Seems things are going to get worse before they get better.

I just read another article about ‘the myth of ADHD’ by someone who raised my eyebrows. Mr. Herr, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies, Leadership and Counseling at Murray State University, wrote a recent article titled - ADHD: Has this diagnostic fad run its course?

According to Mr. Herr, ADHD is a diagnostic fad! His article perfectly underscores my recent blog post about how a report in the media can be skewed by the headline (in this case the entire article). I am not going into detail about how accurate a report authored by an assistant professor of economics about ADHD children and misdiagnosis of ADHD at an early age might be (Youngest in class get ADHD label - another headline to go with my previous collection). However, people are paying attention to it and when someone who is an assistant professor in the department of educational studies for a university openly writes that ADHD is a fad of its time, well, there you go. Would you want to be a student with ADHD at his school? Just asking…

I read Mr. Herr’s article this morning and started to feel the shame and guilt of living with ADHD all over again. His article has far more power than he might think and I am not sure if he realizes how many people he may be putting in jeopardy and confusion.

Mr. Herr writes:

“Probably one of the best ways to make sense of children and the rise of ADHD is for adults to focus on some basic questions. Don’t most adults become distracted when they are tired? Don’t most adults become fidgety when they are bored? Don’t most adults lose interest in their work when they don’t see any significance in what they are doing? And when adults wrestle with concerns relating to stress, sleeplessness, frustration, and depression, aren’t the responses often “get some rest,” “exercise” “start eating better,” and “try finding something you’re interested in”?” Quoted from Mr. Herr’s article in The Christian Science Monitor

First, how do you make sense of children by comparing them to adults? Anyway, let’s skip that obvious question. Yes, to all of the assertions above. All of them are true, but those are not the things which in of themselves can be determined as ADHD. They are determined to be ADHD when they cause life problems, are constant and have been present since early childhood.  As an example, if Mr. Herr would read my book “One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir –Surviving life with Undiagnosed ADD” – he would discover that I would daydream daily through my entire day at school, not just when I was tired, or when I was bored or fidgety or stressed or whatever guess, other than ADD. Daydreaming was a constant daily struggle. Not paying attention to the teacher, or being able to read books, or assignments and understand them in time for a quiz was a constant struggle. Actually, assertions similiar to Mr. Herr’s may have been part of the reason I was punished and chastised so much for my behavior.

My mother cooked everyday an excellent, healthy meal for the family. I typically slept at least 9 hours a night. I wasn’t tired from lack of sleep. However, I was bored that is true, bored to the bone and very few things could keep my attention and when I did find something that kept my attention it was usually not for very long. Also, if Mr. Herr would read my book he will find that I often switched things I became interested in. Therefore, to assert that we can just switch someone to their interest isn’t always all that helpful, because if they have ADHD they are highly likely to change their interest out of their control quite quickly and without notice. It’s frustrating and depressing. 

Perhaps it was just depression in my case? Again, if he reads my book he will find that my behavior and the punishment I received because of it by educators, my father and many others was the main culprit for my depression and later PTSD, but my typical ADD behavior came first. Not that I deserved punishment because my ADD came first, but rather it was misunderstood and therefore I needed understanding and a proper professional evaluation of my behavior.

When you have enough people getting on you because you’re doing things out of your control, but in their opinon “on purpose” – let me tell you, it gets to you after a while. I started to believe I was doing it ‘on purpose’ too and punished myself for it because nothing else worked (read my book Mr. Herr). Punishing myself along with other people’s punishment didn’t help for very long, it made things worse. Punishment led to far, far worse. You know what did help? You guessed it, proper professional treatment for Depression, PTSD and ADD! Not any one’s opinion that my condition doesn’t exist or that it is a fad. Mr. Herr’s article really just shows the mentality of a large portion of society which just can’t accept that certain behaviors are out of one’s control. It’s a bully-ish attitude and often keeps people from seeking the help they need, because the stigma and shame can be so overwhelming.

