I know I have a number of readers interested in ADHD, I would like to recommend the Distracted Mom blog. Here is her description of her blog:
“Hi, I’m Carolyn.
I am a single mother of two and a Registered Nurse of the Operating Room. I also have a background in Psychiatric nursing, an area I feel passionate about. I juggle co-parenting, schoolwork, and hospital work, and I am also a freelance writer and editor. Oh, and I also have ADHD.
I know about living with ADHD.
I also know about failing with ADHD, and about the long road to recovery. I took a path less traveled by, having made my way from high school dropout at 16 to nursing school graduate at 30. It wasn’t easy, and it took a long time to get here, but it’s a struggle worth sharing since I know I’m not alone in it.My goal in writing this blog was to create the kind of resource that I wish I’d had access to when my child was first diagnosed with ADHD. There is a lot of information out there, but I wanted to hear from people who were living with it, who knew it from the inside out, and to whom I could relate. I wanted to hear from people who lived through the chaos and could show me the way through. I’m still finding my way, but what better way than to write my way through it?
Please join me and share your stories, too!
– Carolyn Mallon, RN”
As an aside, you have to wonder how accurate are diagnoses of “ADHD”; seems like big pharma has a vested interest in this
Hi Enrique,
With respect, it doesn’t follow that because big pharma may have a vested interest that diagnoses are inaccurate. Big pharma has a vested interest in all illnesses that they can supply treatments for.
Cheers,
Ziggy
Thank you for your comment.
I have no love for the pharmaceutical industry, but as a developmental psychologist, I am convinced that ADHD is a real phenomenon. Indeed it is possible to read descriptions of children going back to the 19th century, long before the modern pharmaceutical industry existed, that fit the clinical profile of ADHD.
Thank you so much for sharing my blog here. 🙂
Enrique, I think Big Pharma has a vested interest in the diagnosis of many conditions, but as someone who lived the first 28 years of my life without treatment for my ADHD, I can personally attest to the startling and very real difference medical treatment made and continues to make. Every parent should be sure to get a thorough eval for their child and not just reply on a pediatrician’s checklist before they start stimulants, but for kids with real ADHD, treatment can be lifesaving (truly; in fact the mortality rates from accidents and even suicides are higher for those with ADHD!)
ADHD causes executive functioning deficits that create very real problems for those who are untreated, often leading to lifelong problems for the individual and society. I wrote a post here that includes a lot of statistics on how it affects generations and the various way it presents (not just academic underachievement): http://www.thedistractedmom.com/adhd-isnt-caused-by-poor-parenting/