I don’t know why but this is one of the most depressing things I have read recently. It seems like, whatever the subject matter, we are caught in a web of ( fill in the blank- military, medical, financial, academic , etc) self serving deceit , government incompetence magnified by social media and ignored by our smug mass media. The story remains the same. COVID, addiction, schools, energy, markets you just need to fill in the names but the story is the same throughout. Common sense is considered misinformation and not permitted a forum. Villains are made heroes and heroes are considered crazy.
We are a nation of teenagers being governed by 10 year olds. Or we are a nation of sheep being governed by a cadre of vain, pompous bureaucrats. I can’t tell whether our elite is evil or stupid and I am not sure which is worse.
The ethos in public education today is that “we need a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage.” The trope is taking over our lives. Sages impart wisdom, something sorely lacking in our culture.
Well said, comrade Philly. Big Pharma is the chemical warfare division of the WEF Wehrmacht. Government and corporations are coordinating to snare all of our bodies and minds in their destructive web for power and profit. We are all under fire on the beaches of Omaha and must protect the younger generations, who don’t know how to push back yet: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/saving-private-ryan-wef-wehrmacht
Not so sure of that anymore. With mass mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, who really knows if our elections are “real” anymore? And if you question it, you are labeled an “election denier!!”. Notice that they always accuse the opposing side of doing what they themselves are doing?
Simple observation will lead anyone to the conclusion that we are being drugged from a very early age, indoctrinated by our education systems, fed a steady diet of junk food, misinformation, warmongering and fear porn. We are now weak and easily manipulated.
Every institution and foundational principle that made this country great is being undermined and destroyed like the statues they tore down. Our history erased. Our constitution run over.
We need term limits. Throw the sociopaths out every 6 years, three house terms and two senate terms. This way we won't have octogenarians who have gamed the system for the 40 or 50 years they have spent in office.
The electorate is too stupid and lazy to throw the bums out of office.
The problems we have with our leaders are moral (both theirs and ours). Process changes won't help; the pols will just recycle into other offices or politico-adjacent entities like defense contractors or NGOs.
In fact, terms limits might make it worse by moving the most experienced people into lobbying / administrative roles instead of explicitly elected ones. As much as 40-year senators are annoying, the alternative of a body of inexperienced senators attended to by 40-year staff members and lobbyists is probably worse.
Aristotle believed that only a population of people capable of personal self-government (each controlling his passions and lusts so that reason might prevail) was capable of collective self-government. Adams claimed that the "Constitution was for a moral and religious people and inadequate for any other." They were both right.
A piece of paper can never substitute for an ethical population. And an unethical population produces unethical leaders.
Your comment on NGOs is important - I bet a large amount of regulations are drafted by lawyers for various think tanks and advocacy groups of varying competence/malevolence. For example, my understanding is that a key driver behind proposed standards on gas stoves was a study by RMI - whose mission is to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and not anything to do with public health.
(By the way, want to get really depressed about the current state of legacy media? Do a google for "who produced study leading to proposed gas stove ban," and the first 10-15 articles are "Republicans Pounce!")
The problem will term limits is that it completely transfers the running of the country to unelected officials and political aids - the professionals behind the scenes. It takes 1-2 terms just to figure out the Byzantine Washington system. As it is, congress has obfuscated its legislative role to the executive, who has been ruling through executive orders for the past 15+ years. A congress that’s never willing to compromise is a non functional congress. Electing more frequently won’t change that.
But we elected the people who wrote and maintain the laws that enable the administrative state. We have allowed them to shirk their elected responsibilities and hand off real power to people who seem to answer to no one. I read Fukuyama's "Political Order and Political Decay" awhile back and he goes through the long timeline of history looking at the rise and fall of various governments. One near constant factor in the decline of nearly every once-successful government is the rise of an administrative state. It's necessary for them to become effective enough to rise in the first place. But then it eventually becomes tribalized and operating outside the rule of law. If they managed to have a rule of law. China - he says - is almost unique in that it developed the first administrative state prior to a rule of law (5th century BC) and has had one ever since. They have never had the Rule of Law. He contrasts China, curiously, with India which he says is nearly the opposite - they developed a Rule of Law very early (based on religious divisions of power) which prevented the rise of a real administrative state - which kept them forever a bunch of squabbling fiefdoms unable to effectively work together to repeal invaders and stop civil wars. The administrative state has it's place and purpose, but keeping it under control seems to have stymied virtually all civilizations when they developed, as it seems to be doing so know in the West.
I suppose one thing China's ancient administrative state has accomplished is helping keep China insular. Bureaucrats control whatever system already exists, but conquest of other nations creates uncomfortable unknowns. A clever bureaucrat can profit from warfare, but it carries risks that shaking down a populace familiar with "the system" does not.
Of course, Rome had been engaging in conquest long before they were captured by bureaucracy, so the bureaucracy developed with conquest explicitly in mind.
At some levels, how can I be sure? But it starts from the lowest levels on up. I've observed small city council races up close and personal (my wife ran for a seat once). Those aren't stolen elections. Probably very few are (if any). But your point is well taken.
Jeff, I dont think it matters anymore if there is real election fraud going on...we no longer have the ability to know or even ask questions about it so what is the difference? In this modern age, perception is reality.
For instance, If I put a math equation, and my answer, on the board; that everyone in the class had no ability to check or prove my answer...I just said "trust me"...Is that really an answer? Thats not math, thats religion. Am I wrong?
It's funny you should use that example. I taught a summer pre-Calculus class once for somewhat older students "returning after a hiatus from college" - employment or child-rearing mostly. The method I was to use was proscribed as "Socratic", designed to work better with people with extreme fear of math. What you described is just about what I'd do: I'd write some equation on the board, followed by something I'd "derive" from it. But I wouldn't tell them anything about it. Very first one was deliberately simple but wrong. wrong. Something as simple as a(b+c) = ab + c.
Nobody would say anything for awhile. Then someone would pipe up and object that it wasn't right. Others were sure it must be because I'm the teacher, right? The'd start arguing. They'd half forget I was there. Finally they'd conclude it was wrong and why. It worked really well. I'd just have to come up with a series of mixed right and wrong expressions and developments that led through the course material in small enough steps.
But to your point -- if no one is allowed to question anything, this method clearly won't work. It would be Catechism, not teaching.
I think reassertion of control of the federal bureaucracy does indeed begin at the state and local level. That is where the laws pertaining to how elections held are.
Very true, very true and I am glad you brought it up. Because it is easier to hold pols like that accountable at the state level. State and local media will still cover matters that local citizens care about. The concerned citizens of Pennsylvania and similarly situated states need to act.
That’s the shocking story over and over again Jeff. Can it be possible that we keep voting so badly every single election or is it just that Washington DC (the swamp) has absolute power and it makes no difference who we voted for the swamp has already written the results down.
I used to guess that the "bread and circuses" delivered by the nanny state are buying the votes that keep this system in place, along with preferring "the devil you know" to unknown devils. But in recent years what I'm seeing and hearing is people predominantly voting "against" people they think they hate for a variety of reasons - with no adequate appreciation that their hatred is almost entirely based on visceral personality issues which have little or no bearing on ability and effectiveness at governing. It's turned into a popularity contest, where popularity is uncorrelated with the kinds of issues we ought to be concerned with.
Another way of looking at it might be that they're not "colluding" in the traditional, conspiratorial sense so much as capitalizing on a system which deters decent people from running so that it really doesn't matter that much who is left running, they (the swamp) can work with them by dangling the right carrots.
