"If 7-year-old Mozart tried composing his concertos today, he might be diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and medicated into barren normality."They pegged my son as ADHD a few years back. The psychologists ignored the fact that I was deployed to the Middle East for a year and that he may have been worried about his dad getting killed in a war he saw every day on the news. They also failed to realize he was bored.
-- George Will
We addressed it all when I got back. I was angered at the eagerness of these "professionals" to push drugs on a 9 year old. The only good that came of it was a comprehensive "IQ" test we paid for ourselves because it was not covered by insurance. Yes, he scored a little low on short term memory retention (imagine that, a 9 year old not paying attention!). We also found out that although he was no genius, he was advanced for the classes he was taking.
ADHD is Real, But Drugs are not the Answer
We turned down the offer from the drug pushers (my son being the most adamant) and followed the advice of anti-drug heroes Dr David Stein and Thom Hartmann. These two men are essential reading for parents who have been told their kids have ADHD. Hartmann's The Edison Gene will help you understand the ADHD child so you can develop strategies for success. Dr. Stein dispenses practical advice on how to parent an ADHD child, from schoolwork to behavioral issues.
We bought him an electronics kit, a programmable Mindstorm robot, gave him a violin and let him join orchestra, and we had him tested into advanced classes. Add in karate, and a crisis was now a manageable minor issue. He was now a normal, rambunctious inquisitive, annoying 9-year-old boy, who is prone to forgetfulness.
George Will turns his incisive analysis on psychology in America:
The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), psychiatry's encyclopedia of supposed mental "disorders," is being revisedDisordered Nation
Today's DSM defines "oppositional defiant disorder" as a pattern of "negativistic, defiant, disobedient and hostile behavior toward authority figures." Symptoms include "often loses temper," "often deliberately annoys people" or "is often touchy."
DSM omits this symptom: "is a teenager."
This DSM defines as "personality disorders" attributes that once were considered character flaws.You mean sex addiction isn't normal?
"Antisocial personality disorder" is "a pervasive pattern of disregard for ... the rights of others ... callous, cynical ... an inflated and arrogant self-appraisal." "Histrionic personality disorder" is "excessive emotionality and attention-seeking." "Narcissistic personality disorder" involves "grandiosity, need for admiration ... boastful and pretentious." And so on.
The revised DSM reportedly may include "binge eating disorder" and "hypersexual disorder" ("a great deal of time" devoted to "sexual fantasies and urges" and "planning for and engaging in sexual behavior"). Concerning children, there might be "temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria."Why should we care?
If every character blemish or emotional turbulence is a "disorder" akin to a physical disability, legal accommodations are mandatory.Bottom Line: We all Pay
Under federal law, "disabilities" include any "mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities"; "mental impairments" include "emotional or mental illness." So there might be a legal entitlement to be a jerk. (See above, "antisocial personality disorder.")
All of this must be covered by insurance, causing all of us to pay higher premiums so psychologists can rake in more money, based upon a book they wrote. Talk about a self-licking ice cream cone. Anyone who suffers any of these "disorders" must be given special dispensations at school and at work, creating perverse incentives to be "disordered."
We are paying for our own downfall. That's disordered.
*-There really are some disorders that require medication. I am criticizing abuses of the system, not the treatment of legitimate problems. --Silverfiddle
RCP - George Will
Thom Hartmann
3 comments:
Psychologists and psychiatrists are a menace to mankind. If it were up to the latter, they'd have us hooked on drugs, like lithium or ritelin, for the rest of our lives. They make up illnesses, give them fancy names - but only to raise their noses high, over the rest of us nothings. They are a very sick people this group. They say the brain is chemically imbalanced but cannot tell you how, nor can they tell you how it became unbalanced. Truth is they'd rather not know, because then prevention might reduce their drug pushing. These are nothing less than white-collar, legitimized drug pushers.
You said, "ADHD is Real, But Drugs are not the Answer". What's real is anxiety. And that's NORMAL. We don't need a fancy name for it because unwittingly you are supporting their "diagnosis" and thereby giving sanction to their "remedy" - which is a lifetime of being on some drug.
NOTHING psychiatrists diagnose is real. They are drug-pushers for the pharmaceutical giants, who pay and take into cahoots with them the FDA, and many more official agencies, and they have us by the crotch.
The same story is with the Oncologists in this country, but don't get me started on that.
May I suggest Dr. Thoms Szasz, if you haven't already read his work?
I personally don't believe that ADHD is "real". I believe, as you stated, that we all have our "quirks'.
I home school my daughter for several reasons, one of which is that she is very high energy and I'm certain she would not do well in a school environment. An environemt, by the way, which is ill suited to learning in any regard.
Vanguard: I agree
Divine: Thank you for the suggestion. You are obviously a bad American and a wonderful parent.
It heartens me to hear from people like you.
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