people now say ADHD is not real

I'll post this here

since a couple of years ago we have 1-5 children in every class with this condition it seems like now people are saying that ADHD is not a real condition. I blame this rise on the government saying you can't discipline a child or parent will get into real trouble.

Before you have a go at me I believe that ADHD is real but not in every case that they say that have be told they have ADHD. You see I have seen the real ADHD in my mother's cousin's 15 year son.

ADHD a real condition or just a myth ?

please share your thoughts on this

I feel that in some cases, it can be very real. But in most cases, it's an excuse for bad parenting.

It's definitely real, there's just a lot of people who say they have it when they really don't.

Ill say from personal experience that ADHD is a very real condition, i was diagnosed with ADHD when i was 5 and ive always noticed that ive had more trouble with things such as sitting still and focusing on things that im not interested in (see: school) than the average population. I'm also very forgetful which can be associated with ADHD as well i guess. I really dont think theres anyone who will disagree that ADHD is grossly overdiagnosed though, at the moment i think that at least half the people diagnosed with ADHD these days dont have it at all, and are just being labeled with the condition for a variety of reasons such as poor behavior, poor parenting, or poor teaching skills.

Some rare cases are real but the majority of cases are fake.

Todays parents are lazy. The majority of parents would rather load their kid up with drugs and hope for the best, instead of actually doing their damn jobs and parenting.

This is like behavior disorders, imo. I think it can get misdiagnosed often, and in those cases it probably is bad parenting. But there are kids and adults alike that really do have it and struggle. It's real, just misdiagnosed imo.

Most of the time it's an excuse for bad behavior, we live in an age where nothings our fault. Most kids are spastic, they need to be brought outside to run around and burn energy, but leaving them with the xbox is a lot easier.

I don't agree with medicating small children for it either, it's too easy to misdiagnose. Growing up in the early 90's everyone kinda went crazy with these medications for a bit and lots of kids who were just energetic or spirited were doped up just because teachers and parents didn't want to deal with them or were over loaded with large classes.

It is real. For sure.

But there are also a lot of children who are simply misbehaving who are slapped with the same label. I think that reflects poorly upon those who legitimately have a problem.

It's very real, in fact, I have a pretty severe case of it.

To give you an idea of what it's like: When trying to do work of any sort, whether it's difficult or not, my muscles tighten up, I get light headed, and fidgety. I start to shiver even if I'm not cold, I notice everything going on around me, my clothes begin to bug me, and I have to constantly rub my eyes because I can feel my eyelashes getting tangled together, and a bunch of other crap... and this is VERY minor compared to what it was like when I was a kid.

When doing homework, I have to rely on getting in "the zone", meaning that if the conditions are just right I'll be able to tunnel vision on what I'm currently working on, even if it's really difficult/boring. At that point, I've become completely focused on one thing, and don't even notice anything else going on around me... unlike normal where I get distracted every two seconds, and space out constantly. However, if I'm even remotely tired, or hungry, or if there are any distracting noises, or someone messages me or w/e, it's not possible to get in "the zone". Meaning that I can really only do work under completely ideal conditions, and otherwise it's completely futile.

Ritalin basically forces me into the zone whether I need to be or not... the best way I can describe it is that it literally makes your mind see things through tunnel vision, allowing you to ignore any other distractions, which is why it works so well... though it has very severe side effects, costs over $400 a month, and the older I get the less it seems to help, so I no longer take it.

So yeah, there's a glimpse into what it's like to actually have it. Being disobedient or lazy is not the same thing as having ADHD. In fact, I've always been obedient, and am very very motivated and dedicated to succeeding in what I do... though I'm sure it seems like I'm lazy because I have ADHD.

Also thanks for wasting my lunch... I was supposed to finish up my programming homework, but I couldn't let this thread go without responding to it because this is such an important issue to me. lol

I find it hilarious that now a days if parents don't teach discipline then they're considered 'bad parents' but if they do then they're considered abusive and could go to jail.
How's a good parent supposed to act then U.S.?

But I digress.
Who exactly are these 'people' that are dismissing ADHD as fantasy? Surely not all cases are truely accurate, but to proclaim all as such is preposterous.

The smart people who know about these things say it's real so I believe them. Anything can be misdiagnosed. I don't think misdiagnoses are as common as people say. I tend to think that's there's some level of subconscious prejudice running through a lot of talk of people who have disorders like ADHD and autism simply because most of us don't really know much about it (myself included).

There's this word I heard used recently. Neurodiversity. I don't really want to speak to it since I'm not well informed, but it seems like an interesting concept, that accepting people who have different brains might be the next step in equality and civil rights.

