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57 CHANNELS & NOTHING'S ON - Lately, certain behaviors, loosely grouped and termed ADD/ADHD(Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) have been getting lots of press. According to many physicians, the mainstream press and many educators, ADD/ADHD is on the rise. Parents worry, and people(especially children) are labeled, medicated and told the possibly self-fulfilling prophesy, that they are seriously out of adjustment.
Current estimates by the National Institute for Mental Health are that 15 million Americans have ADD/ADHD ; the majority of them not knowing they have "it".
I freely acknowledge my "classic symptoms" of ADD:
- easily distracted and engaged in new activities;
- quick to tire of monotonous pursuits;
- prone to blurting out or writing what immediately comes to mind, "Damn the Consequences!";
- frequently late to appointments, etc.;
- full of energy(usually);
- and yet, testing high on conventional intelligence tests.
Now in my fourth decade of life, I have come to grips with this "affliction"; in part, because I see these same behavior patterns in some of my children, my siblings and my father (the "experts" pretty much agree there is an inherited component.)
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My Experience:
As a child, I suffered greatly from several bouts of tonsillitis each year, causing me to miss nearly half of each school year (I won't bore you with why I had to suffer so long.) At home, building toys, broken appliances I could pull apart (and eventually put back together), my crystal radio set, a small microscope, an old piano in the basement and LOTS of books were my companions (no TV; we didn't own one.)These extended "vacations" made coming back to school a welcome diversion. However, once the tonsils came out, school became a prison sentence: curriculum "dumbed-down" to the slowest students in our lower working-class neighborhood; identical classrooms, containing almost identical teachers; and knowledge dripped sloooowly onto our sponge-like brains by almost identical monotone voices.
My "sponge" usually dried up completely between those droplets. A serious lack of stimulation.
So I daydreamed, and I played class clown, and I raced through my schoolwork in record time with high scores on tests; but, assignments were often late or very messy, having been done on the morning they were due. Teacher's notes on report cards often mentioned "procrastination", "day-dreaming" and "not working up to potential".
In high school the pace of life picked up, and that was good; at least in regard to the restless feelings in my head. There were just so many distractions, so many choices, so many worthwhile projects. I was an honor roll student, but I was never invited to join the National Honors Society group in my high school; apparently, they thought I was too much of a "flake".
I didn't go on to college; instead, I banged around at different jobs, hitchhiked up and down the eastern side of the United States, and finally settled into a trainee's program with a precision tool manufacturer.
Now THAT kept me occupied: trainee's were allowed to learn as fast as we wanted, essentially rising to our "highest level of incompetence"and profitability for the company. Today I work in a fast-paced law office as a paralegal, responsible for maintaining the network and all work stations, in addition to handling some of the files that are in litigation. So much for my "affliction" being debilitating
Are We Actually Sick?
In The Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, Dr. Peter Breggin, M.D., notes that the American Psychiatric Association's criteria for ADD diagnosis specifies that symptoms may become apparent when a child is in settings "that lack intrinsic appeal or novelty" and may be minimal or absent when "the person is under strict control, is in a novel setting, is in especially interesting activities". Dr.Breggin believes that the criteria identifies children (and adults) who are bored, anxious or angry and that there is no need to blame the ADD person for an environment that simply doesn't match their energy level.Richard Vatz, M.D. opines, "Attention-deficit disorder (ADD) is no more a disease than is í 'excitability.' It is a psychiatric, pseudo-medical term." My personal experience and observations would certainly lead me to agree.
A number of physicians, including Dr.Breggin, are also of the opinion that there are no objective physical differences in the brains of ADD and non-ADD individuals; they condemn the results of studies regarding positron emission tomography (PET scans) as having been manipulated to create "good press" and justification for physician's to medicate. As one doctor put it," Attempts to define a biological basis for ADHD have been consistently unsuccessful. The neuroanatomy (physical structure) of the brain, as demonstrated by neuroimaging studies, is normal. No neuropathologic substrate has been demonstrated..." ; in other words, there is no physical evidence to prove ADD has a physical affliction.
Is Medication the Answer?
