It’s a sad reality.
Most people don’t understand ADHD. And, quite frankly, many do not want to.
Unfortunately, too many are intolerant or ignorant. ADHD is an excuse, they say. Some go further than that, as you will soon read, and blame ADHD on pharmaceutical companies who, as you know, created ADHD so they can sell their over-priced medications. They have that power, apparently.
Those reasons and more are why ADD ADHD is so misunderstood . It truly is amazing what some people believe or want to believe, isn’t it?
Today I want to call your attention to an article published by Jaqui Karr.
“Destroying Children with the Cloak of ADHD: Parents Need to Pay Attention”
Karr states unequivocally:
The problems AND answers lie in food. Sadly the pharmaceutical companies will do everything in their power to get the “experts” and medical community to say otherwise. Even sadder is that for the mainstream, whatever the guy in the white lab coat says must be true.
Although she does not outright state it, I get the impression that she’s trying to imply that pharmaceutical companies have made up the disorder. At best, Karr is suggesting that we are fooled by the pharmaceutical companies.
Karr is wrong about ADHD. Worse than wrong, she comes across as blaming parents (and adults with ADHD) for the issues they are suffering from caused by the “made-up” disorder. To give her the benefit of the doubt, she might not mean to and it’s likely she does believe that food alone is the cause and the cure.
Celiac Disease is not ADHD.
Karr suffers from Celiac Disease and the treatment is to absolutely avoid Gluten. Removing Gluten from her diet predictably improved her health. Now she’s on a mission. Overall, in my opinion, a good mission to help people improve their diets, but to attack ADHD and attacking pharmaceutical companies and then attacking parents for their poor diet choices for their children that’s just not a good way to go about it.
To be fair, she has some very good points about Gluten and she could have included the possibility of food allergies and one of the worst culprits, milk. I’ve written about Gluten and how avoiding it does help (but beware of withdrawal)! Yes, for some of us, it does. It’s no secret.
Remember the myth about excess sugar causing ADHD? Many still believe that even though research has disproved it time and time again. Karr goes for broke by also blaming “massive sugar spikes”. This is the perfect myth to latch onto because it was such a widespread belief years ago. Then she blames soda.
Legitimacy!
If Karr truly wants to be helpful and give us dieting suggestions then she needs to first research ADHD and not simply blame the most common food myths.
For decades people with ADHD, and parents of children with ADHD, have been fighting the battle of legitimacy.
Good parents, parents who truly do care about their children have had to contend with the perception that they are not good parents or they don’t feed their kids right or they don’t discipline them effectively and so many other hurtful myths.
Karr did not help them any with her article.
How about this:
ADHD is real.
Myths and ignorance do not change that.
Seriously, even I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but to imply that pharmaceutical companies have the power to create a disorder to sell drugs and in the process convince governments and health organizations throughout the world is, well, let’s use plain English here: Ridiculous.
I mean, c’mon, really?
Someone call the FDA, now!
And while you are at it call Congress and the American Psychiatric Association. They’ve all been suckered. Darn that guy in the white lab coat. He really had us going.
ADHD is not curable.
To help set the record straight I will be interviewing Doctor Charles Parker who wrote the book on ADHD medications, literally. He is the author of ADHD Medication Rules. What Karr may find surprising is that Dr. Parker discusses on his blog diet modifications and how removing Gluten and Milk from the diet improves ADHD symptoms for some people, but does not cure ADHD!
Karr is wrong to indicate that ADHD is not real and worse, she missed an opportunity to discuss and share her valuable experience and expertise on nutrition with the ADHD community.
~Bryan
Stay tuned for the interview with Dr. Parker. Be sure to join the ADHD social network, ADDer World or subscribe to my blog for updates.
Download for free the serious, but funny free eBook “The Myths of ADHD Debunked”! Let’s set the record straight!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Right on Bryan! Sorting out speculative details continues to support the progress for ADHD treatment based upon validated, scientific inquiry. To that point: too many still aren’t listening to fundamental science, not using science with medical interventions, and in profound denial about the ambiguity and complexity of ADHD presentations. Knowing the science, and using it isn’t that difficult, it just requires the application of common sense principles once understood.