Rococo said:

Who exactly are these 'people' that are dismissing ADHD as fantasy? Surely not all cases are truely accurate, but to proclaim all as such is preposterous.

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I've literally heard a fairly respectable 30 something year old guy tell a 14 year old kid to smoke pot instead of taking Ritalin because they thought that ADD wasn't real.

ADHD is a very real disorder that can have horrible affects on peoples lives. I have seen people with a lot of potential ruined by their inability to focus on a single subject for long enough. The problem isn't that the disorder doesn't exist, like everyone says it is that it is misdiagnosed so often that it has become nearly impossible to tell the difference between a person with a real problem and a person whose parents were too lazy to admit their kid was just lazy, misbehaved and more interested in non-beneficial pursuits.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/02/eliminate-diagnosis-adhd.html
http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/...n-4-adults-who-seek-treatment-dont-have-adhd/

The saddest thing about ADHD is that everyone, if asked the correct questions, can be diagnosed with it.

Edit

Here's a list of symptoms from Wikipedia.

Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty maintaining focus on one task
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new or trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Not seem to listen when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions.

Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type symptoms may include
Fidget and squirm in their seats
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities

and also these manifestations primarily of impulsivity:
Be very impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games

When I was younger a lot of these applied to me - As they did to every child in my class.

Thankfully my parents, instead of taking me to the doctors so I can get doped up, let me get old and actually mature. And now, only a few things on this list applies to me.

Think about it - If I went to the doctors, I'd be diagnosed with ADHD. But now that I'm older, I wouldn't be. Ask yourselves this, with as many things that are considerer ADHD symptoms - How many immature children are being drugged up because their parents don't want to wait for their children to mature with age? And heres another thing - Even under these drugs the child would still mature and these symptoms wouldn't apply to them anymore. But they would still remain on the drugs because the parents and doctors would attribute their maturity to these drugs, instead of their age.

Edit - Semi-related. More attempts to turn aspects of our humanity into diseases.
http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.co...oses-on-the-horizon-from-the-dsm-5-committee/

Insomniac said:

Definitely.

My brother has SEVERE ADHD and I can tell you it is VERY real. He CANNOT sit down for more than 3 minutes at a time and even then he can't focus at all if he is excited. Kind of like a puppy really. Unless it's something he really loves he always gets up and walks around for entertainment.

At the dinner table if no one is talking very much he starts walking around the kitchen and then comes back to his food to take a bite or two until someone tells him to sit.

And in the morning (and when he showers) CONSTANT tonedeaf horribly memorized lyrics singing. He does not have the attention span to remember how a simple riff in a song goes or the first couple words. When he sings most of the time you can't even tell what he is singing except for a key line in the lyrics everyone notices. It's horrible and hilarious.
In the shower, he constantly makes blooooop noises and lalalalallalala's and stupid stuff like that.

I don't know how I can tolerate him, but hey. He's awesome, he just can't focus.

I've met some people who "have" ADHD (my former friend Mary for ex).. There is no way she is ADHD.
It is simply this: Her mother lets her do what she wants and doesn't care about discipline that much. So when Mary doesn't enjoy something it's not that she can't focus, it's just that she is trying to get away from it because it works in her household.
She is also a big poser and pretends to be all these different things. It's just.. ugh.

That is an example

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How old is he? Usually people with ADHD grow out of the H as they get older, so if you friend had ADHD when she was younger and then grew out of it, it may seem like she doesn't have ADHD, because she actually has ADD at that point, which is a lot less noticeable. I was exactly the same as your brother until sometime in high school. My elementary school actually had someone come into class to obvserve me one day, and I apparently was out of my seat doing who knows what 19 times, and cried for no apparent reason 3 times before recess. I was completely oblivious to it though, and recall feeling completely betrayed that my mom let them do that to me. lol

I don't doubt that the condition of ADHD is very real. Heck, some friends of mine actually have it.

But sometimes people just kinda claim they have it to get away with stuff, because "they can't help it". That's when I call shenanigans.

Where I'm from, parents would rather die than admit their child is different from others. But ADHD is very, very real. When I was 3, I was Diagnosed with both ADHD and autism. I'm sixteen now, and it's like I'm not of the same species. I have to take medication each morning and afternoon just to make me bearable. Saying ADHD isn't real is like saying the common cold isn't real: it is, but as soon as you're getting a sniffy nose you say you're getting a cold.

It's real after you've gone through it for a couple years, even with "traditional" treatments (eg self-discipline). Then you have no reason not to say that something other than your bad habits is the cause.

If you're having it a week or two since or you've never even tried to fix it, you need to get sleep, exercise, or something to improve your impulses, and hopefully it'll get better.