Do you think television is a "symptom" of children with ADD or ADHD?

Question

ADD and ADHD are some of the most commonly diagnosed things in children today. Is it parental laziness? Not enough Discipline? Are school systems just tired of seeing children not paying attention or being "too active"? What are your thoughts on this?

Answer 1

I've read articles that a kid's diet can display symtoms of ADD or ADHD. They did studies on school age children that have been diagnosed as such, and then tried experimenting with their diet by eliminating food flavoring, additives, sugary foods such as soda, and discovered that their symptoms dramatically improved in this group study. PLEASE read John Robbin's book, The Food Revolution.

Television is a symptom of almost everything that is wrong in this world. In this household we do not watch TV anymore and have found that we have better communication, connect better emotionally and all in all your interpersonal skills increase dramactically. You will also find that you buy less "stuff" at the store.

In today's society, kids are not disciplined or paid much attention too from overstressed, overworked parents, or from divorce etc. Everything in itself creates a problem.

Answer 2

ADD and ADHD symptoms can be present if any part of the child's or person's life is sent into a tailsspin or out of balance - even a tiny bit.

If you are a parent...you are speaking to an ADD 23 year old that has been pointed at for bad behaviour my entire life and not working in school...it's incredibly stressful and the pressure exerted on a child when their life is scattered and to see people in the morning is depressing is more than people imagine.

I was on Ritalin, Prozac and another mood stabalizer with a C (can't remember the name). The woman (my principal at the time) cannot look me in the eye because she has realised that she made a mistake putting me on Ritalin and been such a cow to me - an 11 yr old! a kid! growing up into what exactly? A hard working, friendly individual or a co-dependent b*tch. you guessed it. the latter. now I have to work for the other and balance it. It's NOT EASY. do the work while you can by putting limits lovingly and making sure the kid understands WHY, WHEN, HOW, WHO, WHERE he/she made a mistake and the consequences age related (not bad but enough to make an awareness to be present - use a word to describe the action and what you would like to see and that as this is not you, he/she has to make the change. They'll thank you for it later on. trust me.

As with dieting everything needs to be done in moderation.

Please understand what a disorder is before asking a question like this.

TV is a wonderful distraction for kids...they find an excuse not to do chores and homework. So NO, it's NOT a SYMPTOM!

A runny nose or phlegm-y cough is a symptom of flu. for example.

any more questions? hope I shed some light for you? Good Luck in you Quest for Q&A.

Answer 3

Don't recognize, but. The treatment he was once on wasn't doing something however make him sleepy. In any case, he is not totally unmanageable besides. He simply will get annoyed plenty and can not pay attention or take a seat down. He's fourteen and was once identified approximately a month in the past. There's a change among ADHD and totally unmanageable kids. There could also be a few correlation however even the ones youngsters with ADHD may also be doable with the proper subject.

Answer 4

Television has nothing to do with ADD or ADHD. Not parental lazines nor discipline. Its not the school system.The level of this discease varies from child to child. Children with this discease (my son) tend to have higher expectations of their abilities than what they are capable of. They want to be able to do everything "now". Their focus is from one thing to another and another and another. The majority of these children do well at school as far as grades, not behavior. They are easily frustrated. They usually do well at sports because their focus is on many aspects of the game, not just the position they are playing. They seem to need constant stimuli because their brain activity is above what would be considered normal. Medication helps, but what is more benificial is a good diet. As these children grow, the discease starts to fade. But, not in all cases. Again, it depends on their diet as well as parental guidence, helping the child understand the discease and how they can help themselves conquer it. My son is only receiving 1/2 of his original doses by my request to his doctors. He is doing just as well as he was with the full dosage. He is 12 and by the time he is 13/14, he should be just like any other kid without the medication.

Answer 5

I believe ADD is a chemical imbalance in the brain. There are many differences between a child who's parents are lazy, compared to a child who's parents are active in their personal life and education and yet the child has a serious A.D.D problem. It's all a matter of taking control of the problem then everything else falls into place. I know there are some children who act like apes because of lacking in parental watch. Then you will have those honest ones who do have a problem and are better for getting it fixed. You should really delve into the subject it's quite interesting.

Answer 6

Symptom: a phenomenon that arises from and accompanies a particular disease or disorder and serves as an indication of it; a sign or indication of something.

"Television" isn't a symptom of anything, it's just television. A symptom is something like the blisters that arise to show that you have chicken pox.
Do you mean - are ADD & ADHD related to watching television? Is watching television a precursor?
I watch tv on occasion, as do most people of the world, and I don't have ADHD or ADD, so no, the two things are not pathologically related.
It may combine with other predisposing factors to help progress these two conditions. But it is generally accepted that ADD & ADHD is from genetic heritage.

Answer 7

The brain chemistry and functioning of children has changed with the advent of new technologies. Television and its constant commercial breaks have shortened attention spans, the Internet has created a desire for immediate fulfillment of wants, and video games have created new spatial concepts of reality. So while television and ADD may not have a direct link, many children who act different than their parents, or even old siblings, may be diagnosed as such because of the lack of understanding in how children's brains are affected by the outside stimuli.

Answer 8

I have an 11yr. old daughter with ADHD and she is very into the television. Its like everything she watches is sort of real to her. She will sit for hours in front of the TV if I let her. So I don't think that if they watch alot of TV that it makes us bad parents, we just have children who know a little more than other children because of it. It all depends on what they are watching, that we should be aware of. If its good then I let her watch it. If its about girls and boys, and making out then I try to keep her away from it as much as I possibly can, but alot of the TV shows anymore have alot of that in them so its hard to monitor everything that she watches.

Answer 9

Hi, this is a good question, so I'll just answer it from my view

I was diagnosed with ADD at 13 years after years of struggling with homework and periods of depressions and seconds later acting as if nothing bad had ever happened....

I went to a private school and my parents were always helping me and encouraging me to learn things from a young age.. without forcing things on to me or expecting anything from me. I was only interested in watching tv on the saterday mornings because I preferred running around and playing games or dancing with friends outside the rest of the times... and saterday mornings had the BEST cartoons back in those days!! and even now I only watch tv for eastenders if I remember....

so even though I feel I was lucky in my upbringing than my friends were, they are the ones who are stuck to their pcs and tvs and dvds and game boys and breaking fights and acting all depressed yet I am the one classified as ADD, just cause they're so jealous Im happy and friendly and jumpy jumpy all the time!

Answer 10

It's not a "symptom" but it definitely contributes to the problem.

I"m sure that teachers are frustrated not paying attention. They put so much effort into lesson plans, grading, lectures, and so much more..they get frustrated when they don't get any respect. And I totally understand that.

If you have kids, pull 'em away from the T.V.

=)