Sorry, if I seem a bit upset here by these assertions, but I would be very careful making broad assumptions about anyone’s condition as not truly existing unless you are indeed their doctor, are treating them and have a very familiar understanding of their issues. However, if you have a predetermined view of conditions like ADHD as just fads, you would not be my doctor.

With all this said, I can understand where Mr. Herr is coming from, as I mentioned it is an all too common belief in our society and, unfortunately, it is these types of beliefs those of us with ADHD and our families must live with daily. Mr. Herr’s article may help reinforced the stigma of ADHD and what’s more he is an educator. Let’s hope the ‘left hander’s’ are not the next target of such an article (is there a blood test for truly being left handed?). I guess such beliefs are part of the reason behind laws to protect those with disabilities, which does include mental disabilities such as ADD / ADHD by the way. It’s also important to note that ADHD is a part of the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV TR) - it is my opinion that “Fads” are not included in this manual published by the American Psychiatric Association, used by clinicians and psychiatrists to diagnose psychiatric illnesses. *

- If you would like to read an article that at the least accepts ADHD as a condition, but thinks TV is partly to blame: Let’s blame ADHD on too much TV - at least this author is looking for a legitimate reason! The problem with his theory is someone like me. When I was growing up we were allowed only very limited TV viewing and I certainly didn’t have a TV in my room as a young kid. Therefore, this theory doesn’t work for why I have Attention Defecit Disorder.

*This article has been about my concern for Mr. Herr’s opinion about ADHD being a fad in the article he wrote here. My concern is for how damaging such an open opinion article by an educator can be to those of us living with the mental disability ADHD, and our families – not to mention students struggling with this disorder. Mr. Herr has the right to his opinion and to write about it. I have the right to discuss his openly written opinion and share mine about it.

What’s your opinion?

~Bryan

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Click here to go watch the video!

Thanks to Brian, a member of our ADDer World ADHD Social Network for pointing out this video to me and our members! And thank you Patrick McKenna for making this video for the rest of us!

Canadian comedy legend Patrick McKenna is after the truth. “Everything you think you know about A.D.D. is wrong.” In this one hour documentary he talks to researchers, specialists and doctors about A.D.D. and A.D.H.D.. He also chats with ordinary Canadians & Americans who are directly dealing with the challenges of this common problem. Interwoven with these insights, Patrick shares his own life story and his struggle with undiagnosed and untreated A.D.H.D, and now his success taking it on Adult A.D.D..

~Bryan

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Fellow Adders I just read a troubling article about the ADHD ‘scheme’. This article tells of a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical industry, basically saying that they have expanded this disorder (ADHD) to sell their medicine to as many children as possible, even normal children.

Reading this article a couple quotes stand out to me:

“The symptoms are typical of toddlers, which is why I think the simple explanation is this: Postmodern – post 1960s – parenting practices are failing to resolve toddlerhood … it just goes on and on and on.”

“These suits represent the latest class-action battleground in the U.S., but since it involves kids, this is that much more important,” he said to Reuters. “Ninety percent of all Ritalin is sold in the United States. We think it’s a pretty tough case to say that ADHD is a disease that doesn’t exist in Europe, but exits here (U.S.).”

Uhm… *cough*, if they are besieging their case on that second quote, I just have to say this: I have ADD, I was diagnosed with ADD in Europe.

Another thing I would like to say is that I do not take any medication for my ADD. At least not yet and I don’t know that I ever will. I personally talked to a CEO of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, which develops ADD ADHD medication, a couple months ago and I did not get the impression that they want to sell their medication to just anyone. It was a discussion about my book.  I was impressed by his forthrightness and honesty. I do believe that integrity does prevail, even in the pharmaceutical world. That’s my opinion, from my experience.

