ADD is one of the more
misdiagnosed and
abused treatments in
grade school and
middle school students today. Many children who are simply
hyper and off the wall somehow fit this
description, and they are given
medication to control their
behavior, and make parenting and teaching come more easily. The medical
profession has recently turned up an eyebrow to this seemingly catch-all
diagnosis. They are more wary of what constitutes a fast moving child, and what constitutes one with ADD.
A friend of mine clearly has ADD; you can see it in his eyes when he hasn't taken his
medication. He's definitely a lot of fun to be around, very
creative, and very
smart, but he has a mind that clearly works
differently. He gave a
presentation once on it for our
Honors Bio class back in
high school. He said it was like having the radio always on "
scan"; five seconds of any given
topic, and then moving on to something else, without control of it. His mind moved very quickly from one thing to another, so watching him study in
college was remarkable, as it meant he had to sit down and wrap his head around
knowledge in a
conventional way.
You can cope with ADD in many ways without
medication. In fact, the good
majority of diagnoses for this disorder, many doctors now feel could be attributed to
parenting styles (or lack thereof). I do not want to give the impression that this does not
afflict younger children, but that people in the past have rushed into this "trendy" diagnosis.
I believe that behavior-altering
medication is almost too
powerful, and should be used only in
extreme circumstances.
Medication for things such as
depression and
ADD are too often
prescribed for people looking for an
excuse, and a
crutch to blame their
inability to
handle life. While
clinically these are very serious
problems, the
severity of most cases does not it what it should be
applied to.
My mind works in a very fast moving way, and I need something to fill the gaps in the
downtime. It means I move from one item to the next
quickly, and seemingly
randomly. Does this mean I need
medication?
Hardly. Does this mean that I should not be responsible for my own actions? Again, the thought seems
ludicrous, but that is what we are telling our children when they have "mild ADD". They "can't help it". There is a certain line where medical condition begins, and lack of personal responsibility ends; I (and many
doctors,
educators, and
parents) believe that the
bar is not where it should be set.