"Kids on Speed" the ritalin debate

[Stoofy]

To all the parents out there with kids that "have" or "might have" ADHD. This is a great program which provides food for thought.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/kids-on-speed/


The problem is do you medicate or do something different as a parent to help these kids?

Being a parent with a kid that "might" have ADHD this program really helps. I still don't believe pediatricians & school teachers on this.

What are your experiences?

What are your thoughts?

 

[Mr Invisible]

Hey Stoofy

Welcome back mate!!

Theres lots of trains of thought on this.

Personally I reckon the big one is the over diagnosis of ADHD, instead of diagnosing an underlying condition.

E.G it's easier to label a child as having ADHD, than simply saying the kids hyperactive, or a little *beep*, or looking more into it and finding the kid has autism or something.

Parents drugging their kids is nothing new. Many parents would give phenergan to their kids just to mellow them out.

 

[Stoofy]

Hey Stoofy

Welcome back mate!!

Theres lots of trains of thought on this.

Personally I reckon the big one is the over diagnosis of ADHD, instead of diagnosing an underlying condition.

E.G it's easier to label a child as having ADHD, than simply saying the kids hyperactive, or a little *beep*, or looking more into it and finding the kid has autism or something.

Parents drugging their kids is nothing new. Many parents would give phenergan to their kids just to mellow them out.

Its good to be back with the new season about the start. Go the Doggies!


My son is very active and cant keep still. The pediatricians / school teachers say he has mild ADHD & that I should medicate him.

Is he a naughty 6 year old boy (like all boys) or does this ADHD really exist?

When I was a kid I would cop a back-hander if I mucked up. It worked!

I have taken 3 of his tablets to test them before I started him on them them (note: this is 6 times his dose).

I found it keeps you awake but also helps you concentrate. I have since found that most uni students will take it for assignments & before exams.

Does that mean I might have ADHD as well?

 

[Hacky McAxe]

It's always a tough debate. There is a mass over diagnosis of ADHD but the media tends to try to convince everyone that medication is pointless. There are alternatives but often if an alternative works well it means that the child never actually had ADHD.

The problem is that the media tends to use so much pseudoscience to convince you that you don't need medication if you don't eat preservatives or cook with plastic, but none of this is based on actual scientific information.

But then you have to consider the other side. Is there scientific research on the medicine and if there is, was this research conducted by pharmaceutical companies?

 

[Stoofy]

It's always a tough debate. There is a mass over diagnosis of ADHD but the media tends to try to convince everyone that medication is pointless. There are alternatives but often if an alternative works well it means that the child never actually had ADHD.

The problem is that the media tends to use so much pseudoscience to convince you that you don't need medication if you don't eat preservatives or cook with plastic, but none of this is based on actual scientific information.

But then you have to consider the other side. Is there scientific research on the medicine and if there is, was this research conducted by pharmaceutical companies?

These doctors from what I see are just guessing. They couldn't convince me that my son has it and their final response was to:

Just try it & see how we go
Ritalin has been around for 50 years so it has deemed to be safe
If side effects occur then we just stop & try something else.

To me that sounds just like crap tradesman. "Lets se what happens & give it a go eh"

 

[Hacky McAxe]

These doctors from what I see are just guessing. They couldn't convince me that my son has it and their final response was to:

Just try it & see how we go
Ritalin has been around for 50 years so it has deemed to be safe
If side effects occur then we just stop & try something else.

To me that sounds just like crap tradesman. "Lets se what happens & give it a go eh"

That's the same problem I have with many Doctors now. I understand that it takes a lot of experience before you can effectively diagnose someone but how about saying that you should go see a specialist or someone with more experience rather than pump the kid full of drugs on a whim. This is why there's so many misdiagnosis for things like ADHD.