Anyway, here is the article, give it a read and let us know your thoughts…

~Bryan

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Some call it minimal brain dysfunction, it’s a disorder, it’s a mental illness, it is all of the above and it is more than that and maybe, just maybe those are the wrong terms. ADD and ADHD are misunderstood with so many misconceptions out there and those that suffer from it are sometimes considered to be living a life of excuses and treated negatively when letting others know of their diagnosis. Additionally, the symptoms of ADD and ADHD, each by themselves, are very common issues that just about everyone has to some degree or another which leads to the misconceptions and denials of what ADD and ADHD is.

However, ADD and ADHD are also well known for positive traits, such as creativeness, vivid imagination, inventiveness and ingenuity and so much more. Some of these traits are highly sought after and can hardly be mimicked or copied because each ADDer possesses unique characteristics which only he or she has. The terms, such as minimal brain dysfunction, disorder, mental illness and others are not considered accurate by many people who have ADD or ADHD.

So how do we raise awareness of what ADD ADHD really is and how it affects those with ADD or ADHD? How do we tell the truth and let others know how detrimental denial can be and how devastating the misconceptions can be to ADDer’s, especially in social situations?

The best way I have found is to talk about it, to write about it and let my voice be heard. I have created this Blog and written my book with the intention of creating awareness—letting others know what ADD and ADHD is from my own personal perspective. I also created this Blog and wrote my book for others who are suffering to let them know they are not alone, to read about another’s discoveries and how another person copes. I think it is working. ADDer World, I believe, has more readers than some magazines and even some small newspapers! ADDer World readers are from all over the globe and some Universities with ADD ADHD studies have visited ADDer World!

Alas, I cannot do it alone. I try, mind you, but to really get the word out I think it would be wonderful and beneficial to hear from you! You don’t have to create your own blog or even put your identity on the line; however, there are many of us out there who Blog and tell our stories and most blogs allow comments. Your comments could potentially help others and most of all let others know that there are ‘others’ out there. Sometimes it just helps to have a sense of community and communities have much more influence than any single individual.

One way to raise awareness and build a bigger, more profound community is to comment when you read an article on a blog that you can relate to or have an opinion about. Most of us Bloggers do not edit your comments, only in the event if it could be offensive or hurtful to others. Even in that case we usually just take out the part which could be construed as offensive or hurtful.  Try it out; tell your side of the story. None of us are exactly the same.

What do you think?

Recently I created a Blog section and I will be adding more ADD ADHD blogs in the near future – please, visit them and feel free to say hello. I don’t agree or even condone every single thing posted on other blogs, but then again, that’s one of the great things about opinions, you get different points of views!

I created the ADDer quote of the week to also help spread awareness and show that there are many ADDers and individuals with ‘certain traits’ out there who have become extremely successful with the use of their personal traits, whatever those traits might be. One of the companies backing a certain ADDer in the “quote of the week” wrote to me personally via email and thanked me for including their certain someone on my blog! How cool is that?!?

Let’s raise awareness together!? If you like, you can write me and tell your story concerning ADD or ADHD and I could then create a guest ADDer story from time to time, giving you full credit! If you are interested email me with your story here: Bryan.Hutchinson ‘AT’ adderworld.com – Email me for further details. I cannot guarantee I will post every story, but I will give it a shot with the “ADDer story of the week or month”.

~Bryan

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Due to Megan’s suicide a lot of people are taking notice and are darn right angry! They should be, but perhaps a bit too late? Dare I say Megan deserved better? So far it seems that neighboring adults had a hand in Megan’s fate by contacting her via MySpace and writing mean, hateful messages. That in of its self is very disturbing and not simply shameful, but evil, if it is true. Having been an ADD child I know what it is like to be different and misunderstood and I had some scruffs with my peers over my behavior, but had an adult taken upon him or herself to deliberately take advantage and mess with my mind – who knows what would have happened or what damage could have been done?

