National ADHD Awareness Week 2008 September 14th - September 20th

[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.

[teflon]

I'm already aware of ADHD so I don't need a special week to tell me all about it.
I am aware it is a bullshit condition fabricated by the bone idle hippies who can't be bothered to raise a child properly, in order to lay blame on something other than their own apathetic ineptitude.
When I was a kid, they just stopped giving them orange squash and they grew out of it. Nowadays kids get fizzy drinks and are fed utter crap out of packets or morally bankrupt fast-food diners, the kids turn into annoying little shits and are therefore diagnosed with this new-fangled 'disease'.

[meow]

Originally Posted by teflon

I'm already aware of ADHD so I don't need a special week to tell me all about it.
I am aware it is a bullshit condition fabricated by the bone idle hippies who can't be bothered to raise a child properly, in order to lay blame on something other than their own apathetic ineptitude.
When I was a kid, they just stopped giving them orange squash and they grew out of it. Nowadays kids get fizzy drinks and are fed utter crap out of packets or morally bankrupt fast-food diners, the kids turn into annoying little shits and are therefore diagnosed with this new-fangled 'disease'.

lol i assume thats supposed to be sarcastic, but wether it is or isnt it does put the point accross very well about many of the misconceptions this condition faces.

the government report identifies that many adults with untreated adhd end up with very severe depresion as a direct cause of strugling with untreated adhd.

These people havnt tried to use it as an excuse, they just strugle on, most of them have never even heard of ADHD, but eventually things get to a state where they end up unable to cope anymore, this is where the cost to the taxpayer starts to mount up. they end up misdiagnosed as sufering from depresion, but treatment for depresion is totaly unsucesfull if its cuased by ADHD, unless the ADHD is treated also. such inaproriate treatment often ends up in hospital stays wich are both long and very expensive.

these are the people who are lucky enough to have avoided ending up in trouble with drugs and or ending up in prison. the people who end up with adiction and in trouble with the law cost society even more.

the total cost to the taxpayer is likely in the order of billions of pounds a year.

what you should ask yourself is are you prepared to pay such huge costs in taxes of expensive inapropriate treatment just becuase there are these misconceptions ?

sure there are people who think so and so's child has adhd becuase they ran about a bit to fast after drinking swetend fiizy soda, but this has nothing to do with ADHD, niether is bad parenting anyhting to do with ADHD and certainly ADHD isnt responsible for everyone who behaves badly.

but there is a very distinct problem wich is subject to so much confusion wich you pointed out so well, but wich is totaly misguided and ill informed.

this is one reason why the awareness week is needed :- to try and inform people of the need to sepererate people who have a real problem that needs treatment from the people who you so elequently described as hippy children lol.

Actually I have known a few hippies in my time and tbh their children have usualy turned out quite remarkably well.

[Mars]

Tef just typed out my reply for me
next they'll be telling us that burglars are ill, and need lots of therapy
and expensive drugs to try to tell them the error of their ways :S
I wouldn't put anything past the leftwing liberal elite tbh,
now i know how that poor guy felt in the tv series 'The Prisoner'

[meow]

Originally Posted by Mars

Tef just typed out my reply for me
next they'll be telling us that burglars are ill, and need lots of therapy
and expensive drugs to try to tell them the error of their ways :S
I wouldn't put anything past the leftwing liberal elite tbh,
now i know how that poor guy felt in the tv series 'The Prisoner'

wel my reply wasnt quite in time, but do you think the burglars cost us nothing to put in prison ? who do you think pays for these prisons, and their food? do you think the burglars pay for them ? wel no its you the taxpayer !

and do you know that the cheapest and often most effective drugs to treat ADHD are 5 pence a tablet ?

ADHD amongst the prison population is 5 times higher than average, this means that it certainly doesnt excuse all prisoners. but its an unecesary cost as the treatment can be more effective for this condition than many other mantal health condition.

can you do the maths ?

tbh ive no idea how much prison costs us.

this isnt political, niether left or right wing, this is based on such a vast number of studies many based on statistical data on a huge number of case studies and published in well respected peer reviewd scientific journals.

a decade or so ago dyslexia was ridiculed as such a fad, but now its reasonably well treated. dyslexia was also found to be many times higher in the prison population, but now we are treating it very sucesfully indeed, and people with dyslexia are able to acheive very good standard of living.

now do you see the need for awareness week ? as its so clear so many people have totally the wrong idea, its like people still beleiving in a flat earth.

this isnt about using adhd as an excuse this is about treating people where posible and alowing them to lead a productive life instead of costing the taxpayer a fortune.