Many simply don’t apply critical thinking to the process of diagnosis and treatment – and too often rely on superficial labels that simply don’t encourage predictable outcomes. See this post on Critical Thinking at these crossroads of belief, speculation, and more predictable evidence.
http://www.corepsychblog.com/2011/10/mind-science-critical-thinking/
Thanks for weighing in Bryan, – and looking forward to our interview!
Chuck
Thanks for stopping by, Dr. Parker. I am looking forward to your answers to the interview questions and am also looking forward to reading the updated version of your book!
Bests,
Bryan
It’s misinformed people like her that give us more of a reason to fight. She is clearly misinformed and know absolutely nothing about ADHD. Of course I was unable to leave a message on her website
. Thanks for your blog.
Thanks, Donata. Spreading misinformation and claiming ADHD isn’t real just makes our lives more difficult, it doesn’t help.
I agree, Bryan. It is all too easy to latch onto the latest known food ailment and try to make the case that every ailment known to science is really caused by the gluten, sugar, food colorings, or whatever in our food. The public — the story goes — just hasn’t learned about the real cause because there is a conspiracy of powerful pharmaceutical company owners, etc.
I do think the Big Pharma have a strong tendency to make available ONLY patentable medications for ADHD and proclaim them as the BEST option because they are the only options that can be patented and thereby controlled for maximum profits. Herbs and nutrients get little attention, even when they can produce similarly effective results.
Everyone is different. We all should be able to choose the medication or protocol that makes us feel the best, most engaged, and productive. Where I have a dispute with the medical profession is when they automatically make the decision to “try” children with ADHD on hardcore amphetamine-based remedies when there might be equally good results had with safer, less expensive herbal extracts for the milder cases.
Thanks for an intelligent and thoughtful article.
Hello Paul and thank you. Medication is a very sensitive subject as you well know. People who need the medication and have found it helpful are tired of being told that they can do better without it or that it is harmful or some other opinion.
With that said, I also do believe herbs are a bit overlooked and I have found Ginseng and Ginkgo in combination very helpful for my ADHD symptoms, along with some coffee. The reason I have used these alternatives is because my system cannot tolerate ADHD medications, I have too many adverse reactions. I believe withdrawal from an SSRI put my system out of wack.
I totally agree, everyone is different and we should be able to choose the treatment that works the best for each of us.
Have a great Sunday!
Bryan
i have eaten natural foods and been off sugar since my 20′s (now 61).. so i know my addness is not from diet.. i do think sugar amplifies my hyperness and also affects my emotions.. i do know that i have the add characteristics… i believe its the way my brain works… i also feel that a lot of my negative symptoms come from not getting to perform in the way that is natural for me.. i’m.. the artistic, creative, intuitive type and i also see the majority of actors, musicians and other creatives don’t fit into this linear brain mold… a lot didn’t do well in school, were daydreamers and excelled at imagination, creativity etc…. there is still a lot of shame that comes up for me when not able to talk to most people about it.. its really a challenge to not feel like somethings defective with me even though i’m incredibly talented in ways that linear people aren’t… i hope to get better at focusing on my worth regardless of what others think of adhd and to value my gifts and develop and enjoy them…
Thanks for sharing that information with us, Brenda. There you go, no sugar and you eat natural foods and still have ADHD! I must admit, I really do like your attitude. About the shame, the myths are too much a part of the problem and the wrong ideas so many people have about ADHD simply keeps more people in the ‘closet’ and choose not to seek treatment for fear of being labeled with something so controversial.
Thanks again,
Bryan
I think Brenda was on the right track when she mentions that ” …i also feel that a lot of my negative symptoms come from not getting to perform in the way that is natural for me…” I am of the opinion that the ADHD diagnosis belongs only to a select few that merit the attention of the medical and mental health professionals, for the rest, I believe we have been over-diagnosed.
