Aa
Confused
I have the hardest time paying attention in school ; my mind becomes bored
easily !
I'm very easily distracted by noises colors moving objects
or people moving around tapping sounds etc..
I have the shortest attention span too.
Everyone goes it sounds like ADD ..well my mom says its just me
i'm also very organized
i paint & use oil pastels like a great artist.
i play many sports [gymnastics,cheerleading,figure skating,Lacrosse)
I make really good grades and im in honor/ap classes
But im 15years old.
is that normal normal to just be 15 and amused with surroundings
or is it something else?
easily !
I'm very easily distracted by noises colors moving objects
or people moving around tapping sounds etc..
I have the shortest attention span too.
Everyone goes it sounds like ADD ..well my mom says its just me
i'm also very organized
i paint & use oil pastels like a great artist.
i play many sports [gymnastics,cheerleading,figure skating,Lacrosse)
I make really good grades and im in honor/ap classes
But im 15years old.
is that normal normal to just be 15 and amused with surroundings
or is it something else?
Oh dear God,
It completely p*sses me off to see that people honestly think you have to have poor or suffering grades in order to have ADHD. I'm a student at Harvard, and guess what, I have ADHD. I was just recently diagnosed. I got myself here with no meds, not therapy, nothing. People who suffer from ADHD are EXTREMELY creative, and if determined enough, will find ways to compensate. How about everyone stops making blanket statements. P.S. Diets don't work - if they do, the subject did not have ADHD.
It completely p*sses me off to see that people honestly think you have to have poor or suffering grades in order to have ADHD. I'm a student at Harvard, and guess what, I have ADHD. I was just recently diagnosed. I got myself here with no meds, not therapy, nothing. People who suffer from ADHD are EXTREMELY creative, and if determined enough, will find ways to compensate. How about everyone stops making blanket statements. P.S. Diets don't work - if they do, the subject did not have ADHD.
It's good nutrition research, to me.
They do have ADHD. It says: "In one study of 116 children with ADHD..."
They do have ADHD. It says: "In one study of 116 children with ADHD..."
"Some experts believe that children with ADHD may be exhibiting the effects of mild magnesium deficiency (such as irritability, decreased attention span, and mental confusion). In one study of 116 children with ADHD,
This seems to me an ad hoc finding. Magnesium deficiency giving rise to attention problems and such seems to me to be an indication of magnesium deficiency, no? Is one to assume that these children in this study had been diagnosed with ADHD, prior to this discovery? Again, this is but one more example of researchers and clinicians stabbing in the dark.
This seems to me an ad hoc finding. Magnesium deficiency giving rise to attention problems and such seems to me to be an indication of magnesium deficiency, no? Is one to assume that these children in this study had been diagnosed with ADHD, prior to this discovery? Again, this is but one more example of researchers and clinicians stabbing in the dark.
Doesn't sound like ADD to me. More like puberty and the excitement of coming alive. Enjoy.
Warning: if you go to a doctor who is less than smart, you may wind up taking a potentially dangerous drug that you don't need. Listen to your mother.
Warning: if you go to a doctor who is less than smart, you may wind up taking a potentially dangerous drug that you don't need. Listen to your mother.
Here is a finding about magnesium deficiency and ADD/ADHD:
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center1: "Some experts believe that children with ADHD may be exhibiting the effects of mild magnesium deficiency (such as irritability, decreased attention span, and mental confusion). In one study of 116 children with ADHD, 95% were magnesium deficient. In a separate study, 75 magnesium-deficient children with ADHD were randomly assigned to receive magnesium supplements in addition to standard treatment or standard treatment alone for 6 months. Those who received magnesium demonstrated a significant improvement in behavior, whereas those who received only standard therapy without magnesium exhibited worsening behavior."
http://whattofeedyourkids.blogspot.com/2008/09/epsom-salts-magnesium-deficiency-and.html
1: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/magnesium-000313.htm
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center1: "Some experts believe that children with ADHD may be exhibiting the effects of mild magnesium deficiency (such as irritability, decreased attention span, and mental confusion). In one study of 116 children with ADHD, 95% were magnesium deficient. In a separate study, 75 magnesium-deficient children with ADHD were randomly assigned to receive magnesium supplements in addition to standard treatment or standard treatment alone for 6 months. Those who received magnesium demonstrated a significant improvement in behavior, whereas those who received only standard therapy without magnesium exhibited worsening behavior."
http://whattofeedyourkids.blogspot.com/2008/09/epsom-salts-magnesium-deficiency-and.html
1: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/magnesium-000313.htm
I was suggesting that you read more into the condition to see if it sounds like you have it.