[emma roids]

Originally Posted by teflon

I'm already aware of ADHD so I don't need a special week to tell me all about it.
I am aware it is a bullshit condition fabricated by the bone idle hippies who can't be bothered to raise a child properly, in order to lay blame on something other than their own apathetic ineptitude.
When I was a kid, they just stopped giving them orange squash and they grew out of it. Nowadays kids get fizzy drinks and are fed utter crap out of packets or morally bankrupt fast-food diners, the kids turn into annoying little shits and are therefore diagnosed with this new-fangled 'disease'.

i agree with this, my mate lets his kid eat and drink whatever he wants, this kid is always hyper and jumping off walls and such.
my mate just says `oh yea he has ADHD`

a lot has to be said for a kids diet affecting how they behave.

[meow]

Originally Posted by emma roids

i agree with this, my mate lets his kid eat and drink whatever he wants, this kid is always hyper and jumping off walls and such.
my mate just says `oh yea he has ADHD`

a lot has to be said for a kids diet affecting how they behave.

well for a start how do you know this kid realy has ADHD ?
has he had a proper clinical evaluation ?
if so is he recieving treatment ?
if not why not ?

secondly diet has virtually nothing to do with the clinical dagnosis of ADHD whatsoever,
this is why its important to get rid of these ridiculous notions.

[meow]

no answer from emma still, but heres another wall of text wich should crit anyone for at least 1000+ if theyr still stupid enough to think its a fad or whatever.


Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2002 ( C° 2002)
International Consensus Statement on ADHD
January 2002

We, the undersigned consortium of international scientists, are deeply concerned about the periodic inaccurate portrayal of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in media reports. This is a disorder with which we are all very familiar and toward which many of us have dedicated scientific studies if not entire careers.We fear that inaccurate stories rendering ADHDas myth, fraud, or benign condition may cause thousands of sufferers not to seek treatment for their disorder. It also leaves the public with a general sense that this disorder is not valid or real or consists of a rather trivial affliction.

We have created this consensus statement on ADHD as a reference on the status of the scientific findings concerning this disorder, its validity, and its adverse impact on the lives of those diagnosed with the disorder as of this writing (January 2002).

Occasional coverage of the disorder casts the story in the form of a sporting event with evenly matched competitors. The views of a handful of nonexpert doctors that ADHD does not exist are contrasted against mainstream scientific views that it does, as if both views had equal merit. Such attempts at balance give the public the impression that there
is substantial scientific disagreement over whether ADHDis a real medical condition. In fact, there is no such disagreement—at least no more so than there is
over whether smoking causes cancer, for example, or whether a virus causes HIV/AIDS.

The U.S. Surgeon General, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, among others, all recognizeADHDas a valid disorder. Although some of these organizations have issued guidelines for evaluation and management of the disorder for their membership, this is the first consensus statement issued by an independent consortium of leading scientists concerning the status of the disorder. Among scientistswhohave devoted years, if not entire careers, to the study of this disorder there is no controversy regarding its existence.

ADHD and Science

We cannot overemphasize the point that, as a matter of science, the notion that ADHD does not exist is simply wrong. All of the major medical associations and government health agencies recognize ADHD as a genuine disorder because the scientific evidence indicating it is so overwhelming.

Various approaches have been used to establish whether a condition rises to the level of a valid medical or psychiatric disorder. A very useful one stipulates that there must be scientifically established evidence that those suffering the condition have a serious deficiency in or failure of a physical or psychological mechanism that is universal to humans. That is, all humans normally would be expected, regardless of culture, to have developed that mental ability.

And there must be equally incontrovertible scientific evidence that this serious deficiency leads to harm to the individual. Harm is established through evidence of increased mortality, morbidity, or impairment in the major life activities required of one’s
developmental stage in life. Major life ctivities are those domains of functioning such as education, social relationships, family functioning, independence and self-sufficiency, and occupational functioning that all humans of that developmental level are expected to
perform.

