ADHD...

Here's a video on ADHD that was posted on a forum I frequent:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3609599239524875493

It is long, but worth it! I have a family member who's been diagnosed with mental illness so I know psychiatric and brain disorders are real. But I do believe they are over diagnosed, and I find it sad that these labels (and their corresponding medications) are being thrust upon perfectly healthy children.

It seems some of us are playing the blame game. Instead of looking at ourselves and saying "I" have failed to discipline or provide a healthy diet or a peaceful home life, we point to our children and say "you" are the problem. We don't say, I'm sorry you've developed these unproductive habits as a result of "my" permissiveness, selfishness, laziness, etc. We say it is "your" ADHD, ODD and now, increasingly, bipolar.

Instead of realizing our children will develop in their own time and lowering our unreasonably high expectations, we say to the child, "your ability to complete these worksheets or score a certain percentage on this test is more important than your mental and physical well being." Never mind that we haven't completed a worksheet since we graduated high school and that no one even knows our standardized test scores (or even cares).

Nevertheless, in the midst of all this nonsense, there are some very real heroes who stand up and say, I will NOT do this to my child. I have a dear friend who is fighting this diagnosis for her son and I applaud her.

And if you child is on ADD meds, of course I'm not talking about you. ;)