Also, that in agreement with your doctor, you try some nutritional products, especially the magnesium I mentioned.
I'm on Vyvanse for ADHD, and it does help, but it doesn't solve everything, I still have attentional problems; so, looking deeper into nutrition is a wise idea. I'm still learning about supplements and planning to try things.
Also, that in agreement with your doctor, you try some nutritional products, especially the magnesium I mentioned.
I'm on Vyvanse for ADHD, and it does help, but it doesn't solve everything, I still have attentional problems; so, looking deeper into nutrition is a wise idea. I'm still learning about supplements and planning to try things.
I would ammend one of many points I may have misarticulated. There are "cures" for mental illness and disorder, if such assumes a working through social conflicts and problems in living. There are indeed those who do benefit from a variety of medical and psychosocially driven therapies. However, such a reality is no confirmation that mental illnesses and disorders are medically emergent issues.
Sooo
I read all of this
And Is everyone telling me
i could have it or not ?
Because i got confused in a lot
of answers :)
I read all of this
And Is everyone telling me
i could have it or not ?
Because i got confused in a lot
of answers :)
You seem to have an issue with "labeling" ADD/ADHD; whatever you want to call it or not call it, the symptoms are real. I have experienced the symptoms my entire life. I have other learning disabilities as well.
What are the roots of these symptoms? It could be nutritional. I have read from alternative doctors that often underneath ADD and fatigue conditions is an adrenal problem, and once corrected with supplements and nutrition, the problems have cleared up. Maybe take it even further back; magnesium deficiency has been attributed to ADD/ADHD, and magnesium is needed to handle stress, and stress depletes it. Stress, nutritional and other, is what strains the adrenals; so, the magnesium may be one of the nutrients that when depleted, leads to adrenal problems, and likewise, ADD/ADHD. That is a possible theory.
"...(there are, by the way, no cures for mental illness and disorder, unlike that of many... physical diseases."
I disagree. If you look outside western medicine, mainly in alternative and complementary medicine, there have been successes in nutritionally helping conditions, including Attention Deficit Disorder, mental conditions, and other conditions. George Eby is one example of how magnesium taurate cleared up his severe depression; it has helped many other people, too. There is a nutritional product: EMPowerPlus and similar, Quiet Minds, that have helped people with ADD, bipolar, depression, etc.
What are the roots of these symptoms? It could be nutritional. I have read from alternative doctors that often underneath ADD and fatigue conditions is an adrenal problem, and once corrected with supplements and nutrition, the problems have cleared up. Maybe take it even further back; magnesium deficiency has been attributed to ADD/ADHD, and magnesium is needed to handle stress, and stress depletes it. Stress, nutritional and other, is what strains the adrenals; so, the magnesium may be one of the nutrients that when depleted, leads to adrenal problems, and likewise, ADD/ADHD. That is a possible theory.
"...(there are, by the way, no cures for mental illness and disorder, unlike that of many... physical diseases."
I disagree. If you look outside western medicine, mainly in alternative and complementary medicine, there have been successes in nutritionally helping conditions, including Attention Deficit Disorder, mental conditions, and other conditions. George Eby is one example of how magnesium taurate cleared up his severe depression; it has helped many other people, too. There is a nutritional product: EMPowerPlus and similar, Quiet Minds, that have helped people with ADD, bipolar, depression, etc.
They have found differences in brain scans of those with ADD/ADHD as compared to healthy people.