For most of us, the problem begins almost as soon as we start to crawl (some suggest it begins in the womb!) I have seen kids getting frowns and other gestures of disaproval from their parents just because they don’t hit the development milestones at the same time as other kids. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I doubt that there are studies done to measure the damage to babies’ self-esteem when they sense their parents’ disappointments. Babies’s senses are more developed than what we think and people, who are later diagnosed with ADHD, are more sensitive than the rest. Yes, we have senses on overdrive most of the time.
Please understand where I’m coming from. I’m not saying that ADHD does not exist, what I’m saying is that it is over-diagnosed, and the same parents who were eager to see their babies set world records by hitting the developmental milestones sooner than other kids, are most probably the same ones who are quick to follow the experts’ opinions to medicate them as soon as possible. Nowadays, the competition to be the best is more important than a truly loving family environment.
In my personal case, ADHD did not exist in the country I was born in. I was diagnosed ADD when I went to college in the U.S. My war-torn country forced me to become a 10 year old refugee in the U.S. without my parents there to guide me. Growing up with that trauma and low self-esteem is what I believe was responsable for my ADHD symptoms, but the experts did not want to hear that, so sure they were that I just had to be ADD.
To sum up, I think Ms. Karr makes some very good points that should be studied and not criticized. But I am sure there is little to no motivation for scientists to do those kinds of studies because they won’t make money from them, it is very sad. Thank you for letting me express my view.
Hi Marcos, thanks for your comment. I think a lot of people agree that ADHD is over diagnosed and a lot of people agree that ADHD is under diagnosed. Those are different issues all together. And many of the points Karr suggests have been researched already, such as sugar, and like I said she has valuable experience and expertise to share with us, but she first needs to research ADHD.
Sometimes we get the belief that certain things won’t be researched because of lack of funds and that’s sometimes true, but I think it is better to find out if that is in fact true before stating it. However, to imply that ADHD does not exist is a disservice to those who live with it every day. If you do not believe you were correctly diagnosed, then I would seek a second opinion.
Bests,
Bryan
Great post, Bryan. I had to sit on this one for a day – having some of that brain lock you talked about the other day. Rough week! Two of my biggest personal ADHD pet peeves are the “I don’t believe in ADHD” person and the “sugar gives kids ADHD” person. Unbelievable. Now, in all honesty, I can see that SOMEtimes, SOME sugars, have SOME effect on SOME people and their ADHD-related behaviors. But there are others of us who can have sugar until our eyes pop out and nothing happens differently than on any other day. Honestly. And if it isn’t sugar, it’s something else – wheat, dairy, pesticides, red dyes, television, and many more. You’re right – much of this stuff is about misunderstanding and simple ignorance. I wish I could say to these people “please don’t tell me this doesn’t exist or how to make it go away until you’ve lived at least a week in my brain and body – THEN tell me what you think and maybe we’ll talk. Eh, sorry. Just getting on my soap box here for a minute. What it comes down to – not that I’m saying anything new here – is that the general populace just really does not understand it. Hey, some days, I don’t understand it fully, either! But please, folks, try to know and understand just a little bit before you start telling us all how to fix ourselves.
Thanks for letting me vent a little.
Thanks for everybody’s support here. I only wish that support groups were available in China. I live in Beijing and see the effects, which i believe, are sometimes related to lead poisoning in small children, on some of the less fortunate people.
I would like to know if there are any support groups in Beijing, or experts, that can help my friend, who has serious ADHD that has resulted in 3 confinements to a mental hospital in the past 3 years.
If ADHD is misunderstood in the US, it is multiplied here and many people need help.
Well, in the Caribbean, the ignorance about ADHD is astonishing! If it’s not a “feeling” to be made fun of (“Wait…that child real hyper!”), it’s another word for “stupid.” And to be quite honest, creativity is stifled, unless you’re “popular.” So to be quite honest, people with ADHD don’t really get anywhere unless they conform, or they move to another continent.
Sucks, really.
I hear you, Nikki!
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