Attention Deficite Disorders. (bless, God, quiz)

[fromthe heart]

What are your views of kids on drugs for ADD? Do you feel it will help or hurt more in the long run? Do you think some parents put their kids on these drugs to just cope better with them?

[Terrywoodenpic]

Some Children with ADD are very troubled indeed. and may be drug help is vital.
Others are only just on the edge of normal behaviour and I think love and care is more important.
Still others have no real problems. But it the parents who can't cope and need the help

Thereare many causes of ADD symptoms A friends child is set off by Coke and other coloured sugar drinks and candies. otherwise he is quite normal.

Terry
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Blessed are those who bring peace, they shall be children of God

[fromthe heart]

But...now they say there are adults who have these disorders...the symptoms of it in my opinion put most all humans at one time or another in these categories...why is it do you feel this is happening?

[Terrywoodenpic]

I think it is called a syndrome because as yet the causes are not known.
they have lumped all the common symptoms together and called it ADD.
I am sure it shows up in adults, may be they always had it and it got worse or more noticable.
Some of the symptoms look to me like some one who is over tired but who's mind is over active and can't sleep.and become irratable.
It is certainly fashionable to say a difficult child has ADD. But I think some times it is just a phase. though if it persists there is a problem that needs sorting one way or another,


Terry
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Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

[Melody]

Originally Posted by fromthe heart

What are your views of kids on drugs for ADD? Do you feel it will help or hurt more in the long run? Do you think some parents put their kids on these drugs to just cope better with them?

Don't get me started. While there are both children and adults with ADD, it is ridiculously overdiagnosed. If a kid so much as twitches his eyes towards the window after sitting in a desk for 3 hours, the teachers begin screaming "ADD!" and push the parents towards putting the kid on drugs. The absolute worst I've ever heard was an acquantain whose 3 and 5 year old were on Ritalin for ADD. Geez....at that age, you can't even tell whether it's ADD or just a normal toddler! Yes, I think some parents put their kids on drugs because they just can't handle an active toddler and/or they are so busy with their own lives that they don't have time for an active toddler.

My middle son has ADD. I suspected it when he was 6, but it wasn't until he was 9 that it became apparent that his problems were getting worse, rather than better. We chose not to go the Ritalin road and instead taught him coping skills. It was a long, hard battle but he's now 20 years old and a senior, majoring in prelaw at the university. I've only discovered in the last 2 years that my husband is also ADD...but he's also developed some wonderful coping mechanisms.

[Mr Spinkles]

When I was a kid, I was a bit of a wild man....I just could not sit still and be quiet in school, or anywhere else for that matter. I would run off at parks or in department stores, I would roll around like a maniac in the back seat of the car, and I could never remember when homework assignments were due (or even remember half of them being assigned in the first place). I was basically a good kid....I didn't intend to get into trouble, I was just very active and had a personality akin to that of Curious George. I was probably what people today would assume to be a classic case of ADD.

Thankfully, my parents refused to put me on medication, and as I got older I matured and settled down. Many relatives and friends who knew me as a little kid can't believe how much I've changed.

I think medication for ADD is vastly over-prescribed and the long-term effects of it are largely unknown, especially on young kids whose minds and bodies are still developing. Kudos to you, Melody, for giving your kid the best medication of all--good parenting.

[almifkhar]

i have never been a believer in the ADD or ADHD bit. why, because i think that everyone has different personalities and as a result approches life differently than others. some need more attention than others, some can organize while others cant. as far as drugging our youth, i think it is flat out wrong. i think that it is flat out wrong for teachers to coax parents into getting their kids diganosed and drugging them for add or adhd. especially when they use the bit of "your kid would do so much better in school if they were on diganoised and were on these meds crap. i would really like to know what these people are really doing to our kids with these meds, especially when you consider that canada was seriously considering banning ritlin and the like. i'm not sure if they did in fact ban them, but i do know that there was serious debate on the issue. the funny thing is when a parent finally realizes its a schame and refuses to give the child in question the meds, the schools go on the attack. i have personally seen this drama go down, and its not cool.

[Lintu]

I have adult ADD. Because it has geneally been a positive part of my life, I was never medicated for it. It has made me great at multitasking and has gotten me to participate in a lot of different hobbies and activities. There have been a couple of times it was a problem, like when in middle school the algebra teacher would play music during our tests, or in college, when kids would tap tap tap their pens during quizzes. In those situations it's nearly impossible to do anything. I think it's primarily the ADHD that's considered a problem--the hyperactivity part, specifically--and hyperactivity is relatively normal in children. Lack of attention and hyperactive behavior in schools that don't even allow recess or proper phys. ed time is definitely no surprise. The answer is not usually medication, but proper outlets for energy and engaging schoolwork/lessons.

[Scuba Pete]

I have adult ADD as well, and take meds for it. Big whoop! Just don't tell Tom Cruise about it.

[Saw11_2000]

If you need them take them.