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What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

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Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#11

Post by derefr »

Red_Tarsius wrote: post #5

I've never met a person with adhd in my entire life. Why is it so widespread in the US?

Yes you have. You've just never met a person diagnosed with ADHD. Even in the US, the diagnosis rate of ADHD is way below the statistical rate of occurrence in the population (and yes, that is true even when you only say something is "ADHD" if it is critically impairing the person's life.) But in other countries, diagnosis is virtually nonexistent, despite similar prevalence. In those countries, people with ADHD are just seen as lazy or lacking character, and are told to "suck it up." (Where ADHD is precisely the lack of executive function necessary to "suck it up.") These people do not turn out well.

If you look at most countries besides the US, there is a distinct "slacker" subculture that is likely a bunch of people with undiagnosed ADHD. NEETs in Japan, for example. These are approached as unique cultural phenomena, rather than through the lens of epidemiology.

(Other thought: maybe you have met someone diagnosed with ADHD, but they've never told you they have it. I don't go around telling my friends and coworkers I have ADHD; it's an annoying conversation to have with someone if you don't know whether they know enough about the disease to separate it from "laziness" as a temporary emotion. I just blab about it to strangers on the internet.)

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#13

Post by unimpressive »

fit2rule wrote: post #7
unimpressive wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weed is not a treatment for ADHD, therapeutic doses of amphetamines generally don't cause dependency issues in the way you're thinking of. Pharmaceuticals aren't the devil and god your writing style is off the charts pretentious.

>Weed is not a treatment for ADHD Not in your culture maybe, but beyond your borders it more than suffices. >writing style is off the charts pretentious. ++good. Meds, rectify.

>++good. Meds, rectify.

You reminded me to take them, so wish granted. ;)

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#14

Post by fit2rule »

derefr wrote: post #11
Red_Tarsius wrote: post #5

I've never met a person with adhd in my entire life. Why is it so widespread in the US?

Yes you have. You've just never met a person diagnosed with ADHD. Even in the US, the diagnosis rate of ADHD is way below the statistical rate of occurrence in the population (and yes, that is true even when you only say something is "ADHD" if it is critically impairing the person's life.) But in other countries, diagnosis is virtually nonexistent, despite similar prevalence. In those countries, people with ADHD are…

ADHD is a cultural representation. Its not an actual condition. If you believe in the Religion of DSM, then you've got a problem: you live in a box.

Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers.

Its probably part of the "American supremacy" package, though - which is not necessarily only a US infliction, but more of a "Western" one. If you look beyond the West, you might find that its not as big a cultural problem as those who control your mind would have you believe ...

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#15

Post by gknoy »

unimpressive wrote: post #6
fit2rule wrote: post #2

What if? Why, it would be akin to a social revolution. There would be literally millions of people who would not only have to deal with the original symptoms, but also the side-effects of withdrawal from a pharmaceutical addiction. It can't happen, at least not overnight. It is going to take at least 2 or 3 generations before the dependency on industrialized-pharmaceuticals can be removed as an aspect of our western…

Weed is not a treatment for ADHD, therapeutic doses of amphetamines generally don't cause dependency issues in the way you're thinking of. Pharmaceuticals aren't the devil and god your writing style is off the charts pretentious.

Perhaps my pretentiousness-recognition skills are poor, but I'm not sure I can regognize any ways in which the GP's post or writing style is pretentious. Can you elaborate on what makes one think the writing is pretentious? I'd like to avoid it.

... and if you think I'm being pretentious when writing this, sorry. As I mentioned, I don't even know how I'd recognize it.

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#16

Post by unimpressive »

gknoy wrote: post #15
unimpressive wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weed is not a treatment for ADHD, therapeutic doses of amphetamines generally don't cause dependency issues in the way you're thinking of. Pharmaceuticals aren't the devil and god your writing style is off the charts pretentious.

