.
Basically he could not go from point A to point B without stopping somewhere in between.
I guess he would be alot like Guin.
Do you mind if I ask you a question Guinastasia? Do you get emotional if you are off your meds or if they need to be adjusted?
I’m trying to understand him really I am. But lately he has been having crying spells again at school and can’t explain them. I’m asking you since you seem to have similar expirences. Anyone else feel free to put in some input.
I am really at a loss here. He’s a great and wonderfully smart child and he is on a relatively low dose and I don’t like increasing him. I think we have only increased once in five years.
But along with the meds we also show him that there are consequences for his actions and not everything can be passed off on “I missed my meds” or “inbetween doses”.
There are too many people out there that I feel believe that the meds are the end of it and think that means they don’t have to parent anymore. I know a few people like that.
Yeah, it’s great that ADHA children can always find another like them in a crowed. 
Sometimes he picks good friends and other times not so good but we weed them out as we go and hope for the best.
Damn, I need to go and give him a hug now.
Oh, and this was the child that was hit by the car almost three years ago and in a body cast and wheel chair. Much fun I tell you since the doctor took him off his meds during that time to give his body a break while he was healing. Talk about cruel! It was about the only time I let him glue himself to the tv and video games from sunup to sundown. I felt so badly.
OK, but to Doc and the others - why, tell me, has there been such a seeming explosion of people being diagnosed with these (or this) condition over the last few years? You’d think that there’s a bloody epidemic - and plenty of people are getting rich off Ritalin, that alone make me very, very cynical and suspicious of the claims, while not meaning any disrespect to those genuinely afflicted.
It seems to me that for some, it’s almost the “in” thing to be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. Some parents are almost proud that they have a label to attach to little Johnny’s abberant behavior so that they don’t come off as bad parents.
I just wonder how many kids (or adults for that matter) that are diagnosed with these conditions are simply badly behaved, poorly raised or just plain eating too much sugar? Or were all the kids that I went to school with in the 60’s that acted a little “hyper” all ADD kids before the condition was known??
I have the same questions as TVGuy.
Also, I’ve always considered “focusing” or “concentrating” to be difficult, but I’ve always viewed it as a skill which implies that there is some difficulty in being able to achieve and maintain this state. This leads me to have some reservations about combatting the lack of focus with medication.
Of course, I have no medical background, but it does worry me that we seem to be a society becoming more and more reliant on our medications. I think it would be interesting to see a graph showing the consumption of prescription meds over the years, especially one highlighting the use of meds by children.
It’s real my friend. I was labeled for ADD even though I didn’t have it. I’m just kinda hyperactive(as evidenced by my amount of posts) I have a learning disability and have been around people like that. It’s more a mental disorder than a disease. The ritalin stuff is how they get the brain to function on a slightly better way(although some ADD people believe that it stilt’s their creativity).
It’s the same with people with bipolar disorder. The medicine helps them balance their serotonin levels so they can function “normally” as do people with ADD.
It also varys on levels. Some can’t stop bouncing off the walls while some are more introverted. If your daugther struggles at school with her ADD, discuss with her teacher about getting her a IEP so she can get the help she needs at school if that becomes the case.
Two links with graphs concerning the prescription of Ritalin to children. The first is somewhat older than the second, but is interesting in the fact that it provides a prediction ( 50% increase by 1996) that is nearly confirmed by the second ( more recent) link.
http://www.incb.org/e/press/1995/pdf/e_bn_02.pdf
http://www.udel.edu/chemo/teaching/CHEM465/SitesF02/Prop26b/ritalinconsumption.html
Also, just from casting around a bit, it seems that there are a lot of people starting to look for alternatives to Ritalin. Some are obvious flakes ( one identified Ritalin as a Jewish conspiracy ) , but there are others that appear less paranoid.
Sorry. What was that again?
Well, I’m fairly certain that ADD exists considering that I supposedly had it when I was a child. I guess I must have, since I did and still do have trouble paying attention to things.
The doctors put me on Prozac, which did work in that I behaved better. However, I didn’t feel any better. Also, I became quite dependant on the drug. That’s what I hated about Prozac: the dependency. I went through withdrawal symptoms after being taken off the drug.
