What do you think about ADD medication?

Question

Does Tom Cruise have any valid points in his rambling? Is the media just trying to stir up trouble? Give your opinion and some insights.

Answer 1

I myself have ADD and I have two children who have both been tested and diagnosed with ADD. My daughter (who lives with her mother), is part of an ADD research study that is testing the effectiveness of anti-narcolepsy drugs (Modafinil) in treating ADD. Since she has started the study her performance in school has done a complete 180. Prior to the study she was on the verge of being held back a grade because she was unable to assimilate into the school system (which is not designed for the ADD type mentality). Now her grades are excellent and I have seen no adverse reactions or changes in her due to this particular drug.
My son (who lives with me), is not part of the study. Through our doctor we tested the effectiveness of the Ritalin type drugs on him and found the adverse side affects to be unacceptable. He is not receiving treatment and is having a hard time in school. Personally I do not like the idea of treating children with amphetamines as I'm concerned with potential long term damage to them and was relieved that I did not have to make any hard choices in the matter. We are currently working on improving his organizational skills in the hopes of working with the ADD personality type, not so much against it.
My personal experience with ADD has been one of simply being forced to cope. ADD was unrecognized when I was a child and kids such as myself had to learn to adapt or ended up falling through the cracks in the educational system. Neither myself nor my children have the hyperactivity component of ADHD our issue is with an inability to focus on a single subject unless we are particularly interested in the subject; in which case we are able to "hyper-focus". Very few subjects in school are worth hyper-focusing over. Even though my IQ is in the top 1 to 2 percentile in the country I went through school making C's and D's. All of my report cards had the same comments from my instructors... "needs to work harder", "doesn't apply himself", "lacks organizational skills", etc. I feel the hardest part for me was that every one simply assumed I was lazy or being difficult. Ask yourself if any kid would intentionally choose to suffer such constant abuse from their teachers and parents. Eventually you start to believe everything the adults are telling you, that you're just a lazy trouble maker, making their misguided and wrong headed comments into your own personal reality.
My firm opinion is that ADD is no more a disorder than being left handed. Yes, it is clearly a challenge to exist in a world that tailors it's systems to the non ADD majority but it is not a "disorder" to be simply medicated away. I feel that children should only be medicated for ADD as a last resort to help them cope with school. They should not be medicated during spring or summer breaks or to simply make them more "manageable". Once a person is no longer in the school system, ADD has, in my opinion, many unique blessings associated with it and a person with ADD simply needs to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses in order to excel in life.
Ultimately ADD is not a problem with the individual that has it but indicative of a problem with our societies ability to allow for it's existence. This has resulted in a rigid and inflexible education system that seems hell bent on leaving many children behind.
There once was a time when being left handed was considered an unacceptable anomaly and children where forced to learn how to write with their right hand. This practice seems cruel and unnecessary now. Someday I think that our current attitude towards ADD will be looked at in the same light. In the future I believe that ADD will no longer be considered a disorder but simply set of individual personality traits. Perhaps then we can work on helping children to take advantage of these traits instead telling them that something is wrong with them that requires correcting.
The most important point I hope to make is that ADD is not a problem with an individual but a problem with our societies inability to cope with it. Knowing what I know now, if given the option, I may have chosen to be medicated when I was a child simply to allow me to receive the full benefits of a public education. It is after all the easiest way out. Having said that a parent has other options available to them. The best one is to understand how the ADD mind operates and help your child organize his life to cope with an anti-ADD school system. Teaching them how to organize their life will help an ADD personality for the rest of their life. This approach, while preferable to medication, is a very hard route to take and requires a firm commitment and a lot of patience.

Suggested reading:
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
THE EDISON GENE by Thom Hartmann

Answer 2

I think Tom Cruise is a nut! A lot of things he says make no sense and the media just loves watching him make a fool of himself.
ADD meds can be useful in some children. My daughter was diagnosed in 3rd grade. Her concentration was very short because of that she would distract the other classmates. She was tested by 3 Dr's at the time b4 they would give her any meds. And the Ritalin helped some. She would complain that it made her tired. Back then they didn't have any other medslike they do now for ADD. She's 23 now. Last year we found out that all it could have been was depression. Some children actually need this medication and it is right for them. But parents should make sure that it is the right thing to do. Drugs aren't there to make your life easier raising kids. There are other methods available now. Try those first b4 a parent rushes into drugging their kid.

