Repost from the Linda Christas Counselor Comments Blog:
http://lindachristascf.blogspot.com/
To: LaTracy Renner
From: Gilbert Rowland, Linda Christas Counselor
In reply to your question regarding what I believe to be a major issue
with kids in school today, I would respond by saying that the whole
concept of ADD/ADHD - as we have defined it in the United States - needs
to be reformulated.
We know that there exists little scientific objectivity when discussing
diagnoses of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit
Hyperactive Disorder). Symptoms that have been identified in medical
literature as related to these conditions have varied considerably over
time, and there has never been a physical finding that the behaviors
associated with ADD/ADHD are due to disease.
Fully seven percent of the children in today's public schools have been
treated for hyperactivity or lack of focus, that is, being unable to
restrain themselves from movement and/or unable to focus for any period of
time on the tasks at hand.
At first, in the sixties and seventies, diagnoses of ADD/ADHD were
primarily made in the case of boys, but now the girls seem to be catching
up.
ADD/ADHD diagnoses are primarily American, although in recent years
European medical personnel are also re****ting cases.
Additionally, in mid 20th century, ADD/ADHD were considered developmental
conditions that would be resolved when physical maturity was reached.
Unfortunately, in the United States today, adults in significant numbers
are being diagnosed as having these disorders as well.
From my perspective, first and foremost, I don't believe that there is
anything mentally or physically wrong with the vast majority of people
diagnosed with ADD/ADHD.
However, there is no denying that hundreds of thousands of people are
having trouble functioning in an average K-12 classroom setting. In
addition, more and more adults are re****ting problems functioning in the
American workplace, these adults displaying the unfocused and/or
hyperactive behaviors associated with these conditions.
The most common treatment for ADD/ADHD in the United States is the
administration of the drug Ritalin manufactured and distributed by
Novartis. This drug, a powerful stimulant, does work to "calm" and "focus"
individuals. Its action is similar to that of cocaine. In tests, where
animals are offered a choice between Ritalin (methylphenidate
hydrochloride) and cocaine, the animals display no preference one over the
other.
I cannot say that ALL persons diagnosed with ADD/ADHD have no biological
or psychological problems. Of course they do. What I can say, however, is
that - in my opinion - it is the rare exception when an individual
diagnosed with ADD/ADHD is actually the victim of biological or
psychological disease.
First and foremost, I think most of us would agree that it is a negative
thing to label a person as abnormal, especially a younger person who
perhaps doesn't have the resilience or maturity to place such a diagnosis
in perspective. It sends a message that the problems being discovered
originate within the individual, rather than exhausting other
possibilities before making such a declaration.
Let's briefly review some of the other possibilities expressed by the
experts, Dr. Richard DeGrandpre (Ritalin Nation) and Dr. Mary Ann Block
(No More Ritalin) regarding the causes of ADD/ADHD.
Sensorial adoptions to our rushed society: By this we mean that the human
being will make an attempt to adapt to unnatural situations if the
adaptations have survival value. For example, when evaluated by Asian and
European visitors, the typical American family lifestyle is often
considered to be "frantic." Perhaps we don't see this because we look at
our society from the inside, very few of us having the op****tunity to
truly contrast our environment with that of families in other cultures.
Recently, speaking with a couple (foreign nationals) who were visiting us
here, their reaction to what they saw and heard was amazement that we
could survive in an environment so busy and noisy. They were referring to
what we in our family viewed as normal in a suburban setting.
The schedules our families keep from early morning to bedtime they felt
would be unsustainable for them. Traffic, neighbors who perhaps don't
respect the sound space of the families around them, malls, office rushes,
deadlines, machinery, animals left to pine in city back yards were
overwhelming to them. My understanding was that this particular couple did
not sigh with relief until they were back in their rural European
residence.