All the news about Megan Meier is being reported in more detail elsewhere, but there is a glaring omission which I find even more threatening to young Adders everywhere! I have written about it several times and I will write about it even more in the future. I will probably never stop writing about it:

The denial and general disbelief that ADD ADHD exists at all. Family, friends, peers and a large part of society in general do not believe that ADD ADHD exists. Not only do they not believe it exists, many take it upon themselves to give it another name: Excuse. That’s the name many give it or the way they refer to ADD and ADHD: as an excuse. Or maybe a despicable misleading excuse. 

Since I have openly admitted that I have ADD I have heard and been told directly so many “real truths” – such as: “It’s a lie, don’t tell anyone or you will be hated, I don’t believe it, I don’t see it, I think the diagnosis is wrong, you just want sympathy and on and on and on, oh, poor Bryan…” The thing is, I am 38 years old and I can handle these comments. Yes, they still hurt and are wrong, but I understand the nature of people not to want to believe in such a condition as ADD and ADHD or if they believe it, they don’t believe you have it.

I write my blog to help spread awareness about ADD ADHD. I wrote my forthcoming book to help people understand what a child goes through—especially in my case as undiagnosed. I have been criticized for writing both and I have received threats for doing so. Sure it’s ridiculous, but that is the way it is and nothing is going to change that! Maybe the law will – actually, the law is getting more serious about how people with such disorders or treated by others. It’s a shame something like this must be protected by the law, but it’s a necessity. Think about that for a moment – it is a necessity.

This brings me back to what I originally wanted to say: What if people realize that ADD ADHD exists and it causes problems for the person afflicted? They don’t have to understand it completely, but instead of being in denial and then using that denial as a catalyst to be mean and contradictory, they could simply leave the person with ADD ADHD alone—if not a parent, teacher or directly involved or related in some manner.  Those directly involved or related have an obligation to put aside their personal beliefs and get educated with reality and scientific findings. Other Persons Personal beliefs have no reason to be a part of anyone’s well being. If you can’t accept the reality and you refuse to believe that a scientifically based and doctor diagnosed disorder exists and is valid, then know that if you are involved you could be causing more harm than the disorder itself! That is what I believe. ADD and ADHD is not the product of depression; however, depression can be the product of ADD and ADHD. A major reason for that is how a person with ADD and ADHD is misunderstood and negatively treated by others. We have enough problems on our own and don’t want and especially don’t need other’s disbelieving opinions and negative actions.

What if, before this tragedy, Megan had been accepted by everyone and those who did not understand her and her disorders just left her alone, so she could be helped properly by those who do understand, believe and care?

Why did it take her death to wake people up? And those that have awoken and taken a stand against the accused—where were they and/or where are they for those countless still suffering from Depression and ADD ADHD?

~Bryan 

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Why? I asked myself the same question over and over again—why?      

 I could never say the right things, I could never get along with anyone and when I thought things were going great, even fantastic, the rug would always be pulled from under my feet and I would land on my back—hard. It hurt; it hurt so bad that at times I didn’t want to get up. I just wanted to lay there, it was too difficult, too many things seemed against me and the worst of the worst is that I knew I was against myself more than anyone else and no matter what I tried, no matter how I tried and tried and tried, it didn’t change. The mistakes kept coming, the repeats, and the sad song played over and over again. I couldn’t turn it off and I couldn’t turn it down. Nothing worked. Relationships came and went, each day brought more to feel ashamed of—I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to face society, my peers or anyone.

It seemed better that way. I hid my feelings with arrogance and pompousness—radiating a lie of self confidence. It made things worse, it made things even harder. Something was wrong with me, I didn’t know what and I didn’t know something was wrong with me. So painful, so miserable, so pathetic—rocking back and forth, knees against my chest, just wondering how I could make things better, how I could change—why, oh why—why, oh why?????

The time has come
I’m letting go now
I put it all behind me and just turn the page.
And I’ll make you believe that it don’t matter
You’ll never see it’s all a charade.

