Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Drugging Of The American Boy

esquire.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 106 posts

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#11

Post by legutierr »

com2kid wrote: post #4
eruditely wrote: post #2

Why don't you read a fucking ADHD support forum and wonder whether the suffering caused by poor executive functioning/nervous system disorder is real? Why didn't they mention how many more times you are likely to die in a vehicular accident than non-adhd users? http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=adhd&hl=en&as_s... Google scholar for ADHD, why don't you realize that these ADHD articles are more akin to anti-…

Thank you. As I've stated before, either ADHD is real, or psychologists have found the world's best predictive test for auto accidents. People with untreated ADHD have 3x the likelihood of being in an auto accident. 56% rate of substance abuse. Think about that for a moment. 56%. Holy shit. These are the people who instead of getting help, were told that they are "lazy" and "needed to get up off their asses." Except…

> Oh then there is the fact that there are large structural brain differences.

Are these structural differences used in diagnosis?

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#12

Post by epx »

gress wrote: post #7
DerpDerpDerp wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your response doesn't actually address the article, which acknowledges that ADHD is a real condition, but suggests that fewer than 1 in 5 boys have it, and that a large number of misdiagnosed cases is bad, considering that they're given serious drugs because of it. In fact, the only number it suggests as being inaccurate (based on an old study) is 25% of cases - that 1 in 4 cases is misdiagnosed. However, given the n…

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

Chebychev inequality!

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#13

Post by joeyo »

gress wrote: post #7
DerpDerpDerp wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your response doesn't actually address the article, which acknowledges that ADHD is a real condition, but suggests that fewer than 1 in 5 boys have it, and that a large number of misdiagnosed cases is bad, considering that they're given serious drugs because of it. In fact, the only number it suggests as being inaccurate (based on an old study) is 25% of cases - that 1 in 4 cases is misdiagnosed. However, given the n…

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

I'm not sure if it's that black and white. Roughly 25% of deaths in the US are due to heart disease. Should we not intervene because heart disease is part of the normal range?

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#14

Post by chimeracoder »

gress wrote: post #7
DerpDerpDerp wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your response doesn't actually address the article, which acknowledges that ADHD is a real condition, but suggests that fewer than 1 in 5 boys have it, and that a large number of misdiagnosed cases is bad, considering that they're given serious drugs because of it. In fact, the only number it suggests as being inaccurate (based on an old study) is 25% of cases - that 1 in 4 cases is misdiagnosed. However, given the n…

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

Would you say the same if 1 in 5 boys were born deaf?

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#15

Post by com2kid »

legutierr wrote: post #11
com2kid wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. As I've stated before, either ADHD is real, or psychologists have found the world's best predictive test for auto accidents. People with untreated ADHD have 3x the likelihood of being in an auto accident. 56% rate of substance abuse. Think about that for a moment. 56%. Holy shit. These are the people who instead of getting help, were told that they are "lazy" and "needed to get up off their asses." Except…

> Oh then there is the fact that there are large structural brain differences. Are these structural differences used in diagnosis?

> Are these structural differences used in diagnosis?

Unfortunately testing costs money, I've rarely to never heard of it being used, but my sole experience is in helping people on ADHD support forums.

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#16

Post by gizmo686 »

jonah wrote: post #3
eruditely wrote: post #2

Why don't you read a fucking ADHD support forum and wonder whether the suffering caused by poor executive functioning/nervous system disorder is real? Why didn't they mention how many more times you are likely to die in a vehicular accident than non-adhd users? http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=adhd&hl=en&as_s... Google scholar for ADHD, why don't you realize that these ADHD articles are more akin to anti-…

Why don't we try to get to the root causes of these "behavioral issues" instead of treating the symptoms.

Isn't that what ADHD medication tries to do. If the root cause is a chemical imbalance, then treating is as a behavioural problem is only treating the symptoms.

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#17

Post by gress »

joeyo wrote: post #13
gress wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

I'm not sure if it's that black and white. Roughly 25% of deaths in the US are due to heart disease. Should we not intervene because heart disease is part of the normal range?

You're affirming the consequent.

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#18

Post by amirmc »

joeyo wrote: post #13
gress wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

I'm not sure if it's that black and white. Roughly 25% of deaths in the US are due to heart disease. Should we not intervene because heart disease is part of the normal range?

I agree that it's probably not that black and white but a comparison with heart disease isn't a fair one.

The grandparent post does make a point. If such a large proportion of the population has a 'condition' is it really a condition or perhaps just how we (as a species) are? Especially in the case of something that's psychiatric/psychological.

For example, I've heard estimates that around 10% of the population is homosexual and for many years people wanted to 'fix' them. Around 10%-12% of people are left-handed and (I believe) that historically this was also something that people tried to 'fix'. I doubt many of us think twice about these anymore.

To a sibling comment that suggested what if 1 in 5 boys were born deaf, I'd say that the world would be a vastly different place. So different that we may not even entertain such a question. If, instead, 1/5th of boys were beginning to be born deaf, there would be a medical emergency. Unfortunately, in the case of things like ADHD it's difficult to know if we've always been this way or if there's really been a change.

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#19

Post by gress »

chimeracoder wrote: post #14
gress wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also it's worth pointing out that if 1 in 5 boys have it, it's not a disorder. It's part of the normal range.

Would you say the same if 1 in 5 boys were born deaf?

Yes, unless there was evidence of a contemporary cause, in which case I'd investigate it.

Have boys changed, or has society?

Re: The Drugging Of The American Boy

#20

Post by ryanmarsh »

Next can we talk about SSRI's? My little brother was prescribed Paxil as an adolescent. Now he's in prison for murder. Now Paxil is not allowed to be prescribed for adolescents and children but my brother will die in prison. He behaved exactly how kids prescribed this medicine behave, in a murderous rage.
Post reply on HN