As attested to by the numerous scientists signing this document, there is no question among the world’s leading clinical researchers that ADHD involves a serious deficiency in a set of psychological abilities and that these deficiencies pose serious harm to most individuals possessing the disorder. Current evidence indicates that deficits in behavioral inhibition and sustained attention are central to this disorder—facts demonstrated through hundreds of scientific studies. And there is no doubt that ADHD leads to impairments in major life activities, including social relations, education, family functioning, occupational
functioning, self-sufficiency, and adherence to social rules, norms, and laws. Evidence also indicates that those with ADHD are more prone to physical injury and accidental poisonings. This is why no professional medical, psychological, or scientific organization doubts the existence of ADHD as a legitimate disorder.

The central psychological deficits in those with ADHD have now been linked through numerous studies using various scientific methods to several specific brain regions (the frontal lobe, its connections to the basal ganglia, and their relationship to the central aspects of the cerebellum). Most neurological studies find that as a group those with ADHD have less brain electrical activity and show less reactivity to stimulation in one or more of these regions. And neuro-imaging studies of groups of those with ADHD also demonstrate relatively smaller areas of brain matter and less metabolic activity of this brain
matter than is the case in control groups used in these studies.

These same psychological deficits in inhibition and attention have been found in numerous studies of identical and fraternal twins conducted across various countries (US, Great Britain, Norway, Australia, etc.) to be primarily inherited. The genetic contribution to these traits is routinely found to be among the highest for any psychiatric disorder (70–95% of trait variation in the population), nearly approaching the genetic contribution to human height. One gene has recently been reliably demonstrated to be associated with this disorder and the search for more is underway by more than 12 different scientific teams worldwide at this time.

Numerous studies of twins demonstrate that family environment makes no significant separate contribution to these traits. This is not to say that the home environment, parental management abilities, stressful life events, or deviant peer relationships are unimportant or have no influence on individuals having this disorder, as they certainly do. Genetic tendencies are expressed in interaction with the environment. Also, those having ADHD often have other associated disorders and problems, some of which are clearly related to their social environments. But it is to say that the underlying psychological deficits that comprise ADHD itself are not solely or primarily the result of these environmental factors

This is why leading international scientists, such as the signers below, recognize the mounting evidence of neurological and genetic contributions to this disorder. This evidence, coupled with countless studies on the harm posed by the disorder and hundreds of studies on the effectiveness of medication, buttresses the need in many, though by no means all, cases for management of the disorder with multiple therapies. These include medication combined with educational, family, and other social accommodations. This is in striking contrast to the wholly unscientific views of some social critics in periodic media accounts that ADHD constitutes a fraud, that medicating those afflicted is questionable if not reprehensible, and that any behavior problems associated with ADHD are merely the result of problems in the home, excessive viewing of TV or playing of video games, diet, lack of love and attention, or teacher/school intolerance.

ADHD is not a benign disorder. For those it afflicts, ADHD can cause devastating problems. Follow-up studies of clinical samples suggest that sufferers are far more likely than normal people to drop out of school (32–40%), to rarely complete college (5–10%), to have few or no friends (50–70%), to underperform at work (70–80%), to engage in antisocial activities (40–50%), and to use tobacco or illicit drugs more than normal. Moreover, children growing up with ADHD are more likely to experience teen pregnancy (40%) and sexually transmitted diseases (16%), to speed excessively and have multiple car accidents, to experience depression (20–30%) and personality disorders (18–25%) as adults, and in hundreds of other ways mismanage and endanger their lives.

Yet despite these serious consequences, studies indicate that less than half of those with the disorder are receiving treatment. The media can help substantially to improve these circumstances. It can do so by portraying ADHD and the science about it as accurately and responsibly as possible while not purveying the propaganda of some social critics and fringe doctors whose political agenda would have you and the public believe there is no real disorder here. To publish stories that ADHD is a fictitious disorder or merely a conflict between today’s Huckleberry Finns and their caregivers is tantamount to declaring the earth flat, the laws of gravity debatable, and the periodic table in chemistry a fraud.ADHDshould be depicted in the media as realistically and accurately as it is depicted in science—as a valid disorder having varied and substantial adverse impact on those who may suffer from it through no fault of their own or their parents and teachers.

(a further 21 pages listing profesionaly qualified people, and scientific references)

http://psych.colorado.edu/~willcutt/...rkley_2002.pdf