Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD

[mattx]

Bound to upset some no doubt.....

 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd

[tech_guy]

This is what myself and the wife have been saying all along. And my father in law who's a retired child psychiatrist says much the same. He retired early because of all the garbage so called experts were peddling with various behavioural disorders in the UK.

[mattx]

This is what myself and the wife have been saying all along. And my father in law who's a retired child psychiatrist says much the same. He retired early because of all the garbage so called experts were peddling with various behavioural disorders in the UK.

 

I agree with quite a bit of it and feel if only more people looked at every aspect instead of being blinkered into other findings.

[tech_guy]

Yes, we're too quick to stuff Ritalin down kids throats in this country as a solution.

[Disaster]

I swear about half the year 7 kids on our school have some sort of behavioural statement and we're just a main stream school in a half decent area.

[X-13]

Anyone have a alternative source?

 

This site was blocked by restriction list: RM Drugs and Substance Abuse List

[teejay]

Think the last paragraph sums up the cause of the problem pretty well:

As a therapist who works with children, it makes perfect sense to me that French children don't need medications to control their behavior because they learn self-control early in their lives. The children grow up in families in which the rules are well-understood, and a clear family hierarchy is firmly in place. In French families, as Druckerman describes them, parents are firmly in charge of their kids—instead of the American family style, in which the situation is all too often vice versa.

[Greenbeast]

Yes, that makes a whole lot of sense

[Mayki5]

I agree whole-heartedly with the sentiment of the article. Having been diagnosed with ADHD myself a good 18 years ago, and having been treated with the same holistic approach, I certainly feel it works.

 

Trigger foods containing certain artificial colours/preservatives, and oranges and carrots were identified, and while avoiding them, the symptoms were far less than before. Along with the family counciling, the affects were noticible in the short term, in regards to a noticable improvement in school performance between years 3 and 5 for which I had the same teacher. In the long term it's now down to developed coping methods to hide most of the symptoms, but anybody who's not known me for long would have had no idea I had even been diagnosed with ADHD had I not mentioned it.

 

Medication was on the table as an option back then, though thankfully not taken. I'm not sure what the state of play is these days though, if the medicated or more holistic approach is prefered in the UK.

[LosOjos]

The DSM has a lot to answer for. I recently read Jon Ronson's book "The Psychopath Test", very interesting. He talks a lot about the DSM and it's clear that every single one of us could easily find a handful of psychological illnesses we "suffer" with in that book, along with the pharmaceutical band-aid associated with them.

 

You have to remember, the legal drug trade is many, many thousands of times more profitable than the illegal drug trade and it's becoming increasingly evident that some of it's methods can be just as immoral. In the US especially it seems that pumping kids full of drugs is commonplace.

 

The article is very interesting, it backs up the way I feel about the vast majority of psychological "illnesses" (I hate to call most of these things illnesses, I've always felt it creates a certain air of hopelessness around their treatment and promotes the feeling that medication is the only way) in that behavioural therapy rather than medication is the way forward. Therapy can cure or at least teach you to cope, medication only masks the problem without addressing it.

[Gibson335]

Of course, the fact that a child diagnosed with ADHD equates to a nice earner from benefits doesn't enter the equation for some parents. Neither does the fact that a clinical diagnosis abdicates them from responsibility. No parent would seek to make money from their child's poor behaviour. Perish the thought.

[mattx]

Of course, the fact that a child diagnosed with ADHD equates to a nice earner from benefits doesn't enter the equation for some parents. Neither does the fact that a clinical diagnosis abdicates them from responsibility. No parent would seek to make money from their child's poor behaviour. Perish the thought.

 

Indeed, perish the thought..........

[speckytecky]

Sally Bunday the founder of the Hyperactive Children's Support Group has been preaching the message of additives for many decades now. Also there is a heap of anecdotal evidence that synthetics such as Aspartame E951 and it's many sister products are triggers for various illnesses and conditions. I have a son who is closer to 40 than 30 now and remember well he used to trip out after drinking regular cola, he'd do the daftest things after drinking it - like jumping off walls! Equally my now 19 year old daughter who when she was closing on 3 years old developed a whole body rash that mystified the medicos until we self diagnosed that she was drinking loads of 'Sugar Free' cordial sweetened with Aspartame. Additionally other 'nasties' lurk among the E numbers like the preservative Sodium Metabisulphite (E223) recognised by scientists as a severe trigger for asthma.