I agree with your last paragraph and I agree that many vote against instead of for. I certainly have and will again in the next cycle. But it is not against Biden's personality. It is against his policies.
Policies I deem rui ous. But I also do not think elections are conducted fairly. The 2020 election was absolutely unseemly. Discussion silenced in the public square at the behest of the FBI. The same FBI that lied to obtain warrants to "I vestigate" Trump and his staff during the 2016 election, then leaked the same false information they lied to obtain the warrants to the "press". And like the good dogs they are the "press" lapped it up. That decimated the votes of everybody who cast one for Trump. It also rendered uninformed the votes of everyone who cast one for Biden. And one of the odious CEOs who suppressed pertinent information spent $402 million to harvest ballots. So your vote is meaningless. They are prepared to harvest as many as they need.
All true Lynne and unfortunately we look to be heading down the same path for 2024. It’s really difficult to know how to fight back when we have such a sick corrupt system, rotten media and even worse social media. The corporations don’t help much either we have give them so much power that at times it’s difficult to know who is running our country. I am praying for us all and hope the right human is voted in this time.
One senile clown in particular, one who needs to be jacked up on Adderall in order to deliver an even barely compensable speech.
And notice that he'll begin a speech with some (chemically induced) level of energy, but as the clock ticks by he begins to slow down, then accelerate the decline to the point where by the end he can barely complete a sentence.
I agree. I wonder if the syndrome you describe is one of a declining culture. I'm hardly an historian, but I've often wondered if what we're experiencing now is analogous to what Rome experienced during her decline.
They are neither evil nor stupid. They, like most of us, want to be seen as valued and respected.
Look carefully at what government employment means in those terms, and most carefully at the potentials that the employment offers to force others to value and to respect.
It's simple manipulation to achieve the goal. Has nothing to do with good or evil, just the common, every day drives that make people be flaming asses in the workplace.
I fully admit that this is a cynical view, but it is honestly held and based on forty years of experience working with government officials why were perfectly willing to wield their powers for very personal goals.
Elites can easily be both evil and stupid simultaneously. The secret ingredient is Narcissism. Once one loves him/herself to the point of excluding realities that do not "taste good", the proverbial barn door swings open to all manners of abuse and faulty reasoning backing it up. I have seen it too many times to believe it to be a coincidence.
Our elite is not stupid. A lot of permanent Washington is, but the people pulling the strings are not. And it's going just like they planned. We now live in a corporate oligarchy.......
As someone who contemplates suicide everyday since being over-prescribed adderall so I would "shutup and code", your feelings of depression over reading this aren't unfounded
i hold a gun to my head once a week to feel like im in control over the amphetamines i've been prescribed to "be a good worker" at a private equity firm ruining our housing market. This world is dystopian.
From the look of the other comments here, help may be on the way. It is good to see that we, as citizens, are not alone. Depression is temporary. Despair is permanent. Don’t have despair.
“Having too much of any controlled substance floating around makes the DEA nervous, so it caps production” of Adderall.
How nervous is the DEA about all the Chinese fentanyl coming across our border, and why doesn’t the DEA pressure Joe Biden or Border Czar Kamala Harris to cap that activity?
The Chinese fentanyl distributors need a new marketing manager. Who needs illegal fentanyl coming across the border when you can instead open your very own online pharmacy and dispense it legally!
Pharmaceutical amphetamines are at the root of school shootings. Add in "medical marijuana" which is a mystery synthetic drug sometimes causing psychosis. Plus testosterone now. The exposure numbers track with the shooting incidences, and unfortunately are likely to continue with the amount of poly-pharmacy. I routinely see boys under 10 yo on amphetamines.
Why is no one pointing the finger at the doctors? They could have prescribed medication along with therapy so the person with ADHD learned to also have self calming behavior to reduce panic attacks, etc. Therapy many not eliminate the drug but it could reduce the dosage and give the patient autonomy. An ADHD patient would be most inclined to be an addict, so why isn't the doctor proactive and protective of their patient?
Doctors have also created the antibiotic resistant bacteria by their overuse of antibiotics. When will the doctors be able to say no to patients' demand for pills and no to the perks offered by the pharm reps? Maybe doctors need to learn to say yes to better care for their patients.
The doctors have the education to understand the ramifications of inappropriate drug use and yet they continue to write prescriptions for the people who trust their education and experience. Yes, finger point at "big pharma" but take a long hard look at our personal physicians and demand better service rather than just long term prescriptions.
Do you have evidence to corroborate your suggestion?
I am not a member of a medical profession, but I have for the past two and half decades had all of my medical needs handled by doctors at the highest-rated teaching hospital in the country. My experience has been with both new and experienced doctors, and I am more than willing to put my health in the hands of the fellows that that hospital attracts (These are doctors that are trying to make their names in that world and have a degree of motivation that can be in recession with the practitioner that has seen 35 years of medicine.)
Not once in those years have I sensed that I was seeing a pill pusher., In fact, I sensed a serious reluctance across my encounters to turn to a pharmaceutical solution particularly when there were other options available.
I am sensitive to the public perception that pills are the go-to remedy for today's doctors. I just haven't experienced it, nor do I get the sense from those whom I encounter that big phrama has them ensnared.
You are doing the smart thing by going to a teaching hospital. As a physician I recommend that to anyone with any remotely complicated condition. The best care is obtained at teaching hospitals.
And the reason teaching hospitals, aka academic hospitals, are the best is because doctors there are free to spend lots of time with you & doctors there will do what is best for patients (evidence-based medicine) because they do not have Big Business Financial Administrators cutting costs, which is the case elsewhere.
Most of the problems in the past 10 yrs stem from ObamaCare. Obama & Congressional Dems got payouts from Lobbyists in Insurance Corporations, Pharma & Hospital Chain CEOs, who wrote ObamaCare laws that took away physician autonomy & forced physicians to do whatever Corporations/WallSt want them to do. Cutting costs at patients' expense. Cutting doctors' salaries if they don't comply. To make money for Wall St CEOs.
"Do you have evidence to corroborate your suggestion?"
When you cite nothing but anecdotal evidence to the contrary?
Well, yes, in fact, I do.
"Recent CivicScience poll results reveal the picture of maintenance prescription drug use in the U.S. has shifted dramatically. The number of U.S. adults who report taking at least one prescription medication per day is now 70%, a 14 percentage-point increase from 2019 data.
Additionally, the percentage of people taking four or more prescription medications daily in the US has increased by six percentage points, from 18% to 24%."
That is a staggering amount of Americans taking prescription medicine. And, guess what? Some doctor is prescribing these drugs because we can't simply get them on our own.
Agree, but a patient sees a doctor not a medical school or a pharma. Medical schools and pharma are dragons that cannot be slayed, but each person deals with a doctor, a small dragon version that is far more malleable. As an individual, we can demand better service from our doctors and to educate ourself to understand that every pill has a benefit and a harm.
We are in fundamental agreement. Doctor/patient has to be a partnership. With skeptical, educated patients who, after agreeing on an appropriate treatment, will follow it.
The Big Business Insurance Companies control doctors & medical offices. They routinely deny patients life-saving medications, labs & imaging. Insurance Companies seek to earn $$$ for Wall St Stockholders, by spending less & less on patients, by forcing doctors to do their bidding to make money for Wall St.
As a physician, it’s not the docs fault. (For the most part!) It is Obamacare’s fault by linking doctor salaries and their jobs to Patient Satisfaction Scores. And Hospital /medical clinic chains, with Big Business Wall St CEOs forcing doctors to do whatever patients want. These Wall St Business people with zero medical knowledge tell doctors they will be fired if they spend too long with patients or if patients don’t get what they want, when they want it.
