is ADHD just an excuse because parents cant control their kids??

Question

i dont mean to offend anyone but this was never in the news 5+ years ago, is it just something the professionals conjoured up to label all the badly behaved children there are in the country????

jazlouz- yes i am lol

im glad people havent been offended and i appreciate your experiences which have helped me learn some more about the condition x

Answer 1

This is an interesting point, I can certainly see where youre coming from. I think that ADHD has probably been around for a lot longer than we realise, but it has onyl just now got its label, the same as things like dyslexia, IBS etc - the symptoms have always been around bu no one knew what they meant.

I think some parents (we know the type - good ol'd jeremy Kyle guests namely!) use ADHD as an excuse to be bad parents, however when a child is diagnosed by a doctor as having ADHD you cant really argue.

I think part of the problem is also the rise in use of addictives, preservatives, chemicals etc in food, and indeed the environment. This has a detrimental effect in so many ways and I personally think a lot of illnesses and allergies have been aggrevated by these unnatural products being present more than in the past. I for one suffer a lot more with my IBS now than when first diagnosed 10 years ago and I swear a lot of it to do to with whats in my food.

Hope this gives you another side to your question xx

Answer 2

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition that becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. It is hard for these children to control their behavior and/or pay attention. It is estimated that between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 25 to 30 children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD.

ADHD was first described by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman in 1845 so it has actually been around alot longer than the past 5 years! A physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry, Dr. Hoffman was also a poet who became interested in writing for children when he couldn't find suitable materials to read to his 3-year-old son. The result was a book of poems, complete with illustrations, about children and their characteristics. "The Story of Fidgety Philip" was an accurate description of a little boy who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yet it was not until 1902 that Sir George F. Still published a series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in England in which he described a group of impulsive children with significant behavioral problems, caused by a genetic dysfunction and not by poor child rearing—children who today would be easily recognized as having ADHD.1 Since then, several thousand scientific papers on the disorder have been published, providing information on its nature, course, causes, impairments, and treatments.

A child with ADHD faces a difficult but not insurmountable task ahead. In order to achieve his or her full potential, he or she should receive help, guidance, and understanding from parents, guidance counselors, and the public education system. This document offers information on ADHD and its management, including research on medications and behavioral interventions, as well as helpful resources on educational options.

Answer 3

Oh my goodness no its not I have adhd im 37 and so does my son hes 10 i work for the adhd foundation it is a very very real thing that is grossly misunderstood! your brain works totally differently than other peoples badly behaved kids do not have adhd kids who have adhd who are undiagnosed and therefore untreated can get very frustrated but I think there is a gross mis understanding of the condition....I could get on my soap box for hrs but wont if your really interested look at the searches on google .....

Answer 4

I think there are a number of things causing children mental health issues. Children are not getting outside to get enough fresh air and excersize. They have become little couch potatoes that do nothing but watch television and play video games. Children are not being supervised while doing either of these activities. Children are learning things they are too young to learn. I think ADHD is very real but I also think our country and our changing culture is part of the problem. Chemical, poor environments, lack of supervision, lack of consistency in their lives, poor nutrition, and just a lack of good role modeling seems to be the norm these days. Our country needs to spend some time, money and energy on taking care of our children and the family structures before it is to late.

However, with that said; ADHD is real and there is a chemical imbalance generally that can be medicated. However; the medication can be scarry and has to be monitored very closely. My nephew had ADD and he is successfully medicated finally. They first gave him something that made him not eat or sleep and he was like a zombie but he is on something now that works very well. He tried to go off his medication but he is more successful medicated.

Answer 5

No, my son has ADHD and I can control him just fine. And actually ADD has been around for a long time. They only added the H because most ADD children are also hyper. He just cannot sit still when it comes to enviorments where he needs to such as school. He is not badly behaved at all...

Answer 6

I have worked with children with genuine ADHD and you can tell the difference to a child just being naughty. They are absolutley manic like they are 'in the zone' for want of a better phrase.
If you are in any doubt volunteer to work with kids with this disorder and you will not doubt that it is real.
I do agree that some parents just use it as an excuse!!

Answer 7

Actually, it's been 'in the news' considerably longer than 5 years...with all the new developments and research in the field, ADHD has been found to have its roots in a learning disability issue coupled with a brain chemical imbalance. Not a result of bad or ineffective parenting.

Answer 8

No, and I personally think that they should do some more studying on it and the effects it has on teenagers and young adults, especially in the event of criminal activities. I often wonder how many kids that are in juvenile and young adult facilities that actually have ADD or ADHD when they were young, and never diagnosed, and how it may have contributed to their being locked up.

Answer 9

I would say no. My son has ADHD. He is of the strain which is inattentive rather than the stereotypical ADHD sufferer who bounces like Tigger!

It is however used as an excuse for kids to steal cars, so I understand where this question comes from.

Answer 10

No
Some poor parents have to deal with these kids day in day out,but I do believe that bad parenting has lead to some mis diagnoses on Doctors parts and those parents are only happy to let their kids be as doped up as them, if you get my drift.
I watch a programme on it once and they were a great family cept, they all had it even the Grandad,it was a real eye opener.