ADHD & Why It’s a “Fictitious” Disorder

[prwraith]

So you just consider physically obvious disabilities a genuine problem and brain disorders a joke? how about genetic disorders? You can't see them either.

Genetic issues being something that generally has physical representation and being well outside something you can correct with mental discipline I think you know the answer. I also think you're maybe taking this a tad far ?

[caervek]

Genetic issues being something that generally has physical representation and being well outside something you can correct with mental discipline I think you know the answer.

Well, as you seem to think you can fix a mental disorder with mental discipline I think the answer is you don't know what you're talking about lol.

[prwraith]

Well, as you seem to think you can fix a mental disorder with mental discipline I think the answer is you don't know what you're talking about lol.

A mental disorder implies any disorder you pick out of a hat. I didn't say you could cure any mental disorder with mental discipline.

Just the made up ones, like ADHD.

[caervek]

I didn't say you could cure any mental disorder with mental discipline.

Just the made up ones, like ADHD.

So to sum up, you've read some nonsense that some idiot has posted somewhere, formed some very strong beliefs based on that nonsense, and now hold your misguided beliefs above medical science and the opinions of the experts.

And this is why there's so much stigma about mental disorders /sigh

[Xandrigity]

I'll agree it is over diagnosed. But I don't buy it's not a real disorder. There is a portion of kids/adults who legitimately struggle with this. It's just one of those things it's harder to screen because there isn't a definitive lab test. Better education for physicians is what's needed and better guidelines for drug treatments.

[xero5141]

By that logic, everything that is for profit will generate only evil things. Are you saying all profit needs to be done away with for all things?

When it comes to the pharma industry, yes. The massive amounts of "profit" being raked in need to stop.

[Wikko]

[zenkai]

ADHD is over diagnosed, so I am sure people who really do have it are less likely taken seriously.

It's rather funny that parent feed their kids caffeine, sugar, and starch then think their kids are too hyper and they need drugs to calm them down.

[Granyala]

ADHD does exist but it's rarer that it's actually diagnosed.

I would have been diagnosed with it too but for me it was not an actual disorder caused by an illness.
Chemical additives (coloring agents, taste enhancers etc...) to food (mostly cheap candy) caused the behavior within me.
Once my parents steered clear of these I got a lot calmer.
No need for drugs.

[YourExWife]

A psychiatrist has some understanding of the mechanism involved behind at a cellular level (although not nearly as much as they should be)

A psychologist just sees A and associates B to it. They're a disgrace to the word science.

They work in tandem. The psychologist will have to turn to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis and the appropriate medication, even though the diagnosis might be plain as day to the psychologist.

Granted, ADHD-like symptoms can be caused by some kind of unrelated deregulation in the body, and the psychiatrist is the only one qualified to rule that out and avoid a potential misdiagnosis.

But, the psychiatrist will still leave the bulk of the therapy to the psychologist, since medication in and of itself will rarely solve all of the issues associated with something as life-altering as ADHD. The therapist is the one who will build a bond of trust with the patient and walk them through all the important steps, which in and of itself requires a scientific approach to problem solving.

[Hotmail]

Laughed my ass off.

[DesMephisto]

They work in tandem. The psychologist will have to turn to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis and the appropriate medication, even though the diagnosis might be plain as day to the psychologist.

Granted, ADHD-like symptoms can be caused by some kind of unrelated deregulation in the body, and the psychiatrist is the only one qualified to rule that out and avoid a potential misdiagnosis.

But, the psychiatrist will still leave the bulk of the therapy to the psychologist, since medication in and of itself will rarely solve all of the issues associated with something as life-altering as ADHD. The therapist is the one who will build a bond of trust with the patient and walk them through all the important steps, which in and of itself requires a scientific approach to problem solving.

"Therapy" thus therapist, thus no need for psychologists, thus psychology is a worthless field and furthers my point.

[The Casualty]

They work in tandem. The psychologist will have to turn to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis and the appropriate medication, even though the diagnosis might be plain as day to the psychologist.

Granted, ADHD-like symptoms can be caused by some kind of unrelated deregulation in the body, and the psychiatrist is the only one qualified to rule that out and avoid a potential misdiagnosis.

But, the psychiatrist will still leave the bulk of the therapy to the psychologist, since medication in and of itself will rarely solve all of the issues associated with something as life-altering as ADHD. The therapist is the one who will build a bond of trust with the patient and walk them through all the important steps, which in and of itself requires a scientific approach to problem solving.

I don't know where you live, but in the United states, a psychologist does have the ability to diagnose and sign off on that diagnosis on a psych evaluation. By the federal government, they are also considered Medical Experts, and their testimony carries equivalent weight of that of a psychiatrist.

In some states, they even have the capacity to prescribe, and doctoral programs do include study on the biological basis of mental illness.