As usual, the finger can be pointed at billionaires running gigiantic hospital chains, Insurance corporations and Pharma
The opioid epidemic was started by the AMA's "healthcare quality" program, creating the "pain scale" with Purdue Pharma, and linking those scores to reimbursements. A clear ethical violation. I personally would say 'no' to patient's who did not need narcotics. It was very uncomfortable. Security had to escort me to my care several times because addicts would threaten me, and the administration would look the other way. Ultimately, it is my responsibility as a physician to draw the line. If physicians don't stand up, they shouldn't be surprised that the culture gets worse AND they feel awful. Also, alternatives for physicians need to be created. Where are the innovators for medical culture?
I'm a retired RN and I can validate what you report. The doctors I've seen and worked with are controlled by the administration. Several years ago, one of our doctors on the detox/rehab unit wanted to discharge a patient b/c she was completely detoxed, completely disinterested in rehab and was disruptive on the unit and demanding d/c. Admin said (essentially) her parents are paying for 30 days and she stays. One month later the doctor was fired.
Agreed, patient satisfaction scores link successful doctor visits to prescribing medications and doing whatever the patient wants.
There’s still doctors with wait and see wisdom. My 20-yr old son had always been on the cusp of an ADHD diagnosis thru grade school. Two pediatricians refused the ADHD label which would get him hooked on medications and instead diagnosed him with anxiety. He still struggles with motivation/ low dopamine and scrolls on his phone for hours. He’ wonders if Adderall is a solution but really, when he puts the phone down and goes for a run, it solves most of his issues.
"He wonders if Adderall is a solution but really, when he puts the phone down and goes for a run, it solves most of his issues."
That's the key! smartphones, social media & all these devices create numerous problems for everyone, particularly youth. Increased anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, low dopamine, worse ability to focus/pay attention, suicide, self harm, etc etc. The less time people spend with these devices, the better for their mental health. For me personally, 2 years ago I stopped using social media & my mental health has greatly improved.
The doctor is the first line, possibly only line of defense, that a patient has against big pharma, insurance, etc. Being the first line must be incredibly hard, but there is a need for doctors to nudge the status quo and advocate for and educate their patient.
I advocate for my pts & spend time educating them, b/c I love my pts & care about them. But at my own peril. I am scolded for doing so. by doing what's best for the pts, I run the risk of losing my job. I am told to spend less time with pts. By Administrators with no medical knowledge.
Most pts see a physician & think the physician has choices & autonomy. That used to be the case. But since ObamaCare, fewer physicians actually have the ability to decide things & do what's best for pts.
Obama & Congressional Dems got payouts from Lobbyists in Insurance Corporations, Pharma & Hospital Chain CEOs, who wrote ObamaCare laws that took away physician autonomy & forced physicians to do whatever Corporations/WallSt want them to do. Private practices were forcibly taken over by Big Hospital Chain monopolies. Cutting costs at patients' expense. Cutting doctors' salaries if they don't comply. To make money for Wall St CEOs.
ObamaCare created tons of bureaucratic red tape. Lots of nonsense administrative paperwork & computer work, which increases everyones' workload. Increases healthcare costs.
It's often an insurance issue. Insurance will pay for doctor visits and prescriptions, but mental health visits are extremely limited in terms of coverage.
Agree. But there can be long term gains for insurance companies by providing the complete solution. Pharma along with therapy for behavior or coping changes. A panic attack not in the ER, lower drug intake, avoiding treatment for side effects of high and prolonged use of adderall are possible benefits of why insurance should be holistic. Providing better mental health care could prove to safe money long term.
I wish Insurance Corporations would do things that make sense. They should cover mental health therapy. They should cover physical therapy. They should cover preventative health. This would save them costs in the long run.
But Insurance doesn't use common sense. Example: I advise pts to try physical therapy rather than narcotics or surgery, for their pain. Physical therapy is much safer, no side effects, beneficial, etc. Lower cost. But insurance charges co-pay for physical therapy (even when you've used up your deductible) which discourages people from trying PT. It seems insurance would rather pay for a $50,000 spine surgery which has major risks, long recovery, adverse effects & could make things worse! Or Insurance would rather have people be addicted to narcotic pain meds. It doesn't make sense.
I would consider how medicine has become less about individuals taking care of patients than employees pleasing the for-profit corporations that now own the doctors. You are literally expected to take care of a patient, prescribe, meet their unrealistic expectations from what they’ve seen from advertisers and the news media, and heard from the neighbors, fill out a never ending electronic medical record so that the corporation can bill it that’s highest tier and do all this in 10 minutes. A doctor literally has their salary and bonus is tied to patient satisfaction. It takes 30 seconds to write a prescription but at least ten minutes to explain to a patient why that’s not appropriate
Being in medicine is a grind and maybe a grind that continues to get harder, but there still is a responsibility and priority to the patient before the bonus. Isn't that our expectation from a financial advisor that it is about our financial health not the advisor's bonuses?
Do the advertisements contribute to the consumption of drugs, absolutely! It is mind boggling that a disease and the medicine can look so desirable in advertisements. But when a doctor complains that they only have 10 minutes to write a prescription, I wonder why every problem ends with a prescription. A doctor should reach for more than just the hammer in their tool kit.
Yes, I completely agree and it makes me so sad that is what we are slowly becoming. Doctors are almost by definition people pleasers but young ones don't realize it is the patients that are important, not the bosses who are now not even physicians themselves, just administrators (I call them handlers).
and its 10 minutes to talk to the patient, examine, determine diagnosis, write a treatment plan, explain it, chart, and bill. We are scheduled to see 5-6 patients per hour. Most stay late to finish charting. Ask any physician in the states, we are at breaking point. things will have to change soon. THis is bad medicine.
I do not think doctors receive education in med school regarding pharmaceuticals. If you have any long-term prescriptions, particularly if prescribed by multiple doctors you need a good relationship with a competent pharmacist. On another note I read yesterday that an antibiotic shortage is expected.
Since pharmaceuticals play such a huge role in today's medical practices, my hope would be that current doctors are more trained in this area. Hoping that all doctors are keeping up with the changes in pharma with medical journals, etc. since this field changes so rapidly. A doctor remaining static with their pharma knowledge is like a computer engineer using punch cards.
As for antibiotics, the potential shortage is once again a reflection on a poorly designed foreign policy with China that benefits the Biden family rather than endeavors to meet the needs of many American. https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/chinavaccine-3/
While the profession may have an interest in this topic, it seems that it is one that you need to be comfortable with how YOUR doctor handles the subject.
I suggest reading up on a new medication that targets some condition you might have, and ask some questions. His response wlll tell you if he is up on the literature.
Absolutely agree. The Merck manual, a drug information book, is now available online at some public libraries which supports one becoming an informed consumer about drug benefits and harms. The website "The People's Pharmacy" by the Graedons also provides useful information.
As an adult who was diagnosed with ADHD in my mid 30s and took Vyvanse for several years, it boggles my mind that this stuff is given to kids. It was astonishingly effective at making me a reliably productive person, and I have a family to support so that’s really important. But what the hell does a 10 year-old need this for??
My brother was very active in kindergarten & the school tried to push ADHD drugs on him. My parents said NO. the school worked with him instead and within a year, there were no issues. He became one of the top students in jr high, high school and college.
When I was a kid in the 60's my parents got called to the principal's office with me. Principal says, "your son is obstreperous". Long pause. My dad says, "yeah, we know. Is that it?"
