[meow]

ADHD is medical condition that has had quite remarkable controversy and a remarkably long history. ADHD stands for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

buts whats most alarming is the estimated cost of this condition to you the taxpayer.

yet this isnt due to the expense of the treatment for this condition, that is actually remarkably cheap, but to the fact that it so often doesnt get diagnosed and treated early enough - this leads to lots of other inaproriate and expensive treatment wich is actually just as likely to make the situation worse and just escelates the cost to the taxpayer.

the longer its left untreated the more the cost, not just in extra medical care, but welfare and even judicial costs, not to mention lost opertunities. any estimates to the actual financial cost are so staggering as to be almost unbeleiavle, yet this ignores the sufering.

even the actual name of the condition is unfortunate as its often mis interpreted if taken too literaly.

its charecterised by a variety of symptoms, all of wich range in severity and each are such that quite normal people can relate to them and this fuels the controversy as many people are inclined to think these symptoms are just normal and the condition isnt a valid medical condition.

these symptoms range from hyperactivity to inatention where the H is then comonly omited - ADD. the diferenece and changes in naming conventions has also led to confusion. it is often now called AD/HD to encompass both types.

however despite the fact that normal people might feel they have these same problems, its the extent to wich these symptoms can cause such difficulties for some people that makes it a totally diferent issue and one that definatly needs treating.

also quite remarkable is the controversy that surounds the mediction for this condition.
by far the most effective treatment is stimulant medication wich most people unfortunatly automaticaly asociate with the street drug speed.

its remarkable too that this is such a paradox, as giving stimulants to a child who is so hyperactive - it has the oposite effect to what most people would think of a stimulant would be, it actualy seemingly calms them down.

the result is that some people try to make the absurd claim that the drug controls the child, however this is far from the case. these sort of claims come from extremist groups such as scientology wich seem to be aopposed to many such forms of medication.

also remarkably it has been shown that ADHD is highly assiciated with drug adiction, yet proper stimulant medication actually reduces this association.

the symptoms in children with ADHD are obvious when they are very disruptive, however this disruptive behavour is usualy blamed on bad parenting. in fact there are many posible cuases of such disruptive behavour.

yet many people with ADHD are not so disruptive and go un noticed, but this doesnt mean they dont have severe problems.

the sad thing is that many people with ADHD are particularly bright, and with the right treatment early enough can do wonderfull things. yet our prison population shows a 5 times higher incidence of people with ADHD than the average population (presumably ADHD that wasnt treated early enough or not at all)

its also surpsing the number of famous people who have done incredible things, that have documented evidence that strongly suggest unmistakable signs of ADHD.

It remains an awkward condition for someone who is untrained to make an acrurate diagnosis, yet however there is in fact a fairly clear diagnostic process.

what wil be most surprising is the rate of occurence of this problem, wich is 3-5% of the population and this high rate has also fueled some of the controversy, saying its just a reflection of our lifestyle rather than a valid medical conditoon, but it is true that our culture does make life more dificult for anyone with ADHD.

this means that on average in every class of 30 pupils, there will be at least one person with ADHD.

beleive it or not there is still more controversy, becuase the disruptive behavoiur is what gets noticed most, and all children have disruptive bahavour to some degree, but this improves with age, and by puberty most children even with adhd have improved too, wich has led to the false assumption that is only exists in children.

the amount of adults with ADHD is still high in fact almost the same, however in this country the treatment for adults is virtualy non existant. this means there are many adults out there strugling with thier lives.

if you know many people its likley you know someone who has it.
it seems most adults who have it just strugle on not realising it,
most adults only reaslise when they find out about it becuase their child gets diagnosed, and it is highly genetic.

its highly likley your life is affected by it one way or another, even if your not one of the 3-5%, as maybe someone you work with has it or even your boss. this is one of those conditions that doesnt just affect the sufferer but everyone around them. for parents of an adhd child it is a nightmare beyond beleif.

If you unlucky enough to have a family member who has ADHD and has trouble getting a diagnosis/treatment then you know all too well the problems and this itself can cause such incredible distress that people end up needing psychiatric care.

interestingly the government dppartment NICE - "National Institute for Clinical Excellence" has produced new guidlines for this condition wich will be published in just before on september 10, and for the first time recognises all the shortcomings of the current situation, and recognises adult ADHD.

The NHS is so overwhelmingly unable to cope with this condition. yet if they dont now conform to these new guidlines there will be potentialy much more than the continued cost to the taxpayer from untreated ADHD, there may well be very expensive claims for the total lack of treatment available, wich will of course have to be born by all of us who pay taxes.

however the NHS waiting time targets apply to things like operations, the targets for waiting times for this sort of condition are pathetic.

If anyone wishes to do something simple, even writing to your MP is a start and probably the most important thing.

if anyone is realy confused or taken in by the negative side of the arguments then there is lots of information for this, and there is plenty of peer reviewed scientific studies going back many decades to back this information up. there are even several studies of all the studies ever done wich conclude it is a real condition and stimulant medication is an essential part of any sucesful treatment.

there are lots of false claims to the contrary wich have no scientific basis and it also begs the question where do we draw the line bwteeen whats normal and what justifies medical intervention, but usualy someone with ADHD who actualy ends up seeking help is so clearly in need of some sort of help.

its also something that gets dismised as "just an excuse for bad behavour", however AFAIK the courts dont accept it as an excuse.

il post some more links later if anyone is interested ... remarkably google shows up a massive 32 million hits for "ADHD".

there may be some prototype layouts for letters to MP to be found on the web, you can even email them these days, ive emailed mine just recently and got a reply within 2 days.