60 Minutes
60 Minutes, on CBS in the US, had a rather lukewarm story on addult ADD and treatment. Follow the link and see what you think.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/03/60minutes/main6589 96.shtml
Schwep
i saw it, and i thought it was pretty lame, even the dr. that was supposed to convince others that this is a real disorder didnt really come across very strong (could've been the editing i suppose) and then there was the ceo who is successful even though he decided not to take any medicine...i thought the whole thing made it look bogus and just a "fad", very disappointed! ""But that fact is Americans demand cures for everything from shyness to sexual dysfunction. They believe in better living through chemistry -- a drug-riddled behavioral utopia where all problems can be solved by a pill.""I think that may people (and in particular, american society) are pressured into a social straight-jacket, and this can create demand for"cures".
This veiw point is exploited to the max by pharmaceutical companies and associated industries.
I reckon half the medicated population would never use meds if they were accepted for who they were.I guess america do demand a cure for the simplest of things, but do they have as high suicide rate as ireland? all i know is that here, there is so much bottling up of problems that suicide is massive....it's a big problem here. maybe america is rite for worrying about the simplest of things.i agree on that point, wild....we try to put everyone into a neat little box and if they dont act like we think they should we determine something is "wrong" with them....a guy i work with has ADD i think, and he has a hard time sitting in his "cubicle" and being quiet all day, but he is hilarious and intelligent but it makes me sad tha mgmt. forces us all to sit still for our 10 hr. shifts with two 15 min. breaks and our 1 hr. lunches....i think its the same in school...just sit still and be quiet, and if u cant then there is something wrong with you...i think we are totally stifling true creativity in this society!!Can you say biased? Right from the get-go the reporter obviously had limited information about the disease and had not read any literature on it and had no intention of bringing any new or enlightening information to the public. As a journalist myself I am of the opinion that this reporter failed miserably in covering this issue by revealing his own ignorance. Where are all these support groups he's talking about? I'd sure like to know.I was also dissapointed in the CBS report. They completley failed to tell the public that ADHD is a lifelong problem, which is why I like to say it is more of a personality trait than an actual disease, although I know that there is evidence of biological problems. If people were more open to our quirks nobody would be trying to fix ADHD. Look at our children - If education were geared toward ADHD kids school may well be a lot more fun. Instead my son always says "I hate school" "School is borrrring!"
[quote]There are also ADD support groups for gays and lesbians, single parents and blacks. Exhibitors also push medications, self-help books, videos, organizational software, personal coaching and even therapeutic swings — presumably for ADD swingers. [/quote]
LOL cheeky I agree where are all these support groups. I can't find any support groups in my area (And I'm in a pretty busy well populated area and close to 2 major cities) forget about the very specialized/segragated ones they mentioned in the article.
[quote]They also have a quiz, with six simple questions, to see if they are at risk: Do you have problems wrapping up projects or starting them? Or remembering appointments? Do you put things off? Do you feel overactive? Do you fidget if you must sit for a long time?
An answer of “sometimes” or “often” to four of the six questions will tell you to see your doctor – and that you’ve got a better than 90 percent chance of having ADD.
"You'd have to be in a coma not to respond yes to many of those questions," says Hallowell. "But the point of a screening test is to bring in as many people as you can." [/quote]
This is about the only part of the article I agree with. You would have to be in a coma not to answer yes or sometimes to most of those questions.
This is not a problem unique to ADHD many diseases/disorders have online questions for people to take if they think they are suffering from any number of problems. The problem comes in when people take the ADHD quiz, bring it to their doctor and demand medication convinced they have a problem. In a lot of cases these doctor's just takes the patients word for it and prescribe medication with either no testing or minimal effort to actually diagnose the problem.
In a quick online search I found quizes to diagnose everything from allergies to heart disease. Of course if you print out the heart disease quiz the doctor is not going to just put you on heart meds or rush you into surgery. They will run the appropriate tests and diagnose the problem for themselves. So why are so many dropping the ball on diagnosing ADHD then? I of course do believe ADHD is real (after all I am one of the suffers). However I do doubt it is as prevelant as it has been reported to be.
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