When I was a kid, back in the dark ages, we didn't have an ADHD problem in schools. There was no such thing as ADHD. It may have existed but it hadn't been defined yet. Back then were had corporal punishment. If a kid left his or her seat and constantly disrupted the class, they got their butts beat. After that happened a couple of times nobody disrupted the class, a nonchemical cure. Who knew?
It seems to me doctors are too quick to turn to a chemical fix and parents are too quick to demand a chemical fix.
Could the mystery of ADHD be like the mysterious rise in autism?
Don't forget the feminization of schools and demonization of boys behaving like boys. I'm not talking about bullying - I'm talking about them needing to have lots of outdoor time to wrestle and work out aggression and behave like the little bear cubs nature made them to be.
Years back, when my kids were three girls aged 9, 7, and 5 and a boy, 1, we moved and started at a new elementary school with all the high test scores and all the recommendations. I was quickly dismayed to find that the only male adult in the building was the janitor. All the teachers and all the admins were women (both principal and vice principal had no children of their own, to boot), and the way they achieved those high test scores was eliminating recess in favor of more drill & kill worksheet time, and the way they managed their classrooms was to harshly punish any normal kid [boy] wiggles, even jiggling a knee under a desk, and to not allow the children to talk unless called upon. Each classroom had one tiny window which the teachers covered up to eliminate "distractions" (God forbid the kids be able to see the sky). They had to "earn" the freedom to converse at lunch, even. When I made inquiries about the lack of recess and the rest, I was told that PE time was enough physical movement, but even that was A. under the direction of more bossy women with no freedom of movement for the kids at all and B. often used as flex time to fit in things like fundraising kickoff assemblies. These midwits also condescendingly told me "we are professional educators" and "every day here is rigorous and we have high standards for behavior that informed parenting at home can help meet if the parents are committed enough." They were so poorly informed at their own jobs and how kids work that they had no idea they were driving 75 mph in the wrong direction down the highway.
My girls were miserable enough, but there was no way on EARTH I was going to subject my son to Jail For Children Especially Boys. We made it to Thanksgiving of that school year and I pulled them out for a transfer to a neighboring district which, while not perfect, wasn't quite as aggressively horrendous. But thousands upon thousands of kids are going to schools run by harridan women like this.
I had teachers tell me my son had "problems" in class (very common boy things of being restless, annoying, etc), they wanted me to take him in for a neuropsych eval which probably would have led to meds. LUCKY for me (and my son), I grew up in a large family and I have four older brothers. I couldn't see anything different from my son's behavior and the way my older brothers acted sometimes.
"Children and adolescents vary dramatically in the way they develop and in the chronology of their developmental milestones. Individuality and immaturity should not be confused with disease."
The destruction began when Education became a required degree credential back in the mid-1960s. It's been downhill since then.
The solution might be as simple as requiring teachers of tomorrow to have degrees in the liberal arts, mathematics, or science; i..e., the subjects that they are going to teach.
Your post is a shocker Mr A. How your kids doing now especially your son. I have grandchildren in the same system it’s really difficult to watch what’s happening, I feel really sorry for my kids.
When I was in elementary school we had a 15 minute recess between the second and third periods. Then, after the fourth period, we had lunch for an hour that consisted of as much time as anyone wanted to eat followed by time on the playground. Many schools have eliminated these breaks that allowed active kids to run around the playground. I think this is one cause of more kids having trouble sitting still.
We had two periods, a recess, then two more; English, history, math, and science. Lunch was at noon. We then spent 1 pm to 4:30 pm playing sports...participation was not optional.
The postmodernists are right about one thing: so much of what we see is driven by our assumptions about the world.
If we believe children are selfish people who must be shaped and molded into adults... we see behavior problems and deal with then punitively.
If we believe children are little adults with rights... we see mental illness and deal with it pharmacologically.
Did the behavior change, or did our perceptive filter just change?
Note, I'm not saying that there hasn't been a huge increase in behavior problems in schools over the last 50 years, but that is likely the result of this perceptual shift not the cause of it.
Both drugs and punishment work to solve attention problems in children. However no one can make any money on the latter.
You overlook the consequence aspect. If a person cannot control their behavior or makes poor decisions, there are consequences. Suffering those consequences allows those capable of moderating their behavior or decision making to do so. In that sense, corporal punishment is a consequence.
Me too. I'm from the "dark ages" and was diagnosed as hyperactive in the 70s. My mom said no when the doctor suggested Ritalin (I think that was the drug on offer then) and I thank her for that and so many other wise choices over the years.
Kay, on a personal note, I love cats too. When my wife and I moved back to the states we brought our 21 year old cat with us. She died a month away from her 22nd birthday. It was to us, like losing a child.
Oh wow! That's impressive. Even with all my experience and know how, I've never gotten a cat to live that long. They top out at 18-19 years with me. Well done!
I would add that ADHD meds are also a major driver of the groupthink we see on campus!
“Where are NPCs made? They are in large part the end-product of pharmaceuticals. When not paying attention to one’s teacher becomes a treatable medical condition, the only possible future classroom is one in which total obedience is the norm.”
“No two people are the same; nitrogen atoms, however, are indistinguishable. Your Concerta pill doesn’t have a personality, or laugh lines, or pet peeves; only you do. Some might reject discussing the big picture around medicating the masses, arguing that such a perspective belittles the individual nature of medical practice, wherein a personalized decision is made by your doctor for your unique needs. Yet we are losing a great deal of perspective indeed if we consider mass ingestion of sub-atomically identical assembly-line pharmaceuticals to have anything of the personal about it. You might as well be drinking from the same drugged water supply. If you are prescribed the very mind-altering pill that all your neighbors are on, how long will it be before your minds are, like your factory-made medicine, indistinguishable? ”
When I was raising my sons in the 90’s and aught’s, the diagnosis of ADHD and prescribing of the drugs was off the charts. Teachers, in my view, wanted to take the life out of boys, and parents were going along with it. I observed pre-teen and teen boys who were lethargic and almost zombie like, and boys and girls who took the drugs ending up with stunted growth, later requiring growth hormones to correct. I appreciate that ADHD is a legitimate diagnosis when accompanied by a thorough analysis, and I’ve known adults whose life was changed for the better through an accurate diagnosis. But, what I saw too often when my kids were young was parental or teacher diagnosis and weak-willed pediatricians just going along. Now, with the advent of on-line medicine the gates to self-prescribing are almost non-existent. Very scary. And I can’t help but agree that there is a connection with all of this medication and the increasing rates of violence in our youth. If I can be forgiven for hearkening back to “the good old days” of my youth when the rowdy kids had to stand in the corner and learn to focus, maybe occasionally got the paddle (horrors), and worked their aggressions and hyperactivity out with a lot of good playground time and a game of bombardment, maybe we need to rethink some of the philosophy on discipline and play that has previously been discarded as harmful. I also think there is a connection between attention deficit and video games. Kids are handed electronic devices as young as two years old to keep them occupied. It just seems logical to me that the ability to focus will not develop when their “play” is all digital.
Of course, Carrie, in addition to amphetamines being at the root of school shootings - shouldn’t easy access to semi automatic weapons also be a part of the root structure?
Being in a hospital trauma ward looking after a torn apart eight year old because she happened to be in the way of an AR-15 round might entail more than dealing with the influence of mere pharmaceuticals. Especially with fellow students in the same emergency room dealing with the same wounds. If they aren’t already dead. A whacked out kid on stimulants is one thing. Put a weapon in his hands and that’s something else.
