do you believe adhd is areal condtion?

Answer 1

People who don't "believe in" ADHD have never lived with it - either by having it, or loving someone who has it. Even when you think you understand it, it is still very frustrating.

My son showed early signs when he was in preschool, which we didn't pick up on until his kindergarten teacher expressed her concern about him. We spoke to our pediatrician, who recommended a psychologist. The psychologist met with us, and communicated with his teacher about her observations. Even after the initial diagnosis, we were still skeptical. The doctors prescribed a low dose of medication, which we gave him, but we didn't tell his teacher. We wanted to see if she would notice a difference on her own. A few weeks later we had a conference with her and she couldn't stop telling us how happy she was for our son. (On the 2nd or 3rd day at school after starting the medication, she was praising him for something & he mentioned taking a pill that morning.) We verified that he was taking medication and she said that his days were 100% better. L

Looking back on his life, this diagnosis makes a lot of other things make sense...like when he had an operation & they gave him medication that was supposed to mellow him out & it did just the opposite...and why drinking Mountain Dew calmed him down instead of making him go crazy.

Sure, there are those out there who have behavior problems that use being "hyper" as an excuse for not functioning well in society. But people who are properly diagnosed do have a very REAL condition that can be treated with whatever method works best for them (medication, dietary, etc.)

Answer 2

It is 100% real and people who try and pass it off as a farce are damaging those who are suffering from the condition. It is a physical ailment whereby the brain metabolizes sugar at a slower rate than what is normal. As a result, the brain tries to compensate by misfiring synanpsis, causing confusion, distractability, hyperactvity,etc...The most common treatment for ADHD is stimulant drugs, which at first didn't make any sense to me...why would you give a stimilant to someone who already acts plenty stimulated? My mother, who is a psychologist, explained that the stimulants speed up the metabolism in the brain, thus preventing the "misfiring" to compensate and allows the brain to funtion as it should. I don't believe that every child diagnosed with it actualyl has it, and there are different degrees of ADHD. My husband is a grown man with ADHD and because his father refused to believe that he had the condition (it was just something the medical industry made up to get more money out of people) and decided to label him as a "problem child" instead, he grew up getting into trouble and has been unable to cope very well as an adult. Some children may be able to handle it without medication, others suffer so severly that an attitude of "I don't want to put my child on drugs" will actually do more harm than good. Also, very important is to get children with ADHD proper counseling so they can learn and incorporate coping tools into their lives...things that will help keep them stay on track. The behavior without these coping mechanisms may be more acceptable in children, but it can ruin the life of an adult. We have been married for years and working hard to help him cope with his ADHD, but he wasn't even able to hold down a job until this year (he is 35). Do not deny the condition, but don't try and force everyone into the same diagnosis and don't try and force the diagnosed into the same treatment.

Answer 3

I believe ADHD is diagnosed too often, because it covers quite a wide variety of conditions. It still is a difficult diagnosis, and difficult to understand. Autism is also another example of difficult to diagnose and understand conditions, because whilst some cases are obvious, some are not so obvious. Even if people do not accept ADHD, and believe that it is an excuse for bad behaviour, they cannot deny that these are people that have conditions which are not normal, and need to be identified. They could be allergies, forms of autism, forms of mental illness or trauma or defects or complications from illnesses and anything else that causes a range of similar symptoms that cannot be explained. But not normal bad behaviour. Whatever, they are people that wish for the right diagnosis and treatment

Answer 4

No

I think that it is a condition defined by psychologists and teachers in order to cull out students who don't fit the "standard factory settings" of the public school system.

Studies show that most ADHD students are gifted and active later in life.

If a child is not being challenged in a school program their attention is going to be diverted to anything that strikes their fancy. Including drawing attention to themselves (which is a different problem completely).

In addition Ritalin which acts as a depressant in children is actually a stimulant in adults. An age determinant drug, imagine that!

Kids that are "diagnosed" with ADHD need to be put in more challenging, less organzied, more free learning enviroments where they will be allowed to learn by exploring and encouraged to be active.

Now I talked about most ADHD kids, what about the others? Often they have learning disabilities and suffer the same problems because they shut off their interest, instead of being bored.

Either way, it is a joint effort of school systems, parents, doctors, and drug companies to keep the children dependant and drugged instead of spending quality time with them and letting them feel loved while they learn at their own pace.

Answer 5

Yes, it's a real condition. My son was diagnosed back in the early 70's when he was 7. That led to all the family taking a look at all the rest of the kids and ourselves. I would say that in my family, adult and child adhd is present in the same family unit. I was also diagnosed adhd in adulthood. It's real and very frustrating without proper help.....if you think you have adhd, get help somewhere.

Answer 6

It is a very serious condition and can ruin a person's life from the early years of childhood onwards.
And it has nothing to do with "believe". Medicine is based on facts.

Answer 7

ADHD is real. It may be somewhat overdiagnosed and definitely overmedicated, but it is real.
People who think that ADHD is just an "excuse" should thank their lucky stars that they have the luxury of not having to wonder "What's wrong with me?"

Answer 8

As it is listed in all its variations in the DSM-IV (a diagnostic manual for the Amercian Psychiatric Association), it is therefore recognized as a factual disorder and hence a very real condition.

Answer 9

Yes. My friend's brother has it and he is a thoroughly normal boy but when he gets nervous or excited, it seems worse. It seems, in him, a little like Teretz, when he feels strong emotions, it is worse. Some people, however, are just attention seeking, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish each one.

Answer 10

No,I think adhd can be handled without medicine,my 5 year old has it and he don't take medicine,he is fine,but it takes alot of patience and love