Re: ADD and Ritalin - Why more prevalent in US than UK ?
August Treubig (atreubi@CCTUADMIN3.ENTERGY.COM)
Fri, 18 Mar 1994 13:24:19 +0600
Until recently (last few years) ADD was not diagnosed or understood.
My oldest son who is now 22 has now been diagnosed with ADD. For him it
was a relief to know that was what his problem was. If it had been diagnosed
when he was 9 or 10 the last 12 years of his and our lives would have been
very different.
I would not say that the US has more of a problem than the UK or anywhere
for that matter. It is probably not being recoginzed is the problem...
When Craig was in the 4th & 5th grade his grades started dropping and he
had a lot of trouble with math. We (my wife and myself) repeatedly asked
the teachers and principal to have Craig evaluated. Over and over it was
dismissed as "too disturbing for the child" and not really needed as he
"just wasn't paying attention". His attitudes an behavors became worse
and worse over time to a point that when he was 17 we had to throw him
out of the house to protect our own (myself, wife and other 2 children)
sanity.
Craig lived the next 2 - 3 years in more or less a nightmare. Somewhere
along the way he decided to get some help and began to put his life together.
It took a lot of help by various people and counselling to put his life into
some semblence of what we would call "normal".
Throught the middle of this my wife was going to school working on her college
degree in counselling and family therapy. In doing some of her practicals for
her masters degree, she had a client who was ADD. So she did a lot of reading
on the subject. She kept telling me that the books described Craig perfectly.
As Craig put his life together better and we began to be on speaking terms,
Kathy approached him with the idea that perhaps he was ADD. He accepted the
possibility, because for him, it was an explaination for a lot of unexplained
things in his behavior. He was finally able to be tested about 4 months ago
and the results were what we all expected -- that he was ADD and slightly ADHD.
So they started him on some medicine (not ridlin, something else) and he said
that he noticed a difference within a day or two. He said it was like he was
more in touch with things around him...
My basic tact here is to say that there probably are just as many ADD
everywhere, but they are not being recoginzed....
There was a program on the ABC 24 hours program about 6 months ago on ADD
here in the US. The majority of the piece was on adults who didn't know
that they were ADD. Once they were diagnosed and began to be medicated
their lives took a dramatic turn for the better......
All I can tell you is get a book on ADD, preferably something fairly recent,
and read about it. You may find out that you will recognize the symptoms
in youth and adults that you know.....
YiS
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August Treubig Brotherhood Member
Advisor, Explorer Post 679 Chilantakoba Lodge # 397
Former ASM & CC Troop 796 Advisor to Scribe & Publications
Cataouatche District
New Orleans Area Council internet: atreubi@entergy.com
(I used to be a fox...SR-71)
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Not speaking for I speak for myself only,
Entergy Corporation but I listen more than I speak!
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