We do, however, live these lives in America. Dr. DeGrandpre believes that
our psyches and bodies - in order to survive - compensate, habituate,
attempt to normalize this frenetic environment, if only not to be run down
by a city bus, pickup truck or motorcycle.
Dr. DeGrandpre believes that frenetic lifestyles can't help but create
problems when a person, who has learned to handle hundreds of assaults on
personal space every hour, suddenly is placed in an environment of
relative quiet and calm. When students and, now adults, living in an
exceptionally sensory saturated environment, are required to sit quietly
in a study hall, classroom or workplace and focus in an introspective way,
the contrast between that environment and their accustomed sensorial
overload creates a situation where the individual, on autopilot, is unable
to accommodate the behavioral needs of that classroom or work
environment.
It may be the most sensitive ****tion of our American population that is
affected in this way, much like a canary in a coalmine.
Said differently, it may be our most perceptive souls who are outwardly
suffering from American society's seeming aversion to quiet introspective
solitude. My belief though is that very few of us escape entirely.
In those individuals suffering in this manner, Ritalin does indeed allow
the individual to adapt, but, is this the way we want to address the
ADD/ADHD issue if DeGrandpre is correct?
On the other side of the issue, our traditional American classroom
settings tend to be visually and auditorily oriented when information is
being presented. That means that as long as the student sitting in that
classroom learns most readily by seeing and hearing material, learning can
take place effectively. However, if a student happens to be, as millions
of our students are, a tactile learner who needs to touch, to experience
environments directly ("hands on" in school parlance) in order to learn
effectively, the traditional classroom of thirty students sitting and
listening to an instructor won't come close to meeting the needs of this
individual.
As a result, it is easy to see why many children are considered slow
learners in American classrooms when nothing could be further from the
truth. If we drag out the canard regarding the Wright brothers and Thomas
Edison, these esteemed geniuses were labeled, and would likely today be
labeled, slow learners in the average American classroom. Fortunately,
these men were blessed with parents who were willing to absolve them from
attendance at schools of mass education in order to encourage them as
people and as scholars.
Finally, Dr. Block gives us a plethora of things to look at before we
subject our children to Ritalin. Something as simple as a food allergy can
cause classroom ADD/ADHD symptoms that are correctable by a simple change
in diet. How ominous that we have taken the powerful chemical solution in
tens of thousands of situations without attempting to eliminate other
factors. (Generally, our medical community, as honestly brilliant as I am
willing to concede them to be, are not prepared to discuss food allergies
and the like, unless their specialty happens to be in that field. However,
in order to be referred to such a specialist, "symptoms" need to be
recognized. In the case of ADD/ADHD, that doesn't happen often enough in
America.)
In conclusion, let me say that I am frequently distressed that rather than
looking for causes of and solutions to some of our best people's
difficulties in coping with the sometimes-unnatural American lifestyle, we
dummy them down to an average numbed (but focused) condition using
Ritalin. This is NOT to say that this remedy is always bad. It isn't. If
1% of persons suffering from verifiable conditions were given Ritalin, I
would be much less suspicious. But, with 7% being treated thusly, it is
time to call out the Guard.
Perhaps for any particular child or adult, all that is needed is daily
meditation, centering, or eliminating wheat or dairy from the diet.
Perhaps all that is required is finding ways to lower the noise and rush
from our environment, so that quiet introspection becomes possible for all
our population in this great Country.
As a Linda Christas counselor I have had the blessing of being able to
encourage families to seek other methods to solve these ADD/ADHD issues.
The results have been very satisfying to me personally. It's one of the
reasons that I continue to be so pleased with Linda Christas as an
organization, and my position within this organization.
Our philosophy regarding ADD/ADHD is congruent with what I believe to be
the best thinking on the subject. That is, in EVERY case where such a
diagnosis is pending, it is necessary to seek out professionals with
another take on the issue before suc***bing to the easy, but frequently
destructive, use of pharmaceuticals, when what we are observing is not
disease, but natural American genius.
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