"Jan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most common
neurological disorder in childhood. It affects between four and 12
percent of school-age kids in the U-S.
Quoted message said:It is a pity the US drugs kids, before their brains are developed.
I'm not sure if it is as much that the brain is not developed yet,
or if it is more pitiful the increasing "way" that some kids brains
'are or are not wired' to developed. It is a mystery.
I recently met someone with 22 yrs old daughter (we'll call Jane) who has
been a 'family challenge' since childhood. As a young teen Jane was put on
Ritalin. The family saw a positive change. Jane was able to focus on one
thing for a longer period of time and became more thorough in her
schoolwork, personal appearance, cleanliness and tidiness. Nothing
overboard, but up to the basic level of an 'average' child. It was short
lived however, when a couple months later Jane declared she was a naturalist
and would not take medication. The family did not press her. Jane went on
to live in a bedroom which was a foot deep with trash, hanging out with the
black lipstick disruptive crowd, got pregnant, drop out of school.
Jane took Ritalin long enough to get her GED, then went right back to the
'I'm a naturalist' routine and stopped taking it. The baby girl failed to
thrive and at two years old was the size of a 12 month baby. When the baby
messed her pants she wouldn't get changed for long periods of time. Jane
would 'forget' to bring a diaper bag. For a devoted 'naturalist', Jane
'naturally' lived in 'dust & dirt' and disorganized chaos.
Jane could not hold a job. Everything was a horrible stressful effort for
her, to the point of heavy, heavy armpit sweat when faced with performing
simple tasks for her employer. For instance, when asked to pick up all the
items in a certain area Jane would make a quick look around and come back
with a couple, overlooking a multitude of 'details'. As her daughter grew
and started to pick up her toys and put them away, her mother continued to
live in squalor of messes.
Jane went on welfare, but quit her job and welfare was discontinued. She
didn't go back to reapply for welfare because of the expectation that she
would have to look for a job. Jane moved back in with her parents who paid
all her bills....and by this time had a male companion with her who was
equally deficient to hold down a job. The happy couple talked of a
'natural' wedding out in the woods by torchlight, but neither had a job.
The male companion's expectation of her parents was to foot all of his
bills, as they did for Jane. This lead the parents to invite the male
companion to leave their home and the daughter 'naturally' followed,
dragging the baby along.
Jane looked into homeless shelters, but they had an expectation that she
would be up at a certain time and perform chores, and that was too much for
her to confront. Dear God, it was just like home!
Jane is the type of kid that really, really, really NEEDED to be put on
Ritalin and be kept on it. Our society has seen more kids like this who
were not treated and live tortured lives trying to fit in to the expected
'norm' when their minds can't stay on top of simple tasks.
I used to hear that Ritalin turned kids into drug addicts. I have seen drug
addicted adults who had been on Ritalin as a kid. Their minds don't stay on
top of simple tasks and they don't have great employment records.
I worked with a new employee (male) at Intel who was very bright, but a bit
'weird and disruptive at times. At a training meeting one day he became
restless and fidgety before he just walked off and went back to his cube. I
was shocked and p/o'd. He definitely was NOT a TEAM PLAYER! When I calmed
down and spoke with him later he told me he'd gone off his Ritalin and
described all the areas of his life that were in chaos because of it. He
had not managed his money well and had put other things in a higher priority
than his medication. And yes, he was extremely afraid of losing his job.
Once he got back on his medication he was fun to work with, much more
relaxed and put out detailed reports. Of course the other employees didn't
get too close to him as a person for fear he's get weird again. He was very
bright and managed to get good positions within the company.
I guess my question is....why? Why does this happen? Is it passed in
genes? Were the kids parents drug users at one time? Have statistics
verified an increase in the numbers of kids over the last 50 years? If so,
why the increase? Why do people go off of the medication when they know the
difference it makes?