The kind of language that presently informs any discussion ostensibly over etiology, concerns itself with the emphasis of the biological and the "individualized" (ascribing the the disorder as some dysfunctional brain state in the person/patient. What is essentially "unhealthy" about the person who has been labeled with ADHD, and who now persists in a notion of himself as diseased, or, who "tries" to rid himself of the stigmatization that labeling often engenders? The real discussion should, but doesn't concern itself with the matrix that is psychiatric labeling and "treatment". There is plenty of discussion of the biological in many mental illnesses, even when psychiatrists are often the first to aver to being clueless. However, this does not seem to deter those who have much vested in the putative disorder.
The kind of language that presently informs any discussion ostensibly over etiology, concerns itself with the emphasis of the biological and the "individualized" (ascribing the the disorder as some dysfunctional brain state in the person/patient. What is essentially "unhealthy" about the person who has been labeled with ADHD, and who now persists in a notion of himself as diseased, or, who "tries" to rid himself of the stigmatization that labeling often engenders? The real discussion should, but doesn't concern itself with the matrix that is psychiatric labeling and "treatment". There is plenty of discussion of the biological in many mental illnesses, even when psychiatrists are often the first to aver to being clueless. However, this does not seem to deter those who have much vested in the putative disorder.
Sandman, in regards to the history of the science behind ADHD (and mental illness) you obviously have been asleep at the wheel. The literature of ADHD, and the attempt at some etiological explanation, goes back to about 1900, about the same time that the neurologists Charcot and Bleuer were observing the behavior of syphillics suffering tetiary stage syphillis (paresis). In the former, children who had survived St. Louis equine encephalitis, had shown signs that are similar to ADHD, like, inattention, hyperkinetic activity, and poor impulse control. It should be noted that both with the studies of these children, and of those syphillitics suffering paresis (brain damage), there were clear signs of pathology in post-mortems.
To date, there are absolutely no tests that indicate any lesions in the mentally ill, including post-mortem studies. As for the developments in technology, and the studies of ADHD children using these new tools of science, no definitive study is yet forthcoming. What the layman has been witness to is a welter of possible etiological theories, most of which are disparate and highly speculative. There is not much in the way of empirical studies on ADHD and other flagship mental disorders, simply because, as said above, there are no disease markers to be found in ANY of the more than 300 mental illnesses and disorders. The fact is, as many compelling theories as there are now circulating on the putative disorder of ADHD, there can be no corroborative and correlative studies. Theories abound over the "cause" of ADHD, and, it seems, there is a theory to suit just about every taste. There is even an "endocannabinoid" theory for us potheads! As I see it, ADHD has an aura about it that defies the science and the commonsense of both public and professional. There are four aspects to the study of disease: etiology (the cause of disease), epidemiology (the spread of the disease among populations), pathology (the course or "progression" of the disease), and therapy (treatment of the disease), which is self-explanatory.
There is little if anything in the way of a clear etiology to ADHD (mental illnesses), as well as any hard pathological science, as ADHD is NOT "progressive" nature; as "symptoms" are not "signs" of disease. What doctors do indeed treat are "symptoms": complaints by the patient (parent, school, etc). In essence, "treating" the child is treating society, as liberal psychiatry would have it. The ascriptive nature of labeling a child or adult with ADHD is one of many means of stigmatization of behavior, and not that of any "meaningful" identification of disease and its subsequent cure or treatment (there are, by the way, no cures for mental illness and disorder, unlike that of many physical diseases. And the latter bodes well for pharmaceutical stocks.)
What might be more fruitful (for a captivated public and vested MH profession) is to eschew the pseudo-science of ADHD, which, to the MH profession as our cultures social and political tranquilizer, might assume considerably more transparency in how it goes about doing what it does and why. What the MH profession says, and what it does, are not wholly consistent and constant. ADHD is, in a sense, real. The fact that millions of children and adults have been labeled and stigmatized (many for life) by a non-disease, is highly suggestive of the socially contingent nature of the disorder. Perhaps, when our (American) culture of sickness and disease mongering can face up to the societal nature of excluding, segregating and stigmatizing children, then, maybe, we might come closer to grasping the enormity of moral and social. Until then, the MH profession will continue to forge ahead, transforming those moral values into health values. Cui bono?