Gun violence is certainly an issue, but not one the politicians in my area have ever done much about. We have high gun violence in Chicago and the strictest gun laws. There are many causes to the black-on- black gun violence in my city. Caring for those affected by the violence in Chicago is tough. Amphetamines are not the main issue in this cohort.
And does everyone know that Adderall is a Schedule II drug, the same as all opioids, which means it carries the same risk profile for addiction, abuse and misuse? Even though I spent my entire career in pharma R&D, I just learned this recently and it really just blew my mind. DEA gave it the same schedule as OPIOIDS...and that includes, fentanyl, btw. Let that sink in.
Boy a lot of this sounds like addicted people being really, really articulate about their need for a fix. And I absolutely think ADHD is real. And I also think it’s very, very easy to get diagnosed with ADHD.
There's a big difference. I was severely injured about 20 years ago and took opiates for about two months. I took them as prescribed and didn't abuse them, but after two months I was dependent on them, and felt like crap when I didn't take them, but not an "addict." The doctor gradually reduced the dosage, and I went back to normal life without them. "Dependence" means you have withdrawal symptoms if the drugs aren't tapered, "addiction" means you do ANYTHING to get more of the drugs even if those things are dangerous.
I am not diminishing your situation. But doesn't that mean it is a matter of degree? If you were not aware of the possibility of addiction, or, if your doctor was not responsive, could you have slipped into it? I know several.educated, well-heeled people who started out with legitimate pain meds and now use street drugs. It started with oxygen and then they got cut off or it wasn't doing the trick anymore. Heroin and then fentanyl are the last steps. I think there is a genetic component to addiction too.
Yeah. I think the critical piece is that a lot of doctors simply cut off patients and then they go into withdrawals and seek a way to avoid that. I was really fortunate in that my doctor knew the importance of tapering off the drugs when they were no longer needed so that I didn't have any desire to seek out more drugs.
Sounds like you had sense and a good doc. I fear few are so blessed. Another factor now is the role of insurance. Most doctors can't or won't buck them so it is health services by algorithm essentially. I have understood that for years now. But an article I read recently made me realize that health services backed by health insurance are not looking at long-term outcomes because insurance companies only have a contractual obligation for so long as they insure an individual. It would be an unsound business practice to put the long-term well-being of the insured abo e the company's bottom line.
"And I absolutely think ADHD is real. And I also think it’s very, very easy to get diagnosed with ADHD."
For boys, yes, but not necessarily for girls or women. ADHD in females doesn't typically look like ADHD in males, so it never occurs to some people that a girl or woman might need to be tested for it. For example, I have a very hard time sitting in one place and listening to someone unless I have something to do with my hands. In high school and college, I used to start every semester promising myself that I wasn't going to doodle on my notebooks this time, and would get to the point where it was an irresistible urge by the second class. But that's small-scale hyperactivity. It's not disruptive, so it goes unnoticed, just like perpetual daydreaming or writing stories in your notebook when you're supposed to be taking notes.
One of the most common ways for adult women to get diagnosed with ADHD is for their children to get diagnosed with ADHD. "That's ADHD?! No way. I do that all the time and I've done it my whole life." I was unlucky enough to reach adulthood without being diagnosed, but lucky enough that someone finally suggested testing when I was 22.
It's no surprise that so many people like amphetamines when they are living in a society that asks them to pay attention to boring office work for hours a day without any exercise, with the spare time spent scrolling a phone. Give most people a little Adderall and they'll get more productive, feel like they have "better executive function", maybe with a bump in mood, etc. We need to be honest about whether psychiatrists are treating illnesses or doing something more like "cosmetic psychiatry" focused on enhancement. Maybe giving tons of people Adderall isn't so bad, or maybe it is, but we should at least be clear about what we're doing and stop calling everything ADHD.
I’ve long believed that I’d be just fine if I lived in, like, a pioneer family in the mid 1800s (as long as I survived the gauntlet of childhood infectious disease). But no, I sit at a computer all day because that is the most remunerative use of my brain in this day and age. Vyvanse makes that a hell of a lot easier to manage.
Mary Harrington has taken to calling the birth control pill the "first transhumanist step", in that it, for the first time, treated normal human function as something to be cured. Psychotropic drugs are in the same vein. If you need a bunch of drugs just to make your brain work and a bunch of other drugs just to make your body work... at what point do you start to shed your humanity?
I’m not so sure that’s true... You could say that caffeine and nicotine turned normal human tiredness and inattentiveness into something to be cured too. It’s all on a spectrum. Sure it’s possible to go too far, but our bodies are machines made out of meat and sometimes we need help to keep it together. Same applies to our brains. For many people psychiatric medications really are lifesaving. But yes, there are huge problems with over prescribing, misprescribing, and our culture’s attitude to all this stuff. And when suddenly everyone needs it, that’s probably the sign of a problem.
I'm not saying psychiatric drugs should be done away with. After all, the brain is an organ and it can have problems just like the pancreas or heart can. We prescribe insulin and statins for the latter and aderall for the former.
However there is a far greater question of our humanity when you start altering biochemical or even physical attributes (ala Musk's Neuralink dreams) of the brain. As such, I think psychotropic drugs should be handled with greater care becuase they carry greater risk. Your pancreas doesn't convince your brain to OD on insulin so the pancreas can get high.
Replace Adderall with cocaine and you’ll describe my work day in the mid eighties. Never felt more productive in my life. Not endorsing it, mind you - but in the end, what’s the difference?
Thirty or forty years ago many people needed a little pick-me-up to deal with their dreary jobs. They often took a quick break with their co-workers and ingested their mild stimulant before getting back to work. Smoking helped people's moods. Then the stimulant was vilified and its use declined. Now many people buy expensive stimulants and antidepressants prescribed by their doctors. I wonder what fraction of the people who today are prescribed Adderall or Ritalin or SSRIs would in previous decades have become social or regular smokers. I also wonder whether nicotine has larger or smaller side effects than these other drugs.
I remember being in grad school in the early 90s when the anti-depressants craze started. I was having trouble adjusting to a new environment, and didn't particularly enjoy my part-time editing job, so I called a hotline about depression and was offered a prescription for anti-depressants. I turned it down.
Meanwhile, just about everyone in the program was on anti-depressants, walking around with fake smiles on their faces. No wonder I experienced difficulty connecting to these people. Now those are the Progressives who buy the transgender, race, and other bullshits on the market. The sheep my mother warned me not to become, hence my saying NO to anti-depressants.
For a time in New York, I had a GP who was a trans man. I was uncomfortable around this person, but would remind myself of my open mindedness (to a fault, actually), but this person creeped me out. Once I went in for extreme fatigue, and the transman doctor told me I needed to be on anti-depressants. I said, "I'm tired, not depressed. These aren't the same thing." The transman doctor fought with me about it. I didn't know what I was talking about, the transman said. My tiredness was caused by depression. This transman shoved the prescription at me.
I never filled it. And never went back to the transman doctor. A few weeks later, another doctor diagnosed me with severe anemia and gave me a prescription for iron pills.
As a culture, we've got to grow a pair and face up to the fact that life is hard, and we don't get stronger by hiding behind prescriptions. Every minor discomfort has been turned into something you take your kid to the doctor for. Then the doctor says your kid is trans...
Agreed! I can’t tell you how many prescriptions I have refused to fill over the years - except for antibiotics for infections. It’s nuts how readily drugs are given out by doctors. That said, a few doctors have told me that folks seemed ‘disappointed’ when they aren’t given a prescription when they leave the doctor’s office. Everyone is looking for a magic bullet but perhaps they should be looking in a mirror instead and do some soul searching.