[The Casualty]

Actually a psychiatrist is what you're thinking of.

No. I am specifically talking about a psychologist, PhD or PsyD.

[The Casualty]

And you'd be wrong. Psychiatrists are doctors who can prescribe medication. Psychologists are not.

http://www.apapracticecentral.org/ad...hologists.aspx

You will note that there are "some states" which I had stated, which allow a psychologist to prescribe.

[Zeek Daniels]

So when i was in highschool my mom took me to a doctor to see if i had ADD, which i already knew i had. The doctor wanted to prescribe somthing for it and i basically told my mom and the doctor to go fuck themselves, i wasnt going to take their stupid little drug. 10 years later i graduated college with a degree.

Do i still have trouble paying attention to people speaking about crap i dont care about, sure i do. Do i want to ever take a drug that effects how or what i think about when ppl are talking to me. Not a chance in hell.

People need to learn to deal with their issues instead of taking drugs for them.

[BannedForViews]

I used to feel similarly, but the reality is they can show there are chemical imbalances in people who actually have adhd vs those who don't. All the professor you cited is saying is that it's probably very over diagnosed, that it doesn't exist. Do you also think that Depression doesn't exist? That people are just said cause "the feels" and not because their brains aren't producing enough of certain chemicals? Are all medical problems where are bodies aren't producing as much of what they should be therefor not real?

- - - Updated - - -

So when i was in highschool my mom took me to a doctor to see if i had ADD, which i already knew i had. The doctor wanted to prescribe somthing for it and i basically told my mom and the doctor to go fuck themselves, i wasnt going to take their stupid little drug. 10 years later i graduated college with a degree.

Do i still have trouble paying attention to people speaking about crap i dont care about, sure i do. Do i want to ever take a drug that effects how or what i think about when ppl are talking to me. Not a chance in hell.

People need to learn to deal with their issues instead of taking drugs for them.

That's all fine and good, but the facts are if you actually have ADD/ADHD, the reason is because your brain is not doing something that most everyone else brain is doing naturally, which is producing the right proportions of certain chemicals. Of course we can learn to live with the brains we have, but if taking a pill to rectify this issue is a possibility, you shouldn't begrudge those that choose to.

[krunksmash]

Years ago, if a kid was bored and didn’t listen well in class, he was considered lazy, a daydreamer or perhaps a bit rambunctious. These days, he’s labeled with a mental disorder.

In fact, the CDC says 6.4 million kids ages 4-17 have been “diagnosed with ADHD” since 2011. And that stat doesn’t even include the 198,000 kids under age five who are taking ADHD drugs. Besides that, I guarantee you, these numbers are a lot higher today – because every year the rates continue to skyrocket.

In a DER SPIEGEL interview with retired Harvard psychologist, Dr. Jerome Kagan, he explains why he is critical of “fuzzy diagnostic practices” and the “over-prescription of drugs such as Ritalin for behavioral problems in children.” When SPIEGEL asked Dr. Kagan if he actually thought ADHD was just an invention, he said –

“That’s correct; it is an invention. Every child who’s not doing well in school is sent to see a pediatrician, and the pediatrician says: “It’s ADHD; here’s Ritalin.” In fact, 90 percent of these kids don’t have an abnormal dopamine metabolism. The problem is, if a drug is available to doctors, they’ll make the corresponding diagnosis.”

Source

There is nothing " Fake " about ADHD, I grew up with it and still suffer from it today they did not realize what I had untill '93 when I was in 3rd grade. Ritalin DID work to control my very real disorder. I took some form of drug to control my ADHD untill highschool when I was able to focus on my own enough. Today the sharp spike is disturbing, but the question is not " is ADHD & other disorders fake " the question that we need to ask is " Why the surge " are the diagnostic criteria so vast noone can get a good idea or is something actually causing a surge?

[Eliseus]

I'm very adamant in not throwing medication at my children given the first assumption of something they have, rather observe them for a bit. Sometimes it literally is just a kid being a kid, and I would have to say medication a child potentially destroys the personality of said child and that somewhat saddens me. Anyways, in adults I have people in my actual family who has been a night and day difference when their add was actually taken care of and partially never was due to because of the beginning reasoning I have that I don't want to immediately medicate a child.

A lot of the medical diagnosis people have I would say are fabricated diagnosis, not that the illness or disease or whatever you may call it is fake. There is significant problems in the depression department for example where so many people have either self-diagnosis themselves as depressed or have such a minimal amount of depression they get prescribed medication that the people with the real problems almost get neglected. I'm not sure though whether to say this is a doctor issue or a patient issue. I've heard of people who actually lie so much about their mental illness in an endeavor to get medication like Adderall that they actually start to believe their lie.

[Puremallace]

Every person I know with ADHD their parents dosed them with melatonin as a baby which for some god forsaken reason is over the counter in the US