To date, there are absolutely no tests that indicate any lesions in the mentally ill, including post-mortem studies. As for the developments in technology, and the studies of ADHD children using these new tools of science, no definitive study is yet forthcoming. What the layman has been witness to is a welter of possible etiological theories, most of which are disparate and highly speculative. There is not much in the way of empirical studies on ADHD and other flagship mental disorders, simply because, as said above, there are no disease markers to be found in ANY of the more than 300 mental illnesses and disorders. The fact is, as many compelling theories as there are now circulating on the putative disorder of ADHD, there can be no corroborative and correlative studies. Theories abound over the "cause" of ADHD, and, it seems, there is a theory to suit just about every taste. There is even an "endocannabinoid" theory for us potheads! As I see it, ADHD has an aura about it that defies the science and the commonsense of both public and professional. There are four aspects to the study of disease: etiology (the cause of disease), epidemiology (the spread of the disease among populations), pathology (the course or "progression" of the disease), and therapy (treatment of the disease), which is self-explanatory.
There is little if anything in the way of a clear etiology to ADHD (mental illnesses), as well as any hard pathological science, as ADHD is NOT "progressive" nature; as "symptoms" are not "signs" of disease. What doctors do indeed treat are "symptoms": complaints by the patient (parent, school, etc). In essence, "treating" the child is treating society, as liberal psychiatry would have it. The ascriptive nature of labeling a child or adult with ADHD is one of many means of stigmatization of behavior, and not that of any "meaningful" identification of disease and its subsequent cure or treatment (there are, by the way, no cures for mental illness and disorder, unlike that of many physical diseases. And the latter bodes well for pharmaceutical stocks.)
What might be more fruitful (for a captivated public and vested MH profession) is to eschew the pseudo-science of ADHD, which, to the MH profession as our cultures social and political tranquilizer, might assume considerably more transparency in how it goes about doing what it does and why. What the MH profession says, and what it does, are not wholly consistent and constant. ADHD is, in a sense, real. The fact that millions of children and adults have been labeled and stigmatized (many for life) by a non-disease, is highly suggestive of the socially contingent nature of the disorder. Perhaps, when our (American) culture of sickness and disease mongering can face up to the societal nature of excluding, segregating and stigmatizing children, then, maybe, we might come closer to grasping the enormity of moral and social. Until then, the MH profession will continue to forge ahead, transforming those moral values into health values. Cui bono?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Well lets start with an actual quote instead of educational double speak. The following is from the Arizona State Supreme court - not some horrible medical group of people trying to make a profit off of ADHD. The link is given below -
Advanced imaging techniques have detected differences in the brains of ADHD children compared to those of non-ADHD children. In some studies, brain scans reveal that the right side of the brain is smaller in ADHD children than in non-ADHD children (ordinarily the right and left sides of the brain are the same size). The right side contains three important areas: the prefrontal cortex; the caudate nucleus; and globus pallidus. The prefrontal cortex, which is located in the front of the brain, is thought to be the brain's command center and regulates the ability to inhibit responses. The caudate nucleus and globus pallidus, located near the center of the brain, speed up or stop orders coming from the prefrontal cortex. Abnormalities in these areas may impair a person's ability to brake actions, resulting in the impulsivity typical of ADHD people. Also located here are important neurotransmitters -- chemical messages in the brain -- including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, which affect mental and emotional functioning. Dopamine is under particular scrutiny. One recent study reported that adults with ADHD had abnormally low levels of DOPA decarboxylase, the enzyme that produces dopamine.
The above quote - unlike "the babyalex" who won't tell us where he gets his doublespeak is - http://www.supreme.state.az.us/casa/prepare/adhd.html
And this doesn't even get into recent research showing a close relationship between pesticide exposure and ADHD.
What bothers me the most about alex's quotes is that he offers no helpful suggestions about how to deal with ADHD. AIDS was ignored for years, said not to exist by heads of countries, and look how that turned out. Its always easy to ignore science, if its the easy way out.
