Ok, so.... this is not mustang related, but there are some real sharp people on here with good insight and experience in things related to this, so bear with me, i would really like to hear from some of you, especially the parents as well as people who might have first hand knowledge of being in this situation.


My 6 year old stepson who is in 1st grade has been diagnosed as having ADHD by his schools psychologist (may be a psychiatrist but im not sure)
We are going to contact the family doctor and see if he can get us a referral to a good psychiatrist for a 2nd opinion. Im very skeptical to believe any psychiatric program paid for by the school because of possible side interests that could result in pushing diagnosis and behavioral drugs to children.

For example, a kid is acting up and not paying attention to the level the school deems is appropriate, thier psychiatrist diagnoses the kid (free of charge of course) to have ADD or ADHD and prescribes a behavioral drug to keep the child paying attention and in his seat, while at the same time they can now add him to the number of "Special needs" children and could potentially make the school qualify for extra funding.

Personally i feel that way too many children are taking these sorts of medication and i worry about the long term effects. At 6 years old there is a LOT of emotional and intellectual development going on and i worry that such a thing might actually retard his development by supressing various urges and emotional responces that may be vital to a healthy normal upbringing.

I guess if we get a 2nd opinion by a shrink that is in no way connected to the school we might have to accpet the fact that he might really have ADHD. If that is so i of course want to do what is needed to ensure he has every chance to succeed as a non ADHD child.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Does anybody have any children/siblings that have been taking behavioral drugs?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any advice? things to look into?

IO have to admit, this kid hasnt had the most stable life. Right now things are about as stable as they have been as his dad has not been involved in the upbringing of this boy, and a younger single mom to raise him as best as she can figure out without the benefit of a very secure financial situation.

Im just very nervous to have him drugged up. As much as he gets on my nerves sometimes and as much as i wish he would occasionally just sit down and shuttup, i really dont know about using medication to achieve this...

I personally believe a lot of parents might go for this emotional regulation because if they accept the "ADD/ADHD" diagnosis it somehow absolves them of any fears of being bad parents no matter how rediculous those fears are.... "oh well he is ADHD so i cant do anything about his behavior" etc....

i do understand that this is a real medical condition. some people really need this stuff.... i just dont think it is maybe more than 5% of children with the diagnosis actually suffer from the condition

 

only input I can offer is that I was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD as a child
(go figure...lol) Ritalin was the big one back then, I took it and it worked...I never felt "drugged" while on it. It helped me focus and I did much better in school.

but if the kid doesn't need it, they shouldn't be taking it, so a second opinion would be a must IMO.

 

Dude, I think the answer to the question lies in your own post. You feelings, based on the history your described, I think are spot-on.

Seriously, it sounds to me like you have this all figured out, you just need to listen to yourself.

Myself, I would be very nervous using drugs on my kids. Unless they need it to get through the day, fine. But, if it is to make everyone elses lives easier, screw it. You and your wife just need to step up to the plate (not saying that you are not) and so do the teachers and the school.

The young guy certainly has issues, but sounds to me like he needs love and consistency most of all. If the drugs become a necessity, then so be it.

Get a second opinion and a 3rd if needed. Talk to support groups and other parents.

BTW, I was diagnossed with ADHD when I was a kid. Parents took me off of sugar and caffeine and kept me busy. They never had to resort to drugs.

Only you and your wife know your son....you will know.

 

They had ADHD back then? i figured you woulda been too busy dodging the plague with all the other serfs to even THINK about ADHD.

lol.

j/k

thank for the reply.

Zigg, so how long did you have to be on it? was it hard coming off it? or are you still on it?

 

I agree with your thoughts Jack. The schools don't really do any significant tests they just go oh this kid distracted he has ADD. I'm no professional haha but I really think its all mental since hes so young it may be tough for him to just overcome it but when I was younger a lot of kids were taking it and I would say 90% of them took it for the incorrect reasons or sold their medication instead of even taking it. So IMO its all mental I think if you work with him and keep him occupied and maybe show him how learning could be interesting he can out grow it without taking the drugs. Plus with his age I mean 1st grade!!! hell I don't even remember back then I'm sure my mind was all over the place haha if he were in Jr. High or High school I would be more concerned.

 

back then? lol... If I can remember that faaar baaaack...I was on Ritalin for about 3 years I'd say. from when I was about 13-14 till 16 or so. I don't remember it being hard to stop taking, actually all of a sudden it seemed, the stuff just stopped working all together. I stopped taking it and felt like I didn't need it anymore. Overall I think it was mostly a positive experience for me. Certainly got my GPA up a bunch, and leveled me out behaviorally.

