So, I was diagnosed with ADHD

[LittleJP]

As a child, I was diagnosed with this, and my mother opted out of the treatment. You know what? It hasn't affected me that much, now that I've pretty much reached adulthood. Yes, I do require stimulation, and sitting still doing nothing bores me (Who enjoys this?), but in most cases, this is an advantage.
Any task I have an interest in, I can do for a long LONG period of time, music, occasionally math, sports, reading and gaming. I generally tend to be 'quicker' in the whole reasoning department among my peers, and I don't feel like I'm disabled or anything.


So, what I'm asking is, has anyone had a similar experience? Or, do you feel that the whole premature diagnosis and treatment in pre-schoolers today is affecting our children negatively?

 

[InnerRebellion]

Well... I was diagnosed with A.D.H.D at age 9 (roughly 7 years ago) and it did change my life a bit. With my teachers being alerted of it, people always asked why I never got in trouble for talking too much, or for fidgeting more than the average kid does, or randomly falling out of my chair. I also would rush classwork, being done way before my peers were, and if I wasn't given a new task to occupy myself with, I became a living source of hyperactivity.

Now, in high school, it causes a minor problem. I'm still extremely impulsive, and I do a lot of things on a random whim, and barely pay attention (yet pass my classes with flying colors), but everyone associates me with A.D.H.D. So, I'm basically known as the hyper kid, just because of that.

Other than that, I really haven't been affected by it (except when, after taking meds for two years, I suddenly didn't want to take them because they made me feel like an outcast).

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I have ADD (diagnosed in grade school). And you know what? It's kinda blown out of proportion.

Do I have trouble focusing? Hell yeah I do. Could I have gotten through high school hell without medication? Maybe, maybe not.

But when I went back to college to do computer science, I found my motivation. And have been off the meds since. They'd still be useful, but they're totally unneeded now that I can self-motivate.

And honestly, my ADD never bothered me. I just thought of myself as a normal person with a shorter than usual attention span and a more powerful imagination.

 

[LittleJP]

I've always found it strange though, I never knew I had it, my mother only told me recently. And here I am, reading a few scare news reports comparing kids with it to rabid gremlins and so forth.

As a child, I was diagnosed with this, and my mother opted out of the treatment. You know what? It hasn't affected me that much, now that I've pretty much reached adulthood. Yes, I do require stimulation, and sitting still doing nothing bores me (Who enjoys this?), but in most cases, this is an advantage.
Any task I have an interest in, I can do for a long LONG period of time, music, occasionally math, sports, reading and gaming. I generally tend to be 'quicker' in the whole reasoning department among my peers, and I don't feel like I'm disabled or anything.


So, what I'm asking is, has anyone had a similar experience? Or, do you feel that the whole premature diagnosis and treatment in pre-schoolers today is affecting our children negatively?

Impulsiveness keeps life exciting, at least.

 

[Kortney]

Lots of kids diagnosed with ADHD don't have the disorder. They are just badly parented. You wouldn't believe the amount of mothers I'd heard who claim their kid has ADHD and put them on medication simply because they can't control them. Having a naughty kid you can't control=/=ADHD.

 

[Small Waves]

I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and have been taking medication for years. As a child, I was hyper and always running around, but now when I'm off, I'm extremely hungry and sleepy. I should have been staying off the medication for a week or two during Summer back when I was in high school to see if it was necessary for me to continue staying on the drugs, what with Concerta having a high dependency and all, but never got around to it. It doesn't look like I'll have many more chances to do so for the rest of my life, if any at all.

If you have ADHD or a child with ADHD and are capable of functioning just fine, don't use medication for a few years unless you have a wide window of time to get off it after extended use. Withdrawl is a *****.

 

[Phlakes]

Almost everyone is diagnosed with this now.

People aren't getting ADHD more often, they're just conditioned differently. The younger generation doesn't have to entertain themselves now that all these fancy electronics exist, so when they are forced to, they get restless.

That's all it is (most of the time).

 

[delvin313]

The DSM-IV pretty much has every "undesirable" trait pinned down to some kind of disorder (anti-social personality disorder, anyone?). In my mind, just because someone doesn't behave in just such a way as to be average or normal doesn't mean they are dysfunctional or disabled. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Once we figure out what they are, we learn how to be more effective in any given situation.

 

[jhlip]

I still have extreme ADHD, but I now know how to use the way my mind works as a result of my ADHD to both improve and increase any work I do. I now use my ADHD as an advantage rather than as a disadvantage, and damn am I proud to say that.

Lots of kids diagnosed with ADHD don't have the disorder. They are just badly parented. You wouldn't believe the amount of mothers I'd heard who claim their kid has ADHD and put them on medication simply because they can't control them. Having a naughty kid you can't control=/=ADHD.

This is somewhat true, but that doesn't mean that ADHD isn't a real disorder that affects real people. Yes the medication is over-prescribed, but nowadays you are required to get a psychological evaluation in order to prove you do in fact have the disorder before a doctor can prescribe any form of medicine.

 

[fordneagles]

I was diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years ago (19 or 20, I think) and have been on dex ever since to calm my brain down and keep me focused. I wasn't fidgety or anything physical, my mind would just work too fast and I couldn't keep up with it. I've had problems mentally for a long time (depression mostly), but my mum stuck her head in the sand and never took me to the doctor about it. I was a really bright student but I struggled to concentrate and stay focused. I have absolutely NO DOUBT that if I had been diagnosed and treated earlier (which I also have no doubt that I would have been if I'd gone to a doctor) I would have done massively better with my schoolwork/exams/first year uni.

I don't necessarily agree with young kids automatically getting the ADHD 'label' just for being out of control, especially since it casts a bad light on kids who actually DO have the condition. I just know that being diagnosed and treated for it in my case has been an enormous help and I wish it had happened earlier.

 

[AMMO Kid]

No, I don't have ADHD.
Yes, I am always looking for something to do, and I'm constantly asking myself if I do have ADHD.

 

[Razmas]

The DSM-IV pretty much has every "undesirable" trait pinned down to some kind of disorder (anti-social personality disorder, anyone?). In my mind, just because someone doesn't behave in just such a way as to be average or normal doesn't mean they are dysfunctional or disabled. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Once we figure out what they are, we learn how to be more effective in any given situation.

Very true, and the fact that the DSM and ICD are often inconsistent with each other and have all sorts of cultural biases makes things like that even harder to classify.

 

[Superior Mind]

ADHD is a pretty grey area. I don't deny that it exists - but really there will always be difference in people, some will get bored more easily, some will need more stimulation than others. It's the same with learning, some learn through listening or through writing or by doing. To single out being 'attention deficit' as a 'disorder' seems to just be a reason for pharmecutical companies to invent something that they can then sell and make a mint. Not to mention for young kids it seems to be an excuse to fly off the handle - "oh it's okay, little Billy's just got ADHD". Fuck that, kids are just little hyperactive psychos - again, some moreso than others but that doesn't mean we have to bring out the "diagnosed disorder" guns.

 

[flim.geek.chic]

Yeah I didn't have ADHD I had ADD and was treated with Ritalin then Adderal. COmpletely changes you personality.... I didn't like it so I've since stopped.