Oh
you can’t see tears in the rain
no matter how hard you try
You’ll never see anything
only the rain in my eyes.
You can’t see tears in the rain

Robin Beck – Tears in the Rain

Someone recently asked why I write my blog and why I try to help others. Now you know. I lived life with undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder—it’s real, it has consequences, it isn’t easy and it isn’t a joy when you don’t know – when you don’t know what to do or even if there is something you can do. Now I do know, now I know there is something that can be done and I want everyone else to know that too. There is hope, there is life, there are caring people and we can overcome!

     
~Bryan

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The reason I created Adder World was and is to help spread understanding and awareness of ADD ADHD. I speak from experiences I have had, what I have researched and the experiences others have shared with me. I do not claim to be a doctor or any other type of medical professional. If my experiences and what I have observed and therefore write about help bring awareness and inquiry to others, then I am achieving my said goal and hopefully more.

You can help me!

Read on if you really, really want to help…

Yes, indeed you can! Your experiences are valuable to all of us. We can learn from you and at the same time your comments can help spread awareness. Please, share your experiences with the rest of us by commenting on any article you relate to, most especially if you relate to more articles. Do not under estimate the value of your voice and how it might help others in similar situations as you. Many of you visit from ADD ADHD forums and you share your ideas there and no, you shouldn’t stop that—only enhance that by allowing others to hear from you from across the internet. Not everyone visits the same sites and many might not have read your experiences yet. I do appreciate the emails I receive and that has helped me along greatly—let’s spread the knowledge and give our visitors more than just my opinions, experiences and research! Everyone can become part of the solution and help reverse the overwhelming denial and negative opinion of the general public. Not only that, but many medical professionals have visited Adder World, by writing your experiences, you could very well be helping these professionals discover new treatments! I don’t think that’s too far fetched… do you?

Thanks for visiting Adder World… Your world, my world… OUR world!

~Bryan

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What’s worrisome to me is that despite ADD ADHD being the most researched mental disorder in the modern age, the general public still questions the validity. There is no question. ADD ADHD is real. Many even blame the disorder on pharmaceutical companies. Why is that worrisome to me? Well, it points to a much bigger problem with society, that despite overwhelming scientific evidence people still want to blame the children or their parents or even a company—somebody. The general public needs someone to blame! But, no one is to blame. We can point out problems with the school system, society and a deserted farmstead up north, but scientific studies have also pointed out that genetics play a role and ADD ADHD is, in many cases, hereditary. Who can we put in jail for this? Nobody! Persecution is futile, because it is unfounded. People need help, children need help and the only way we can help each other as a society is through understanding.

Get on the bus and by all means, sit at the front!

~Bryan

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“Of US children aged 8 to 15 years, 8.7%, an estimated 2.4 million, meet DSM-IV criteria for ADHD—according to a report by Archives of Pediatrics.”

First—who cares about the report? Hopefully you do, but why do you care? That’s for you to know and you can tell us if you like. For the purpose of this article, I will tell you what I think:

The report basically tells me, right off, that more kids between 8—15 have ADHD than we thought. Yeah? Previous estimates were between 5—7% depending where we get our information. But wait; in the report I find that only 3k some-odd kids were included in the tests. What’s more, is that:

“An additional 3.3% (95% CI, 2.4%-4.1%) did not meet DSM-IV ADHD criteria but had both a parent-reported prior diagnosis of ADHD and treatment with ADHD medications at some time during the past 12 months. However, the following results focus on those meeting DSM-IV ADHD criteria in the past year.”

Okay, that’s all I am going to include from this report and instead focus on my opinion, because, although the report is useful to the medical profession, I just don’t see it as a practical estimate of the general U.S. 301+ million pop or the world’s 6.7 Billion pop. 3000 candidates and 3.3% prior diagnosed excluded is not the end all, be all of estimitations, in my opinion. Yes, the studies are important and should continue, but, what do we know according to common sense and eye balling the Learning Disorder? It’s a heck of a lot more prevalent than we ever imagined and 8% is only the tip of the iceberg!