 

my moms friends kid they sead he had a.d.d or what ever they put him on all these drugs and now hes have depression and emotional problems. if i were you i would try and not have to put him on thouse drugs.

 

Jack

I went through the same thing when I was kid...said I had ADD, all that crap...they pumped me full of ritalin and some other crap, it worked for awhile, but after about 18 months it stopped working, and i had the same problems.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO A PYSCHIATRIST...take him to a psychologist.

A psychiatrist will just recommend a whole bunch of drugs to help your kid solve his problems...psychiatrists are a joke, as they all think medicine is the answer.

a psychologist is a doctor who will talk to your child and help him get to the root of his problems, and teach him to overcome them. the only fallback is your kid is at such an age where he doesn't understand how his behavior could affect his future, or even what it does to him now, so as a parent you have to be really diligent in talking with him, and helping him to understand he has a problem, and that it can be beaten, but he has to talk about it.

his ADD or ADHD could be a result of a number of things, anxiety, getting made fun of, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, not being challenged at school, boredom, anti-social, and the list goes on.

point is, all can be beaten without prescriptions or medications.

if you let a psychiatrist get a hold of your kid, you have good chances of having to deal with a screwed up kid the rest of your life, and medication will make it worse. short term, medicine is ok...long term...it's dangerous.

long term effects of medicine prescribed by a psychiatrist, include inability to hold a job, lack of friends, being persecuted by his peers, loneliness, depression, anger problems, money management problems, possible drug and alcohol abuse, homicidal/suicidal thoughts and/or tendecies, relationship problems, problems with authority, and the list goes on and on.

as a person who's been in your sons shoes, don't do this to your kid.

2 years ago i went to the VA, and they made me talk to a psychiatrist, and she recommended some anti-depressants, and anti-anxiety pills, i looked her in the eye and told i didn't gave a damn about her opinion and that i wanted to see a psychologist so I could get to the root of my problem, not just forget about it temporarily with help of some medicine.

i got my recommendation and I saw the psychologist for about 6 months, and I got to the root of my problem, and i can honestly say I never felt better.

also another thing that will help is getting him into church, and letting the principles of religion help guide his life (if you're the church going type).

also you can't feel sorry for him, or his condition, you have to be tough on him, and teach him not to use his problems as a handicap, or a reason to feel sorry for himself, that he needs to use it as a motivation, and he'll come through it ok.

 

I worked in a hospital for SED (severely emotionally disturbed... read nuckin futz) kids (12-18 ain't really kids but that's semantics). The hospital was the locked down kind with an attached school. I ran the computers and taught computers to the little nutbags. I've seen the kids that need the meds and that it REALLY works on. The ones that clinically NEED drugs for it are easy as hell to find. Look for the damage trail. If there's no damage trail you're just not making it worth his while to give a damn. Think about it from his point of view, let him know you can do that and be brief, fair and clear about your expectations/rules.

For those that have been among the prescribe-ees of ritalin et al: most of you didn't need it. If it was just concentration that they were after a bit of good honest labor or a fresh *** beatin would normally have sufficed until your teen years. To expect anything but total and complete mental imbalance from a teenager is ludicrous in the extreme. It's been long documented that pubescent humans suffer a range of neurochemical imbalances that a little *** beatin and some honest labor does a helluva job at fixin up right. I was one of the nut cases that would have been stuck with that crap but I fought it and claimed back my youth. Cost me a few *** beatins and more blisters on my hands than Carter has little liver pills but in balance it was worth it.

Other than that... mixedbreed speaks well on this.

 

also, the army helped fixed a few of things as well...but there were some that the Army couldn't fix that the psychologist 2 years later was able to.

if i'd have gone to see the psychologist while i was in the army, i might still be in (but then again, that might not be a good thing).

for the record, i broke the cessamoid bone in my left foot while i was in AIT....my drill sgt's and 1st Sargeant, decided they were medical experts and had the nerve to tell me I was faking my injury, and began a relentless barage against me mentally and emotionally. in effect they got the reaction they wanted, but i took two of the bastards with me.

1 drill got court martialed, and dishonorably discharged, the other jackass got a permanent statement against him in his file, which keeps him from ever getting promoted any further than Sergeant First Class, lost 60 days pay, and got sent to Korea for 2 years.

I got a general discharge for misconduct with honorable conditions. My discharge is currently under review by the Army Discharge Review board, and I expect a decision sometime at the end of next summer. Should be upgraded to honorable, and I will get some more benefits, which is good...it will also help me in getting money for school.