Advanced imaging techniques have detected differences in the brains of ADHD children compared to those of non-ADHD children. In some studies, brain scans reveal that the right side of the brain is smaller in ADHD children than in non-ADHD children (ordinarily the right and left sides of the brain are the same size). The right side contains three important areas: the prefrontal cortex; the caudate nucleus; and globus pallidus. The prefrontal cortex, which is located in the front of the brain, is thought to be the brain's command center and regulates the ability to inhibit responses. The caudate nucleus and globus pallidus, located near the center of the brain, speed up or stop orders coming from the prefrontal cortex. Abnormalities in these areas may impair a person's ability to brake actions, resulting in the impulsivity typical of ADHD people. Also located here are important neurotransmitters -- chemical messages in the brain -- including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, which affect mental and emotional functioning. Dopamine is under particular scrutiny. One recent study reported that adults with ADHD had abnormally low levels of DOPA decarboxylase, the enzyme that produces dopamine.
The above quote - unlike "the babyalex" who won't tell us where he gets his doublespeak is - http://www.supreme.state.az.us/casa/prepare/adhd.html
And this doesn't even get into recent research showing a close relationship between pesticide exposure and ADHD.
What bothers me the most about alex's quotes is that he offers no helpful suggestions about how to deal with ADHD. AIDS was ignored for years, said not to exist by heads of countries, and look how that turned out. Its always easy to ignore science, if its the easy way out.
Sorry for the typos, but it enrages me to think that no one is the wiser! (Mis)behavior cannot be disease, that is not what diseases are!
There are no studies to date that would point to anything definitive about those full color spread pictures that researchers have proffered for public and the media's consumption. There is absolutely no common ground of agreement over what parts of the brain would give rise to so many different behavioural symptoms. ADHD is not a disease nor is it a genetic (de)fault in some, and not others. The only means for the past several decades of "diagnosing" ADHD has been socially contigent. However, given the role of the doctor to conservative assume the child or adult to be "suffering" his condition, is enough, to "treat" for those symptoms. What is not mentioned is the fact that everyone has attention problems, as does the culture eager to label the individual! ADHD is a medical myth of monumental proportions and profits. There is nothing that the brain science can explain about the emotional after affects of years of stigmatization and a low self-concept. And this is certainly true for the millions of individual who have been diagnosed in childhood and poisoned to conform. Show me someone who persists in the myth of ADHD (mental illness), and I will show you an emotional troubled and stigmatized individual.
They have found differences in brain scans of those with ADD/ADHD as compared to healthy people.
The school's mission, as it with the mission of the Mental Health profession, is that by altering the individual (brain) one alters the social. In short, transforming those moral and social values into health values, serves both the vested behavioral specialists and our culture.
Little mention is made of the socially contigent nature of all mental illness (and, by dint, disorders) labels. There has never been any reliable and verifiable means test that points to a disease marker for ADHD, be it in tissue or genetic studies; and such, despite those claims to the contrary, will never materialize! The myth of mental illness, its manufacture and persistence in our culture, is the means by which psychiatrists (counselors, physicians) presently serve as our culture's social engineers. Again, alter the individual and you alter the social; which is considerably more expedient than the re-visiting restructuring of the means and ends of our institutions, especially our factory schools.
Little mention is made of the socially contigent nature of all mental illness (and, by dint, disorders) labels. There has never been any reliable and verifiable means test that points to a disease marker for ADHD, be it in tissue or genetic studies; and such, despite those claims to the contrary, will never materialize! The myth of mental illness, its manufacture and persistence in our culture, is the means by which psychiatrists (counselors, physicians) presently serve as our culture's social engineers. Again, alter the individual and you alter the social; which is considerably more expedient than the re-visiting restructuring of the means and ends of our institutions, especially our factory schools.
It might ease your mind to read up about the condition.
Here is a very extensive site about ADD/ADHD:
http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult_symptoms.htm
ADD/ADHD tends to consist of: poor attention/focus, hyperness, poor organization, poor comprehension, retention/retrieval problems, memory issues, having to learn things in a different way, more visual, difficulty understanding questions, needing more time on tests and in studying, etc.
Here is a very extensive site about ADD/ADHD:
http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult_symptoms.htm
ADD/ADHD tends to consist of: poor attention/focus, hyperness, poor organization, poor comprehension, retention/retrieval problems, memory issues, having to learn things in a different way, more visual, difficulty understanding questions, needing more time on tests and in studying, etc.