Perhaps my pretentiousness-recognition skills are poor, but I'm not sure I can regognize any ways in which the GP's post or writing style is pretentious. Can you elaborate on what makes one think the writing is pretentious? I'd like to avoid it. ... and if you think I'm being pretentious when writing this, sorry. As I mentioned, I don't even know how I'd recognize it.

You're not being pretentious. :P

To answer your question, it's a combination of being long winded, using unnecessary non-standard phrasing like "industrialized-pharmaceuticals", thinking they know better than medical science/that there's a conspiracy to drug everybody so that they can't notice the conspiracy, and it all just adds up to a crackpot.

In general, pretentious is when you try to make your content 'deeper' than its actual information value.

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#17

Post by fit2rule »

gknoy wrote: post #15
unimpressive wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weed is not a treatment for ADHD, therapeutic doses of amphetamines generally don't cause dependency issues in the way you're thinking of. Pharmaceuticals aren't the devil and god your writing style is off the charts pretentious.

Perhaps my pretentiousness-recognition skills are poor, but I'm not sure I can regognize any ways in which the GP's post or writing style is pretentious. Can you elaborate on what makes one think the writing is pretentious? I'd like to avoid it. ... and if you think I'm being pretentious when writing this, sorry. As I mentioned, I don't even know how I'd recognize it.

I think the conclusion comes from a perception that the narrative in my position is not 'the mainstream perspective', and therefore its a matter of pretense over the popular.

And to that, I can only say that the popular opinion is not always the better position. Fight the power. In this case, the power is industrialized pharmaceuticals. Just because its been sold to you as a solution, doesn't mean the problem is solved ..

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#19

Post by fit2rule »

unimpressive wrote: post #16
gknoy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps my pretentiousness-recognition skills are poor, but I'm not sure I can regognize any ways in which the GP's post or writing style is pretentious. Can you elaborate on what makes one think the writing is pretentious? I'd like to avoid it. ... and if you think I'm being pretentious when writing this, sorry. As I mentioned, I don't even know how I'd recognize it.

You're not being pretentious. :P To answer your question, it's a combination of being long winded, using unnecessary non-standard phrasing like "industrialized-pharmaceuticals", thinking they know better than medical science/that there's a conspiracy to drug everybody so that they can't notice the conspiracy, and it all just adds up to a crackpot. In general, pretentious is when you try to make your content 'deeper'…

>>"unnecessary non-standard phrasing"

You mean in lieu of those presented in the DSM? Oh, I get it: you're a member of the pharma-cult.

Re: What if we prescribed video games, and not Ritalin, to treat ADHD?

#20

Post by cloverich »

fit2rule wrote: post #14
derefr wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes you have. You've just never met a person diagnosed with ADHD. Even in the US, the diagnosis rate of ADHD is way below the statistical rate of occurrence in the population (and yes, that is true even when you only say something is "ADHD" if it is critically impairing the person's life.) But in other countries, diagnosis is virtually nonexistent, despite similar prevalence. In those countries, people with ADHD are…

ADHD is a cultural representation. Its not an actual condition. If you believe in the Religion of DSM, then you've got a problem: you live in a box. Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers. Its probably part of the "American supremacy" package, though - which is not necessarily only a US infliction, but more of…

> ADHD is a cultural representation...Not everyone on planet Earth actually considers that attention-deficiency requires drugging and dependency on industrialized pharmaceutical dealers.

Attention and focus are physical processes your brain executes to function normally. There is certainly a cultural aspect to the definition of normal, but its not a completely subjective interpretation as you're implying. Nor is over diagnosis synonymous with (the ailments) existence (i.e. it being over-diagnosed does not mean it does not exist). In the same way that lack of sleep can reduce your ability to focus, there are other physical processes that can go awry, and treatment (such as pharmaceutical intervention) can and does help people.

As an interesting aside, sleep apnea is sometimes mis-diagnosed as ADHD (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21808754)

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