The most common drugs for treating ADD/ADHD, fall into the class of stimulants. Stimulants have a paradoxical affect of calming the ADD person, by disengaging them from their real feelings, leaving them more willing to concentrate on boring, repetitive tasks. Physician James Swanson offers that," doses which make ADHD children more 'somber','quiet' and 'still' may produce social isolation by increasing 'time spent alone' and decreasing 'time spent in positive interaction."At a recent school talent show I quipped to my wife,"Gee, they have every twirling, misbehaving kid (including ours') we know here." All the young poets, the actors, the young musicians; all the kids that adults are prone to yell at to behave were there. I wonder: how many potential artists, musicians, writers, engineers and other creative thinkers are being medicated out of existence?
The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Psychopharmacology volunteers ," It is beyond our scope to discuss whether or not such behavioral control is desirable."
There is also the chemistry of the medications to be considered: textbooks of the American Psychiatric Association point out that abuse patterns for Ritalin (the most commonly prescribed stimulant for ADD/ADHD), cocaine and amphetamines are exactly the same; that people cannot tell their clinical effects apart in laboratory tests; and that these drugs can all be substituted for each other in addicted animals!
Even the mainstream media has reported how children often sell their prescribed stimulants to classmates and drug counselors often report, anecdotally, that many individuals "graduated" from prescribed stimulants, to alcohol or street drugs.
Consider, although no brain abnormalities have been identified in ADD/ADHD children, one study found brain shrinkage in adults who have taken Ritalin (methylphenidate) for years. There is also abundant medical documentation verifying that children on stimulants do not reach their full growth potential or weight.
The Medication Club
Obviously, the doctors, parents and organizations who favor medication are in complete disagreement with the physicans and studies sited above. Children with Attention Deficit Disorders (Ch.A.D.D. is an organization for parents of children labeled ADD/ADHD. Their leadership's beliefs, as stated by CH.A.A.D. president Sandra F.Thomas(1992),"Our kids have a neurological impairment that is pervasive and affects every area of their life, day and night."
Their literature also rejects the idea that parental influences or society are even part of the problem, "On the contrary, ADD children usually cause their parents to be frustrated, upset, and anxious." Physicians and drug companies obviously could have a vested interest in perpetuating a drug-based methodology.
I personally worry about statements such as,"CH.A.D.D. appreciates the generous contribution of an educational grant in support of our projects by CIBA-Geigy Corporation."
CIBA-Geigy manufactures Ritalin, the stimulant that dominates the ADD/ADHD medication market. I found particularly unsettling this quote from a CH.A.D.D. Educators Manual,"Attention Deficit Disorder is a hidden disability. No physical marker exists to identify its presence, yet ADD is not very hard to spot. Just look with your eyes and listen with your ears when you walk through places where children are-particularly those places where children are expected to behave in a quiet, orderly, and productive fashion. In such places, children with ADD will identify themselves quite readily. They will be doing or not doing something which frequently results in their receiving a barrage of criticisms such as "Why don't you ever listen?" "Think before you act." "Pay attention.""
Those same words might apply to many of history's "stand out" figures: Jesus of Nazareth, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Malcolm X. Too compulsive, or just not complacent?
Closing Thoughts
Our editor, Rod Amis, in his recent article "City Lights and Civilization", bemoaned the lack of quality information and knowledge: I agree completely. I believe that our modern, fast paced society, with it's limited thought/limited struggle mentality and activities, is a disaster for the ADD/ADHD child, and adult.Manufactured products are not designed for repair or tinkering which would stimulate the mind of inquisitive individuals; children and adults are hard pressed to find companions for interaction, due to the proliferation of computerized games and diversions; and, creative individuals of every stripe are being relegated to the perimeter of society, as the fine arts, literature and entertainment become "team-efforts", rather than examples of "personal bests". And channel-surfing with the TV remote, the blip, the sound bite. Come on kids, let's see what's on!
Top Ten Reasons I Love My "ADD"
10.Ability to "multitask" - just wish the operating system was stabler.9. Watching TV sports is out of the question.
8. Due to reason number 9, complete babe magnet during football season.
7. Reruns always seem fresh.
6. Ignoring irritating people comes naturally.
5. LOTS of energy.
4. SPONTANEITY!(wink-wink)
3. Everything IS interconnected
2. No ugly past; least not that I can remember.
1. I'M ALWAYS FASHIONABLY LATE!
RDR RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE DAY: Hold onto your hats! You're not going to believe this! You know who we believe maintains one of the coolest sites on the WWW? The United States Internal Revenue Service. That's right. Take a look for yourself. You're welcome.