It could be your not challenged enough, like the other poster commented. If your doctor's okay with it, consider nutitional supplements. Give them plenty of time, though.
Its an AP history class
and that class has everyone always working
or falling asleep !
Even in my art and p.e. classes i find myself
bored or easily distracted
All my teaches always comment on my grade reports to my mom
her work is always doodles on
i can't help but doodle to keep myself on top of what i'm doing
and that class has everyone always working
or falling asleep !
Even in my art and p.e. classes i find myself
bored or easily distracted
All my teaches always comment on my grade reports to my mom
her work is always doodles on
i can't help but doodle to keep myself on top of what i'm doing
This problem has been going on for about 3 or 4 years
well that i noticed
I'm always under minimal stress nothing more than normal
My eating is still the same maybe a little more fast food
than normal
well that i noticed
I'm always under minimal stress nothing more than normal
My eating is still the same maybe a little more fast food
than normal
These issues could be from a magnesium deficiency, especially since you are so athletic and in honors/AP classes; these demand a lot from your body.
How long has this problem been going on? Have you noticed you're feeling more stressed since it began? Has healthy eating dwindled since the symptoms began?
The best forms of magnesium are: Taurate, Glycinate and Citrate.
The medical site "UpToDate" says:
Dosage: RDI: 400mg/day; ODA: 400-600mg/day
Toxic dose: Single doses, equal or more than, 1000mg may cause diarrhea; use caution in renal impairment...
May alter glucose regulation...
Recommends coordinating with healthcare provider if you have renal or diabetic conditions.
How long has this problem been going on? Have you noticed you're feeling more stressed since it began? Has healthy eating dwindled since the symptoms began?
The best forms of magnesium are: Taurate, Glycinate and Citrate.
The medical site "UpToDate" says:
Dosage: RDI: 400mg/day; ODA: 400-600mg/day
Toxic dose: Single doses, equal or more than, 1000mg may cause diarrhea; use caution in renal impairment...
May alter glucose regulation...
Recommends coordinating with healthcare provider if you have renal or diabetic conditions.
COMMUNITY LEADER
It sounds like you are pretty intelligent. Teachers tend to teach to the middle of the pack. Which means that what you are listening to is not going fast enough to keep you on track. I would think that an AP science or math class would keep your attention longer (if you like that stuff). AP history classes usually had to much wiggle room for me.
If you did have ADD, I would think that by now (even if very intelligent), that your grades would be starting to suffer. And if you were in a class that you really liked and couldn't concentrate, or study, and your grades started slipping - then, yes, I would be concerned.
I used to doodle like crazy on my notes, just to stay awake. later on I started trying to take notes like a cartoon strip - it's a heck of a lot easier to study and kept my interest in the class up.
Anyway, I think that you are ok - probably more than ok. But, it never hurts to have information about ADHD/ADD cause lots of people you might get to know could have it. So take a bit of time and read up on it.
You can click on the blue adhd on the top of this page and get some pretty good info. This site has a lot more - http://www.supreme.state.az.us/casa/prepare/adhd.html
Best wishes
If you did have ADD, I would think that by now (even if very intelligent), that your grades would be starting to suffer. And if you were in a class that you really liked and couldn't concentrate, or study, and your grades started slipping - then, yes, I would be concerned.
I used to doodle like crazy on my notes, just to stay awake. later on I started trying to take notes like a cartoon strip - it's a heck of a lot easier to study and kept my interest in the class up.
Anyway, I think that you are ok - probably more than ok. But, it never hurts to have information about ADHD/ADD cause lots of people you might get to know could have it. So take a bit of time and read up on it.
You can click on the blue adhd on the top of this page and get some pretty good info. This site has a lot more - http://www.supreme.state.az.us/casa/prepare/adhd.html
Best wishes
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the ADHD Community
Fearing autism, many parents aren't vaccinating their kids. Can doctors reverse this dangerous trend?
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
What to expect in your growing baby
Is the PS3 the new Prozac … or causing ADHD in your kid?
Autism expert Dr. Richard Graff weighs in on the vaccine-autism media scandal.
Could your home be a haven for toxins that can cause ADHD?
