Does My Child Have ADHD? Your Family Should Consider a Different Diagnosis.

This article is the first in a series of articles about ADHD.

It is back to school time across America, and for a small percentage of the population this time of year is always met with trepidation. If you have a child that hates the thought of going back to school, is easily distracted and often times unable to learn, then you are probably one of those families. It is hard to watch a child suffer, and as a parent you may feel anxious and completely unprepared for the problems that you know are about to resurface all over again. Your child is fidgety, easily distracted, and highly forgetful. The teachers will remind you that your child does not complete his homework, is impulsive, and sometimes downright annoying toward others. The school may even have approached you about diagnostic testing and you’ve heard the term ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) brought up. You are scared and confused, and you are searching for answers. What exactly is ADHD? Does your child really have it? And if so, what is the cure?

I am a former special educator, and I have taught many children over the years who were diagnosed with this disorder, both medicated and not. I never understood how painful the diagnosis can be for parents, nor the pressure to begin the most acceptable method of treatment (Ritalin) , (Adderall) , (Strattera) , (Concerta) , until I became a parent years later. I had filled out many questionnaires during my years of teaching, often inadvertently prescribing this medication to children based on my observations as a teacher. It was a very powerful role I played in the outcome of a child’s life, and looking back I now realize it was done with such a lack of overall knowledge about what could possibly be causing this “disease” of the mind. Most disturbingly, I have witnessed many side effects suffered by several of the children I taught.

Recommended Readings: Attention and Behavioral Problems Can Be Alleviated with Good Food and Supplements…. and Study Shows Artificial Flavors, Colors, Preservatives make all Kids Hyper…..

According to the CDC [link] the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis involves subjective observations of a particular child’s predispositions toward inattentiveness, hyperactivity, or impulsivity over a six-month period of time. The diagnostician is a medical professional who relies on the expertise of parents and teachers for their subjective judgments on the matter. He or she then prescribes medication based on the responses generated in the assigned questionnaire forms.

Diagnosis comes with a heavy price. According to a study released in the official journal of the Academy of Pediatrics in 2004,

“children with ADHD had more parent-reported problems in terms of emotional-behavioral role function, behavior, mental health, and self-esteem. In addition, the problems of children with ADHD had a significant impact on the parents’ emotional health and parents’ time to meet their own needs, and they interfered with family activities and family cohesion” [1].

Dr. Fred A. Baughman Jr., a neurologist for over 35 years and renowned spokesperson on the dangers and ill-effects of drug treatment for ADHD, addressed the Medical Board of California in 2001, arguing that

“The lay-public does not fully understand that an objective, physical abnormality, equals pathology, equals disease. They can only trust, and believe what their physicians tell them. Violating that trust, cost-is-no-object, psychopharm propaganda, bombards them with images of ‘chemical imbalances’—psychiatry’s ‘diseases,’ and ‘chemical balancers’—pills, to treat them all. Patients and parents cannot bring themselves to imagine so total, and brazen a deception. Without the contrived illusion of a disease, there would be no six-million-case, ADHD ‘epidemic’”[3].

Dr. Baughman has written a book: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” of Normal Children, in which he talks about the history of “hyperactivity disease” from the 1970s, when it was first brought to Congress, to today. In the space of nearly 40 years the incidence of children with it has risen from 150,000 to nearly six million. He believes that the pharmaceutical industry is to blame for a money making scheme to get rich off of unnecessary prescriptions. Perhaps he is right.

This map depicts the Percent of Youth 4-17 ever diagnosed and currently medicated for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: National Survey of Children’s Health, 2003.

Many families claim that these drugs have in fact helped their child, even if they did bring with them a series of unwanted side effects as well. If this is a made-up disease and there is no reason to medicate, then why does the medication make life a small bit more tolerable for some? I will talk further on this subject in my next article.

Recommended Reading: Why am I so Edgy? Learn about Pyrrole Disorder (Pyroluria)….

There are many possible side effects from taking medication for ADHD, as you have probably already read. Ritalin can cause sudden death from heart failure, Strattera can cause suicidal tendancies, Tic disorders are a common side-effect of all common drugs prescribed and are irreversible even after meds are stopped. Now a new study has recently come out to add to the list of negatives: shortness. James Swanson, PhD, director of the Child Development Center at the University of California, Irvine has released the findings of his study

“Yes, there is a growth suppression effect with stimulant ADHD medications,” he tells WebMD. “It is going to occur at the age of treatment, and over three years it will accumulate.”

Swanson is still not sure if these kids will regain their height potential.

“The big question now is whether there is any effect on these kids’ ultimate height. We don’t know if by the time they are 18 they will regain the height.”

Kids entered this study in 1999 at ages 7 to 9, so it will be another two years before the results are in [2].

Between 1990 and 2000 there were 186 deaths from methylphenidate (Ritalin) reported to the FDA MedWatch program, a voluntary reporting scheme, the numbers of which represent no more than 10 to 20% of the actual incidence [3].

Known side-effects of drug therapy and increasing numbers of negative studies do nothing to help the struggling family cope with ADHD. You are probably wondering what you can do to help your child in lieu of giving them medication. You may want to consider other possibilities. Perhaps ADHD is a manifestation of symptoms that really describe a condition or multiple conditions that are truly clinically diagnosable. Take a look at some of the possible causes below and see if any of them may more aptly fit your child’s symptoms.

• Allergies
• Anemia/ Iron Deficiency
• B vitamin Deficiency
• Candida Albicans infestation (Yeast)
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Early Onset Diabetes
• Early Stage Brain Tumor
• Elevated Lead Levels in the Blood
• Elevated Manganese Levels
• Elevated Mercury Levels in the Body
• Giftedness
• Hearing/Vision problems
• Heart Disease
• Hyper/Hypo Thyroidism
• Hypoglycemia
• Learning Disabilities
• Malnutrition/ Improper Diet
• Parasites
• Toxic Exposure
• Vitamin overdose

This article is only the first of a series of articles to be posted in the topic of ADHD. In my next article I will be talking about some of the above conditions and easy ways that families can implement changes at home to help alleviate focusing problems, hyperactivity, and mood swings. Please bookmark this thread and check back for updates as they become available.

References:

1. Klassen, Ann F., Anton Miller, Stuart Fine. “Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents Who Have a Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.” Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Vol. 114 No. 5 November 2004, pp. e541-e547.
2. Swanson, J.M. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, August 2007; vol 46: pp 1014-1026. WebMD Medical News: “Do ADHD Drugs Stunt Kids’ Growth?” May 1, 2006. James M. Swanson, PhD, professor of pediatrics and director, child development center, University of California, Irvine. Omar Khwaja, MD, PhD, attending physician in neurology, Children’s Hospital, Boston.
3. Baughman, Fred A. Jr., MD “presentation/letter to the MBC of November 3, 2001″ January 4, 2002. [link]

Tags: Adderall, ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Behavior, Chemical Balancers, Chemical Imbalance, Child, Children, Concerta, Cure, Diagnosis~, Emotional Health, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Inattentiveness, Kids, Mental Health, Methylphenidate, Questionnaire, Ritalin, School, Self-esteem, Side Effect, Strattera, Testing

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Meet the Author

Caryn Talty

The editor of this website has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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