juliaoceania
Posts: 21383
Joined: 4/19/2006
From: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
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quote:
When I was growing up, there was no such terms as ADD or ADHD.
They called it hyperactivity when we were younger, and my brother was put on Ritalin when he was in grammar school. He is 6 years older almost to the day than me. He truly had problems. He could not learn to read until he was put on medication for it, nor learn to tie his shoes... he was in first grade (he is extremely bright btw).
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Looking back I don't see that there were any huge numbers of children who seemed to be affected by such conditions. Sure, there were your random children who were sometimes a discipline problem who might have fit the criteria, but it certainly seemed far more rare than the numbers we have today.
While I think it is over diagnosed, not all children with ADD or ADHD have learning disabilities or have behavioral problems. I think I have a touch of it because of how I respond to coffee many times. It will put me to sleep. It calms me down. Now I have never been a trouble maker as a kid, never was a problem,... but I liked to "daydream" a lot.
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As a teen and young adult, I didn't know many people who were chronically depressed, manic depressive or who suffered from anxiety attacks. Yes, there were some but they were few and far between. If the issues were large enough they generally saw counselors and therapists. Medications were not prescribed on anywhere near the scale they are doled out today.
Speaking to folks much older than myself about these things they say that these issues were not prevalent in "their times" in the way they are today. There were no quick fixes and you dealt with life on life's terms. Unruly behavior from children (or adults) was simply not tolerated by society in general and those who chose to exhibit such were quickly addressed
I knew people that had these problems, they were often called "weird" "odd" or "nutso". I think people used to be better at sucking it up is all, and there have always been people out there killing themselves. One has to be pretty damn depressed to do that.
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Today it seems that every other person I meet is taking some kind of medication to alter moods. Even here on these boards there have been many who have stated that they are diagnosed with this or that and are taking this or that. It leads me to wonder about the validity of the numbers that seem to increase with each passing day.
If indeed this increase is valid, what could be causing it? The foods we eat? The additives that are embedded in all of our commerical edibles today? Environmental factors?
I do not know what is causing all of it, but I know that the way for me to deal with it was not with a pill. I am glad I did not run to the pharms for a script.
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If this increase is not valid....who is behind the numbers? Big pharmaceutical companies pushing doctors to sell their products? Doctors who don't take the time to get to the root causes? Patients who expect quick fixes?
Bingo!
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So I wonder, if I have had two such incidences, how likely is it that many others have had doctors who automatically handed them prescriptions for life events that should never be considered treatable by such drugs. Should things like the death of someone close be assumed to be a valid reason to diagnose someone as "depressed" and in need of treatment? If you are nervous about an upcoming job interview should you be labelled as having an "anxiety disorder" and placed on meds? Have we been bamboozled into thinking that we can or should treat all that life throws our way with pills?
I do not think regular MDs should be handing this stuff out. I was told the first day of therapy that he could not give me drugs and would not recommend them until after seeing me several times to see if I needed them. He never brought them up again to me.
I have had discussions with other people in the mental health field that do not take these drugs so lightly. it seems many MDs do, including my sister's, who handed her a Zoloft script like it was candy.
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Or are my incidences exceptions to what is going on out there and is there really a valid monumental increase in mental illness?
I think that there are many people that can benefit from meds, but they should be the last resort... not the first. and I think that it troubles me that all depression and anxiety is seen as something to drug away. I say this as someone that suffered from a phobia, which is just one expression of generalized anxiety, and PTSD. I have been recovering beautifully from this spiritually and nutritionally. I think that people dismiss cures that are free (but my cure was not easy either)
< Message edited by juliaoceania -- 5/8/2007 11:17:26 PM >
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RE: The rise of mental illness - 
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