A quote on a local forum and my reply....
"A report on the front page of today's
Vancouver Sun newspaper reports that ADHD rates have tripled in the past
decade. 4.6% of children in the U.S. under 19 took meds for ADHD. In the
Netherlands the number was 1% while in Germany
it was .7 %. So what accounts for the much higher number in the U.S?
Some experts are linking genetically modified foods for the increase as they
are very common in the U.S. and Canada but have been banned in Europe. Seems to
be there must be some rational explanation for such a large difference.
Pharmacare in Canada filled 312,304 prescriptions in 2011
while 94,251 were filled in 2000. Experts say the condition remains
underdiagnosed.
So it looks like we
have another time bomb on our hands, just like Autism, and yet nobody seems to
be looking for answers as to the why it's happening. Is it the rapid
proliferation of wireless microwave emitting devices, genetically modified food
or a combination of both?
The costs to our
medical system, lost productivity, crime, and many other results attributed to
these conditions will quickly bankrupt our already overburdened medical and
justice systems." -bigbird
I don't think any of those things contribute to ADHD. I
fully admit that I have ADHD, if I look at my family a few generations back. I
think in Canada we do have kids diagnosed with ADHD that DO NOT have ADHD and
that kids in Europe, who do have ADHD simply aren't diagnosed because they treat
the whole child rather than place labels on everything.
For example, one of my sons was forced to utilize our local
youth mental health system and I was told over and over it was simply
depression and anxiety. Which would be ok, accept that there are no real
services available to help him. I had to push for over three years to get him
proper assessments that I don't feel are available here.
You can NOT diagnose adhd or a mental health concern with
ONE 20-30 minute session. We spent three days in Vancouver before he was
diagnosed with ADHD and a variety of neurological concerns.
OK great- so now you have an 'answer' what is a parent to
do? There are no real resources to actually help the children here. There is
one quality behavior therapist, but it is more about treating the family unit
as a whole and I personally already implemented most of their suggestions into
our daily life.
VIHA has a small amount of support available but it is more
like 'respite'. When I went to MCFD, I was told my son would get additional
medical services unless he was in care and they offered to send my children to
a foster home each weekend so I could have a break. I didn't need a break; I
needed supports for my son. And sending him from one place to another every
weekend with different expectations sure wasn't going to help his 'anxiety'. I
would be starting from scratch every Monday morning and he'd have serious trust
and abandonment issues.
Just in this last 6 months have I finally found an actual
counselor for my son who is actually teaching him skills he can use and helping
him. To find this person (who I have to pay privately) I called EVERY single
psychologist on Vancouver Island. I was told over and over that they do
'assessments' - I kept saying I have all the assessments; I need to know what
to do know? Who will sit with me and help develop a plan that is individualized
for him? Not just one that says here - take these drugs and hope for the best?
Finally, I found one who said - here call this guy in **** *******
Treating the whole child means that all of these people
would put the supports in place the child needs to be successful. The school,
the health professionals, and the family. Our school system is broken and
underfunded, yet they want to put all the supports for children with mental
health issues into the schools, which means the parents aren't actually a part
of the plan to help the child. Yeah, kids are in school 6 hours a day for 10
months, but these problems don't stop on June 15th and go on summer break.
The appearance of ADHD is increasing (in my opinion) here in
North America, because the environment our kids are in each day highlight and
increases the negative symptoms of ADHD. There are amazing parts of ADHD, and
we don’t allow those to flourish. It’s a social issue within our schools, our
healthcare system, and our society’s focus on the measurement of success is how
much STUFF you have. If parents spent less time working to afford giant TV’s,
computers for all their kids, brand new 40,0000 cars to measure their success in
life, but instead measured it based on what sort of adults their children grow
up to be, maybe we would see more of the ADHD kids succeeding in school and
life because they would have the skills they need by the time the leave home to
be contributing and outstanding members of our society who are willing to take
the risks to make the world a better place (by giving up the need for STUFF).