I have read Substack comments from doctors saying there is now SO much pressure in corporate medicine to goad patients into LeAvE uS a FiVe StAR rEviEw!!’ that doctors will do most anything for patients to leave happy which is usually clutching a prescription which won’t technically hurt them at least not short term but that they don’t need. I know I’ve been puzzled a bit when I have doctors immediately jump to writing a prescription when I want to talk to them about the pros and cons and make a decision together. It seems so reflexive now.
I listened to Bari interview Dr. Casey Means and she said "quality care" metrics in Obamacare include whether a prescription was given. Physician's get higher quality scores if they write prescriptions... whether or not the drug is in the best interest of the patient. They are trapped in the pharmaceutical and insurance scam just as much as the patient.
I do not know how you are supposed to get to know your patient if you don't have meaningful interaction. Bedside manner used to be considered a good thing.
As a doctor, it is Obamacare’s fault for creating the Patient Satisfaction Score system which forces drs to do whatever patients want or else they can lose their jobs. And the hospital chains that push them to get the reviews or else lose your job
A rising "disappointed without a prescription" problem may be cultural. My parents lived in Mexico for many years. In the culture of rural Mexico, it was expected that the doctor would give you 3 prescriptions regardless of what you went in for. Their neighbors would refuse to go to doctors that didn't abide by this informal rule. They cold be "prescriptions" for Vitamin C, but you'd better get 3 prescriptions.
Considering our changing demographics over the last 60 years, this behavior appearing here in America is not surprising.
And how many infections did you take antibiotics for that were actually viral? Both bronchitis and sinusitis are 90% viral. "Disappointed" is being kind.
“There’s more to the story than the criticism that ADHD pathologizes normal childhood behavior.”
There certainly is, but that criticism is a large part of the story. I taught high school for five years. My wife is entering her 13th. There are kids that most certainly have ADHD - but they are few, far between, and generally easily recognizable. Or at least they were when I was teaching. I quit seven years ago, just before the social media kids got to high school. Snapchat was still in its infancy, and tik tok wasn’t a thing.
That said, I generally observed that a lot of hyperactive kids either needed more challenge or less challenge in school. I think a lot of the rise since then is because their parents don’t pay enough attention to them. I’m guilty of looking at my phone at home too, and my young kids will try to do things to get my attention when it happens.
All of which is to say that it’s a multi-faceted problem, but over-diagnosis is definitely one of the facets.
There is also a lack of sleep in many students. They get up early sometimes before 6 for daycare so their parents can commute to work then are picked up 12 or 13 hours later. Then there is dinner, homework, wind down time, and the 9-10 hours sleep for a growing child is not happening. The child is exhausted, unable to concentrate, irritable, etc. and so they are diagnosised with ADHD.
Agree. England's school survey also noted that the time between 3-6 , when school is out and before parents arrive home, is a time when many teens get in trouble. It would be interesting to see what would happen at a middle or high school that offered a later start which fits the bio clock and kept the students later including with programs immediately after school until 6.
It would definitely be an innovative charter school with teachers who believe that the admin and the students will contribute to a better classroom experience.
My wife’s district does this. Public school district in Colorado. High school goes 9:15-4:15. It’s a nice schedule, but they don’t seem to tout any performance difference since they changed a few years ago. Of course, 2 years of Covid school makes any analysis in that regard pretty much impossible.
It's not because of "teachers". It's because of after school activities in sports that middle school and high school kids participate in, that a later start would result in those activities spanning even later into the evenings. The sleep science does support a later start but then we'd be pushing them much later into the day with activities and homework and home time etc. Which means they would go to sleep even later, and might not benefit much from the later start.
Oooh. Because after school activities like sports couldn’t possibly be done in the mornings. Those committed enough to do sports would most likely welcome that.
And homework? What century do you live in. Kids don’t get homework anymore. And just how early to you think high schoolers go to bed anyway?
I'm not in charge of this or employed by any school district, but I'm pointing out why this initiative hasn't moved forward at least in the district my son attended when it was discussed - and has been raised in other districts around this proposal.
Your otherwise sour little response notwithstanding because yeah, it doesn't involve teacher bashing, and this being TFP's comment board, we all know every article is really just a starting point to bash libs, woke, teachers and Democrats : P
“ It turns out people with ADHD have low levels of dopamine...”How exactly did they measures dopamine levels? This chemical imbalance theory is questionable at best for all psychiatric labels.
Psych world and big pharma tried this myth successfully for years with “ serotonin imbalance” for “ Depression”. The myth was recently debunked. It was NEVER shown to be a serotonin imbalance! It’s probably the same with this dopamine theory in ADHD. Even if one isolated study did expensive testing on a small select group of “ ADHD” people( data that needs to be made public) .there is clearly no objective testing performed on the masses carrying this label- diagnosis. Psychiatry is the least scientific field of medicine. There are no lab tests, imaging studies , or biopsies to substantiate any of their labels . These so called diagnoses often do way more harm than good ,all based on subjective “ criteria” in the ever growing DSM .” Psychiatry is to medicine what astrology is to astronomy”( not my own but I agree)
About 26 years ago I started reading up on the ADHD bandwagon. The so-called "research" both then and now was a joke. To sum it up, one would give the ADHD diagnosed test subjects a drug and declare the changes in behavior and feelings proof the drug was fixing a neurotransmitter problem. The obvious problem with that is everyone has changes in behavior when on the drugs.
Except when this method actually does facilitate a diagnosis. Parkinson's disease is often diagnosed this way. If one responds to, for example, Levadopa, it's a likely confirmation given Parkinsons has some 25ish symptoms.
Sadly, I connect our 31 year old son’s addiction to meth and other party drugs to his taking increasing doses of Adderall at 13. We were getting our 13 year old high legally. I caution parents from putting their children on this medication.
Society is doing so much better since it turned away from God and the church, and people found their true meaning from all these pharmaceuticals that enhance their lives. 🤔
You’ve clearly never read your Bible. Do you not remember this famous parable?
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Here, have a Valium.”
You’re probably using ESV or King James’ adulterated translation, this is straight from the BPV (big pharma version):
What in the world? Faithful Catholic mom of 6, finding out I have ADHD was an answer to prayer, seeing emotional regulation fail and then succeed after medication in so many of my family members is also a God send. How are so many people so ignorant that they are calling using ADHD medication a moral failing?
These drugs should all be the last resort. In some cases they can be beneficial, but dangerous in many others. And this is true not just of drugs such as Adderall but of all prescription drugs. Truly, our medical industry has become entirely too reliant on chemicals. Aided and abetted by an indolent and impatient populace that demands instant gratification and won't take any measures for self improvement. Note the recent craze for diabetes drugs by people unwilling to undertake the harder steps of diet and exercise. Moreover, please don't get me started on the insanity of allowing pharmaceutical advertising.......
as an australian I cant believe the direct to consumer advertising allowed for pharmaceuticals in USA. However these days with influencers on social media etc even Australians are getting up there with similar rates of use of neuropsych drugs.
This is the hard, nuanced truth: The pharmaceutical industry does great things; the pharmaceutical industry does terrible things. They are full of people who want to do good; they are full of people who want to make huge profits without regard to societal costs.
