Studying ADHD

This past couple of weeks I’ve been putting myself through a course of study on ADHD. I did this by raiding my local library and skimming through half a dozen books with different viewpoints. I read lots of things I agree with and lots of things that I don’t. Why was I interested? Because both Howard and I have close relatives with ADHD and my children have friends who are medicated. Some of the management techniques for ADHD are actually just good techniques for managing life. Writing helps me sort my thoughts so I’m going to write about the books I read. I should note that I did not read any of these books cover to cover, I skimmed through them to gain a general feel for the tactics that the particular author was espousing.

ADD and Creativity: Tapping Your Inner Muse by Lynn Weiss
This book took the arguement that ADD is not a disorder at all, it is merely a different way of processing information. It has been labelled a disorder because of our structured/task oriented society. I actually agree with that and like the theory, however Weiss is herself ADD and continually gave the impression that ADD thinking was better than other ways of thinking. It wasn’t blatant, but the bias was there and bothered me some. She had some excellent points about the ways that people are creative. She pointed out that giving a child lessons is not always the best way to nurture an interest because it can make a creative exploration into a chore. I agree with that. Childhood is a time to explore many different things sometimes with lessons, sometimes without. There is plenty of time to focus and develop true proficiency at an interest after age 11 or 12 when children stop pretending, but still need a creative outlet.

Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications by Peter R Breggin and David Cohen
This book was not focused entirel on ADD, but rather on all psychoactive medications. Or in other words any substance you take into your body which affects brain function. According to their criteria sugar and alcohol are both psychoactive substances. Of course the major thrust of the book was not alcohol or sugar, but rather prescription stimulants, anti depressants, sleep aids, and anti psychotic medications. They were very clear that no one should stop any prescription medication without the co-operation of a medical professional. Some of the drugs they were discussing are truly nasty if you stop cold turkey. According to the authors all of these drugs are prescribed to correct imbalances in brain chemistry, but what they really do is attempt to correct the supposed imbalance by imbalancing the brain in the other direction. The authors do not believe in chemical imbalances. Instead they believe that most people medicate because it seems to be an easier fix to their problems than sorting things out. They supplied lots of cases to support their points. I happen to believe that some people do have imbalances. I also believe that there are far fewer imbalances than there are people taking pills. This book definitely convinced me to be very very careful about taking any drug that might permanently rewire my brain. I would have to have incredibly compelling evidence before I would allow any child of mine to be given a psychoactive medication.

Ritalin Free Kids: Save and Effective Homeopathic Medecine for ADD and Other Behavioral and Learning Problems byJudyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman
To my understanding Homeopathy is the practice of giving micro doses of toxins. The toxins are carefully selected to imitate the symptoms of the condition to be solved. In other words if I want to solve my allergy that makes my eye itchy and my nose run a micro dose of a nerve gas that makes eyes sting and noses run should cure my allergies. I do not believe in homeopathy. There may be some of you readers who do. I do not want to disparage your belief because I probably believe in forms of healing which you do not. Call it Placebo Effect, call it Laying On Of Hands, call it Faith Healing, call it Homeopathy, the human brain and body has great powers to heal itself. I do not believe in Homeopathy, therefore it would not work for me. Homeopathic theory is not the main reason I did not like this book. I did not find this book helpful because in 300 pages 150 of them were testimonals. It very quickly stopped feeling like a useful text and started feeling like an infomercial for Homeopathy. Give me a scholarly book on Homeopathy and I’ll probably be fascinated.

Nature’s Ritalin for the Marathon Mind: Nurturing your ADHD Child with Exercise: by Stephen C Putnam
Of all the books I read, this one was my favorite. All the other authors wrote their books to expound the One True Solution to ADHD. This book said right up front that it wasn’t offering a solution, but that however a parent decides to treat their child’s condition, exercise should at least be considered as a part of the treatment. The book told about scientific studies that discussed the chemical similarities in a brain just after exercise and a brain on ritalin. I know that I think and feel better when I’m exercising regularly. The one odd thing was the emphasis on rowing as an exercise choice. The author must live on the east coast somewhere, because out here in the great western desert rowing is not common.

The ADD Nutrition Solution by Marcia Zimmerman
This book advocated the introduction of an extremely strict diet which eliminated all possible food irritants and allergens. The theory being that ADD behavior is caused by the body having an improper balance of nutrients. If a family is in crisis, this crash plan may be worth the effort. I found some of the suggestions simple, easy to impliment, and I intend to put them to work in our family. Cut simple sugars and carbohydrates as much as possible. The closer a food is to it’s original state, the better it is for you. Processed foods and convenience foods have lots of chemicals and preservatives that our bodies did not evolve to metabolize. As much as possible eat foods in the seaons when they are ripe. This insures a variety over the course of a year. Conveniently it’s also cheaper. Take multi vitamins and pills containing omega 3 fatty acids. These micronutrients are useful for brain function. Oils that are liquid at room temperature are better for you than those which are solid at room temperature. The thing that really bugged me about this book was the ficticious family that Zimmerman created to illustrate her points. She explained how Bobby’s mom was nutrient starved during pregnancy and so Bobby’s brain developed with a deficiency of nutrients that caused him to have ADHD. Later she explains that parents shouldn’t blame themselves for the ADHD of their child. Then she immediately explains why mom’s continuing malnutrition caused Bobby’s little sister to have ADHD too. Zimmerman needs to make up her mind, either ADHD is caused by the poor choices of the parents or it isn’t.

ADD/ADHD Behavior-Change Resource Kit by Grad L. Flick
This is a textbook on behavioral modification with an emphasis on ADHD behavior. It is potentially very useful for a parent with an ADHD child who is dealing with very specific problems and is seeking very specific solutions. It is the one book I read that was pro-medication. The information on behavioral modification theory might be fascinating to someone who doesn’t know it already, for me it was a very dry review.

So what have I learned about ADHD? People with ADHD should pay attention to what they eat, get lots of exercise, and find behavioral or medicational mechanisms that fit their lives. Hmm. Sounds a lot like everyone else.