I think we can all agree that everyone has ADHD tendencies and everyone, diagnosed, or not, can benefit from learning techniques created for Adders. Why is that? Maybe the education systems take themselves way too seriously and should get back to the basics of fundamentally teaching people through interaction? From my experience, talking to both Adders and those who think, or know, they don’t have ADD or ADHD, interactive learning experiences are the preferred method of learning. So many darn standards and expectations which are set for everyone, but if there is one thing we all know about “everyone”, is that no two people are alike, no matter if they have a learning disorder or not.

The next study should be ‘how many do not have ADD or ADHD’! In the last few months I have talked to more people than in the entire rest of my life, with concern to ADD ADHD, and every single person knows someone with either ADD or ADHD and if they don’t know someone with ADD or ADHD, well, as it turns out, they themselves have it! Now this is a personal study and I am just eyeballing this, but that kind of tells me 8% might be a bit low!

How many people do you know with ADD or ADHD? How many people do you know are related to an Adder? If you have ADD or ADHD and since we know it is hereditary—how many in your direct family have ADD or ADHD? So tell me and our fellow readers: what percent of the population do you ‘think’ have ADD or ADHD just from eyeballing it???

Please, don’t misunderstand me, I think the job the medical profession is doing to study and validate ADD ADHD is important, very, very important, but in reality we already know that this type of research is slow and not really as accurate as is needed.

~Bryan

For those who would like to read the report from the Archives of Pediatrics, here is the link to their website:

http://www.archpedi.ama-assn.org/

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These are my personal thoughts with regard to my personal experiences and research and are not to be considered medical facts or used for any kind of diagnosis or treatment.

Let’s start with hyperactive and inactive children. Hyperactive children are more likely to receive treatment for ADHD than an ADD child who is more inactive and quiet. In this case the inactive child has ADD and the hyperactive child has ADHD. Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

A hyperactive child can be difficult on parents and teachers in many ways, if the child would sit still for a minute, then the parent, teacher or guardian can get something of his or her own done. There are so many situations which necessitate for an adult to have a calm child and I am sure you can imagine many of them, so, I won’t even try to describe all. Because a child is hyperactive, he or she is more likely to be referred to a medical care professional. Inactive children with ADD can get by for a longer period of time before being diagnosed. Inactive and quiet children are preferred by most adults and by their very nature can get by unnoticed for a while, before grades become an issue or inattentiveness at home becomes an issue with regards to homework, chores and following general instructions. It is interesting that this situation can happen under one roof, and it has been reported frequently that a hyperactive child is diagnosed with ADHD while their sibling goes undiagnosed for a longer while, sometimes years, but is indeed ADD positive—the sibling happened to be the inactive type in most of these cases. This shows a preference not only for parents, but society in general. The important thing to remember here is that ADD and ADHD have been proven to be hereditary.   

Some parents do not believe ADD and ADHD exist. They instead believe that punishment is the answer for a child’s behavior. For adults who grew up undiagnosed with ADD or ADHD punishment was a frequent and seemingly necessary cure back in the day when ADD/ADHD was not yet understood. Today, we know that punishment is the short term ‘cure’, and over time frequent punishment can have a very damaging effect on a child’s natural growth, and will follow the child into adulthood by building resentment and low self esteem. Punishment works because it provides the child with an adrenalin boost provided by fear and pain, this adrenalin boost helps the child concentrate and react better for a short period of time and because it is a short term boost the child will revert. On the other hand, if the child happens to be hyperactive, frequent punishment can pull the child into compliance and eventually subdue the hyperactivity, but this comes at a very, very high cost to the child. A cost many parents do not understand or recognize until it is too late…

To be continued…

Here is something to read until my follow-up article:

webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20070904/many-kids-with-ADHD-arent-diagnosed

~Bryan

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