We were all sold a story (or many stories):
"Your depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. Take this pill"
"Your kid can't sit still because of a brain chemistry issue. Give him this pill"
"Your poor eating habits can be cured by these injections you take for the rest of your life"
"Your reflux can be cured by taking these little pills for the rest of your life. Just small side-effects (like permanent kidney and liver damage)"
and never forget:
"Just take this injection and you'll never have to worry about contracting or spreading COVID-19"
Your comment about the nuances is correct. I have been an anaesthetist for over thirty years. The basic “recipe” for a general anaesthetic has remained the same but I am amazed by how the pharmaceutical industry has refined and perfected the drugs we use. We have significantly improved side effect profiles, dramatically shortened durations of action and some completely new drugs. It is difficult to explain to a layman how fantastic the drugs have become; we need something and they get to work to provide it. I tell the medical students that we love “Big Pharma” in the operating theatre! 😂
Oh, I know. I work with life sciences companies every day. They are doing amazing work. One of our customers recently developed a gene therapy that cures a certain type of genetic blindness. Thinking about kids who have been blind their whole life being able to see makes me tear up when I think about it.
That's why it's so sad the same industry that produces these amazing cures does terrible things to people and societies as well.
When my youngest son, now 17, was in kindergarten at our Catholic grammar school (which has served us well in the long-run, this is just an incident), his teachers asked us to make an appointment with our pediatrician because "something is wrong with him, he can't sit still and his behavior is inappropriate". He was a 5 year old boy, pro-social, very verbal, and liked to be up and about. Our pediatrician said "I've seen ADHD and your son does NOT have it, I don't know what they are talking about, he's 5". The teachers and principal still insisted we get a psycho-educational evaluation, just to be sure, which of course was not covered by insurance and because it was not a public school, not paid for by the Dept. of Ed. We went ahead with it anyway, mainly to prove them wrong and because, well, you can never know too much about your kid. The doctor was amazing. He did a whole battery of tests, including Stanford-Binet, EQ, IQ, executive function, etc. The evaluation came back in a lovely, 20 page binder. Off the charts for verbal and memory, pro-social, NO ADHD. He just needs to not have to sit still like a little girl for 8 hours a day and be told to sit out at recess for acting restless when recess is EXACTLY what he needed. So lo and behold, we present this to the school and they say, well, good, we'll keep this file confidential and if any further problems arise we'll reevaluate. Never mentioned again. His first grade teacher loved him, was young and had little brothers, totally "got" boys. But there were several other kids in each grade who were advised to put their kids on meds. The office of the doctor who evaluated our son had a waiting room full of little boys in the school uniform of our school. So, a matriarchy of early childhood teachers who don't want kids who can't sit still, leads to an over-diagnosis of a "problem" when what it is in many instances is just "5 year old boy syndrome" that they outgrow. I'm just glad we were able to prove them wrong.
On another note, this same son was a counselor at his camp last summer, and there was a kid there who was on Ritalin during the day, and then had to take melatonin to help him sleep. 10 years old and in the pharmaceutical loop already. Very sad. You wonder, is it parents who just can't be bothered figuring out how to keep their kids on track, so just drug them to make life easier, or is there really a higher incidence of ADHD?
Thank you for having faith in your child and in your instincts. You are so very right that expecting children to sit for hours on end then deny them 'recess' is cruel. What I find so interesting is society wants to keep kids from movement then implores adults to keep moving for their health.....most adults are too sedentary for their well-being. Well, maybe kids are too!
In much of Europe at least for now they still believe that play is the work of children and don’t start them on any academic type learning until 6 or 7. No wonder they outscore us on all the metrics.
Boys are often singled out as "problems" because their development doesn't match a curriculum which emphasizes fine motor movement. Most boys have greater gross motor skills than fine motor skills when they are 4 or 5 years old . It is not a matter of intelligence that makes all the sitting, cutting, formal reading hard and frustrating, but a matter of development.
A year can make a huge difference in a child's ability to master the fine motor skills needed for formal reading training, cutting, and sitting. The hard thing is that the year of frustration can lead to a diagnosis or the child learns that they are bad or dumb. This leads to a child being labeled by teachers or the child developing the class clown skills, the moan when any paper is put in front of them, etc. which makes school hard for them.
When kindergarten and preschool went from emphasize on socialization to strong academics like introducing a formal reading program, is that when ADHD become more frequently diagnosed for 5 year old boys?
Went to urban public school in the late 70’s and 80’s. One teacher 30 plus kids. We had so much freedom to move around the classroom. Teachers sat at their desks and we were pretty much self sufficient. We knew our tasks and except for some short times for lessons, we never sat still except to work on our assignments at our own pace. Fast forward to my children’s classroom. Kindergarten is a whole day and they are constantly sitting on mats and having to sit still while the teacher is explaining, talking, reading to them. Basically helicoptering them as a group. It is a much more collective experience.
So many of these comments sharing personal experiences begin with some variant of “the teacher/school reported a problem”. Shouldn’t that tell us something?
If schools want children who can keep up, perhaps they should try teaching them to read. But they prefer to virtue-signal by talking to 6 yr olds about gender identity.
The school tried to push Adhd drugs on my brother when he was in kindergarten. My parents said NO. Within a year, there were no issues. He became a top student in jr high, high school and college
My nephew (now 32) was misdiagnosed with ADD in first grade, had to repeat a year. Then they moved to FL (from VA), got a new neurologist who said that he had a minor neurological electrical signal imbalance that caused him to zone out on occasion and the Ritalin was making it worse. Meanwhile his confidence in school plummeted. He’s fine now but it was a tough journey.
I don’t know why but this is one of the most depressing things I have read recently. It seems like, whatever the subject matter, we are caught in a web of ( fill in the blank- military, medical, financial, academic , etc) self serving deceit , government incompetence magnified by social media and ignored by our smug mass media. The story remains the same. COVID, addiction, schools, energy, markets you just need to fill in the names but the story is the same throughout. Common sense is considered misinformation and not permitted a forum. Villains are made heroes and heroes are considered crazy.
We are a nation of teenagers being governed by 10 year olds. Or we are a nation of sheep being governed by a cadre of vain, pompous bureaucrats. I can’t tell whether our elite is evil or stupid and I am not sure which is worse.
The ethos in public education today is that “we need a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage.” The trope is taking over our lives. Sages impart wisdom, something sorely lacking in our culture.
Well said, comrade Philly. Big Pharma is the chemical warfare division of the WEF Wehrmacht. Government and corporations are coordinating to snare all of our bodies and minds in their destructive web for power and profit. We are all under fire on the beaches of Omaha and must protect the younger generations, who don’t know how to push back yet: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/saving-private-ryan-wef-wehrmacht
We are governed by people we elect. Over and over.
Not so sure of that anymore. With mass mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, who really knows if our elections are “real” anymore? And if you question it, you are labeled an “election denier!!”. Notice that they always accuse the opposing side of doing what they themselves are doing?
Simple observation will lead anyone to the conclusion that we are being drugged from a very early age, indoctrinated by our education systems, fed a steady diet of junk food, misinformation, warmongering and fear porn. We are now weak and easily manipulated.
Every institution and foundational principle that made this country great is being undermined and destroyed like the statues they tore down. Our history erased. Our constitution run over.
The worst part is we did this to ourselves.
We need term limits. Throw the sociopaths out every 6 years, three house terms and two senate terms. This way we won't have octogenarians who have gamed the system for the 40 or 50 years they have spent in office.
The electorate is too stupid and lazy to throw the bums out of office.
The problems we have with our leaders are moral (both theirs and ours). Process changes won't help; the pols will just recycle into other offices or politico-adjacent entities like defense contractors or NGOs.
In fact, terms limits might make it worse by moving the most experienced people into lobbying / administrative roles instead of explicitly elected ones. As much as 40-year senators are annoying, the alternative of a body of inexperienced senators attended to by 40-year staff members and lobbyists is probably worse.
In the term limit amendment a clause could say: once out of office a congress man or woman cannot work for the government or be a lobbyist.