From personal experience, I think that using medication to get rid of ADD or ADHD is a bad idea. It might make the lives of parents and teachers a little easier, but it seems like no one cares about the child. I completely believe that the drugs can stifle a child’s creativity. I’m an art major in college now, but I can’t remember doing a single drawing or anything else artistic when I was a child. Looking back, I think I can safely deduce that the Prozac was at least partially responsible.
I wish that I hadn’t been forced to take drugs back then. Perhaps I would have discovered my artistic talent sooner. Plus, if I hadn’t been given the drugs, I wouldn’t have spent several years in a depression thanks to the withdrawal symptoms.
I suppose I’m not really helping to answer answer any of the questions in this thread. I just had to add in my feelings on the matter.
I don’t understand the school of thought that thinks the Medical community and the drug producers are inventing things such as ADHD. Why would they bother? Would these same people say that cancer is all in our heads? Dyslexia, dysgraphia? I think not.
My sister, who is 33, is ADD. My niece is ADHD. My son’s father is ADHD. My son was diagnosed with ADHD at 3 years old. I did not allow doctors to put him on Ritalin until he was of school age. The first day of school was rough, and it kept getting worse, so I made the decision to have him on a low dose. The change in his behaviour, his sleeping patterns, his eating was dramatic. The boy could sit and listen, and therefore learn. He gets Ritalin only on school days or days where we have a long travel.
I don’t know any parents who are proud to have the ADD label pinned on their child. Perhaps there are some, but I certainly don’t know any. Most of the parents I’ve met with children who’ve been diagnosed with ADD were just like me . . . sad, desperate, confused.
My child was diagnosed with ADD. This is a child who was desperately wanted and deeply loved. He was the most delightful child one could hope for. I could hardly wait for him to wake up in the mornings because he was such a joy.
We were blindsided by the problems that appeared out of nowhere when he started school. We spent years looking for solutions. We saw three pediatricians, four psychologists and three psychiatrists. Believe me, we weren’t worried about “coming off” as bad parents. We had a child we loved more than our own lives for whom we only wanted happiness. It was a gut-wrenching decision to give in to the ADD diagnosis and agree to medicate our child. If love could conquer all, that child would have lived a perfect life, but unfortunately that was not the case. Also, unfortunately, the medication was less effective than we had hoped, but it seemed we had run out of options.
That child is a grown man now and I still feel enormous sadness and guilt that he didn’t have the joyous childhood that he should. I think most parents with ADD children feel the same. We would have done or given anything to help our child without having to medicate him.
I agree. My husband was not diagnosed with ADHD until his senior year in high school, and I believe much pain and hardship could have been avoided if he had been diagnosed sooner. He was put on Ritalin for a while, but stopped taking it because he didn’t like the way it made him feel. He claims he could tell when it was “on” and “off” and didn’t like the extremes, or the way it changed the way he thinked. He also felt the lack of creativity and thought it made him more indifferent, and sort of non-emotional (in a bad way). After a while of being off medication he went back to school and found he was having trouble, so after being re-diagnosed he went on Concerta, which he liked much better. It didn’t have the highs and lows like Ritalin. He still prefers to take nothing though, so he is not taking the Concerta now (whether or not he should, I can’t say. I feel it is up to him if he thinks it helps him enough to take it everyday.)
So yes, ADD is real, but there are more ways of dealing with it than taking Ritalin. If that is the only option your Dr. gave you, I would seek out other opinions. I think especially with children, the most important part is just being aware that your child has it, so that he is not blamed or made to feel stupid or lazy for not being able to concentrate. I know I will be especially conscious of the signs of it when I have children. I do think the term is thrown around a lot, and kids may be “diagnosed” by relatives or teachers, so make sure your child has a professional diagnosis (some people say a psychiatrist is better than a pediatrician, but it probably depends a lot on how much experience a child’s Dr. has with dealing with it.)
Thanks for all the input and concerns. She has seen several doctors and counselors. I will let her take the drug and watch how she responds to it. If I don’t like what it does to her I will stop it.
Thanks again.
Not at all, Kricket. Hmmm, I don’t notice crying spells-although I may have had them when I was a child-I don’t remember. I’ll ask.
However, I do notice I’m “bouncier” sometimes, not HAPPIER, per se, and not just plain old hyper, but that if I’m angry or excited, it’s more intense.
Or I get more frustrated. Does that make sense?