Answer 3

Okay I have a question, Tom Cruise is in to Scientology right? Well that basically means, science right? Well isn't it the scientist the ones who are making these medicines? Aren't they the ones who have done the studies to prove that the medicines work? SO why does Tom Cruise criticize people for what they take, when its his belief in science that is making the products?
I will say this, I have a nephew who is 7 years old. His biological mother (he's adopted into the family) drank while being pregnant, which later the Dr is saying may been the reason he has ADD.
He has trouble focusing more than 5 seconds at a time, can't sit still long enough to eat dinner, can't sleep long enough to get a good night sleep (with out his meds, your lucky 4 hours he may sleep), He's whiny, has mood swings, is very well disciplined though, very talkative, can't keep quiet for 5 seconds.

So for those who think its wrong to give a child any meds for this, tell me have you been around someone like this? If so how long? If not, would you be willing to be locked in a room for one day with a child like this?

Answer 4

Tom Cruise is WACKO! No there are no valid points in his rambling. He thinks and speaks of nothing but Scientology jargon that makes absolutely no sense. The media is infatuated with Tom Cruise because he is a joke and easy to get a rise out of him. Plus they make tons of money off of the info. As for ADD meds- I don't think we should medicate the youth of America. If you cant deal with it then too bad.

Answer 5

Tom Cruise, well, who knows. Concerta worked on my child after I fought tooth and nail ignoring the problem. Time with children, family, structure... it just did not work even though I was doing all of it previously. Yeah, I think it's overkill, too many ADD, ADHD, but my child can actually have a conversation and listen where before I did not have that. Had no problem whatsoever with my first child. So I do not see anything we did wrong with the 2nd child. Oh, and by the way, Ty from Extreme Makeover is ADD. This information I received from my pediatric office.

Answer 6

Diagnostics is so critical here, since the meds can create a lifelong problem, including later self-medication.

My child, fortunately, was seen by an occupational therapist prior to our acceptance of observations by "experts." She was subsequently diagnosed not as ADD/ADHD, but with sensory seeking behavior, some of which can shadow other issues.

After several months of therapy, she is much better. Occupational Therapy all the way for these kids. Do NOT go without alternate diagnosis and information prior to meds!

Unfortunately, the symptoms are not recognized by many insurance plans, and the cost is not covered. Terrible situation.

Answer 7

Firstly, Attention Deficit Disorder is a real medical condition, and a genuine learning disorder.

Secondly, medications presently available are effective in fighting it.

Unfortunately, I tend to believe the vast majority of American children diagnosed with ADD don't actually have it. A large part of what is being diagnosed as ADD is a lack of discipline at home.

Too many parents suffer from social attention defecit; a non-medical condition in which they misprioritize their time and values, and consequently don't spend time with their kids. As a result, these children are following their parents' examples.

ADD Diagnostic procedures need to be more standardized and controlled, to keep such drugs from being misused and abused.

There are children and adults out there who really need these meds, but using drugs to control your child's behavior problems is blatant child abuse. I think there are far too many children out there being raised by pills, rather than parents, and that's a shame.

Answer 8

Well, I like to consider myself a 'expert" on this topic. My son is ADD and ADHD and ODD and let me just tell you what!! If a person is ADD why on earth would you want them to go through the things that they do and suffer cause they cant focus long enough and in my sons case set still long enough to THINK with out the proper meds its not a choice for them . I think that ADD medication is different for everyone, certain ones dont work for my son and they do for others and then some do work for him, so I think that its what works for who ya know? That may cause some issues for some people that they all work different for different people but damn I can eat a big mac and gain a pound and then my husband will lose a pound so were all different the way our bodies are made up and I think that our minds and bodies respond differently to different meds. So all in and all ADD meds have saved my sanity and my sons future :)

Answer 9

I would never give medication to my child for this. It is usually teachers that are telling parents to medicate their children so that they do not have to deal with them. I think that the medication is a cop-out. I also know people who were medicated as a child and then taken off of it once they became an adult. Every single one that I know then got hooked on meth. they were so dependent on the meds as a child that now they have to seek illegal drugs to take care of their addictions that the doctors and their parents have left them with.
I had seen a program on the issue and they had stated that in most cases it is because the child does not achieve REM when they are asleep. Therefore they are restless and distracted during the day.

Answer 10

I think Tom Cruise is a kook and we only hear what he's rambling on about because he is a celebrity. Celebrity does not make his views credible. As for ADD medication. It has its place. There are certainly children who can benefit from it. My concern is that it is prescribed far too often for children who do not have ADD, but are just normal, energetic, vibrant, noisy children. "My child is getting on my nerves so give me a drug that will calm him/her down."

Answer 11

It's all about selling drugs, unfortunately. They'd have kids on viagra if people didn't think it sounded too bad, or any other drug they could make money from for that matter. ADD is just a result of adapting to rapid influx of information (from TV cuz parents these days basically let the TV raise their kids, largely) and then being bored/uninterested in slow institutional education methods.