Aristotle believed that only a population of people capable of personal self-government (each controlling his passions and lusts so that reason might prevail) was capable of collective self-government. Adams claimed that the "Constitution was for a moral and religious people and inadequate for any other." They were both right.
A piece of paper can never substitute for an ethical population. And an unethical population produces unethical leaders.
Your comment on NGOs is important - I bet a large amount of regulations are drafted by lawyers for various think tanks and advocacy groups of varying competence/malevolence. For example, my understanding is that a key driver behind proposed standards on gas stoves was a study by RMI - whose mission is to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and not anything to do with public health.
(By the way, want to get really depressed about the current state of legacy media? Do a google for "who produced study leading to proposed gas stove ban," and the first 10-15 articles are "Republicans Pounce!")
Google was started by far left fanatics. They have been skewing searches to favor Dems for years.
https://nypost.com/2023/05/24/how-google-manipulates-search-to-favor-liberals-and-tip-elections/
How do we then not just have unleashed tyranny of the unelected bureaucracy that, "hand in glove" keeps the machine dys-functioning.
The problem will term limits is that it completely transfers the running of the country to unelected officials and political aids - the professionals behind the scenes. It takes 1-2 terms just to figure out the Byzantine Washington system. As it is, congress has obfuscated its legislative role to the executive, who has been ruling through executive orders for the past 15+ years. A congress that’s never willing to compromise is a non functional congress. Electing more frequently won’t change that.
Are you sure we elected these evil would-be tyrants?
Considering that many of them are bureaucrats, a lot of the would-be tyrants weren't elected.
But we elected the people who wrote and maintain the laws that enable the administrative state. We have allowed them to shirk their elected responsibilities and hand off real power to people who seem to answer to no one. I read Fukuyama's "Political Order and Political Decay" awhile back and he goes through the long timeline of history looking at the rise and fall of various governments. One near constant factor in the decline of nearly every once-successful government is the rise of an administrative state. It's necessary for them to become effective enough to rise in the first place. But then it eventually becomes tribalized and operating outside the rule of law. If they managed to have a rule of law. China - he says - is almost unique in that it developed the first administrative state prior to a rule of law (5th century BC) and has had one ever since. They have never had the Rule of Law. He contrasts China, curiously, with India which he says is nearly the opposite - they developed a Rule of Law very early (based on religious divisions of power) which prevented the rise of a real administrative state - which kept them forever a bunch of squabbling fiefdoms unable to effectively work together to repeal invaders and stop civil wars. The administrative state has it's place and purpose, but keeping it under control seems to have stymied virtually all civilizations when they developed, as it seems to be doing so know in the West.
I suppose one thing China's ancient administrative state has accomplished is helping keep China insular. Bureaucrats control whatever system already exists, but conquest of other nations creates uncomfortable unknowns. A clever bureaucrat can profit from warfare, but it carries risks that shaking down a populace familiar with "the system" does not.
Of course, Rome had been engaging in conquest long before they were captured by bureaucracy, so the bureaucracy developed with conquest explicitly in mind.
At some levels, how can I be sure? But it starts from the lowest levels on up. I've observed small city council races up close and personal (my wife ran for a seat once). Those aren't stolen elections. Probably very few are (if any). But your point is well taken.
Jeff, I dont think it matters anymore if there is real election fraud going on...we no longer have the ability to know or even ask questions about it so what is the difference? In this modern age, perception is reality.
For instance, If I put a math equation, and my answer, on the board; that everyone in the class had no ability to check or prove my answer...I just said "trust me"...Is that really an answer? Thats not math, thats religion. Am I wrong?
It's funny you should use that example. I taught a summer pre-Calculus class once for somewhat older students "returning after a hiatus from college" - employment or child-rearing mostly. The method I was to use was proscribed as "Socratic", designed to work better with people with extreme fear of math. What you described is just about what I'd do: I'd write some equation on the board, followed by something I'd "derive" from it. But I wouldn't tell them anything about it. Very first one was deliberately simple but wrong. wrong. Something as simple as a(b+c) = ab + c.
Nobody would say anything for awhile. Then someone would pipe up and object that it wasn't right. Others were sure it must be because I'm the teacher, right? The'd start arguing. They'd half forget I was there. Finally they'd conclude it was wrong and why. It worked really well. I'd just have to come up with a series of mixed right and wrong expressions and developments that led through the course material in small enough steps.
But to your point -- if no one is allowed to question anything, this method clearly won't work. It would be Catechism, not teaching.
I think reassertion of control of the federal bureaucracy does indeed begin at the state and local level. That is where the laws pertaining to how elections held are.
Except when the state Secretary of State ignores the law and sets their own, ala PA.
Very true, very true and I am glad you brought it up. Because it is easier to hold pols like that accountable at the state level. State and local media will still cover matters that local citizens care about. The concerned citizens of Pennsylvania and similarly situated states need to act.
No we didn’t they rigged the vote Diane.
That’s the shocking story over and over again Jeff. Can it be possible that we keep voting so badly every single election or is it just that Washington DC (the swamp) has absolute power and it makes no difference who we voted for the swamp has already written the results down.
I used to guess that the "bread and circuses" delivered by the nanny state are buying the votes that keep this system in place, along with preferring "the devil you know" to unknown devils. But in recent years what I'm seeing and hearing is people predominantly voting "against" people they think they hate for a variety of reasons - with no adequate appreciation that their hatred is almost entirely based on visceral personality issues which have little or no bearing on ability and effectiveness at governing. It's turned into a popularity contest, where popularity is uncorrelated with the kinds of issues we ought to be concerned with.
Another way of looking at it might be that they're not "colluding" in the traditional, conspiratorial sense so much as capitalizing on a system which deters decent people from running so that it really doesn't matter that much who is left running, they (the swamp) can work with them by dangling the right carrots.
I agree with your last paragraph and I agree that many vote against instead of for. I certainly have and will again in the next cycle. But it is not against Biden's personality. It is against his policies.
Policies I deem rui ous. But I also do not think elections are conducted fairly. The 2020 election was absolutely unseemly. Discussion silenced in the public square at the behest of the FBI. The same FBI that lied to obtain warrants to "I vestigate" Trump and his staff during the 2016 election, then leaked the same false information they lied to obtain the warrants to the "press". And like the good dogs they are the "press" lapped it up. That decimated the votes of everybody who cast one for Trump. It also rendered uninformed the votes of everyone who cast one for Biden. And one of the odious CEOs who suppressed pertinent information spent $402 million to harvest ballots. So your vote is meaningless. They are prepared to harvest as many as they need.
All true Lynne and unfortunately we look to be heading down the same path for 2024. It’s really difficult to know how to fight back when we have such a sick corrupt system, rotten media and even worse social media. The corporations don’t help much either we have give them so much power that at times it’s difficult to know who is running our country. I am praying for us all and hope the right human is voted in this time.
"We are a nation of teenagers being governed by 10 year olds......"
Well....more like senile and corrupt clowns who have the mental acuity of infants.
One senile clown in particular, one who needs to be jacked up on Adderall in order to deliver an even barely compensable speech.
And notice that he'll begin a speech with some (chemically induced) level of energy, but as the clock ticks by he begins to slow down, then accelerate the decline to the point where by the end he can barely complete a sentence.
I'm beginning to think you don't like Joe Biden
What is there to like?
Whatever gave you that idea? (snicker)
I wouldn't call the mass media smug. I'd call it corrupt.
I agree. I wonder if the syndrome you describe is one of a declining culture. I'm hardly an historian, but I've often wondered if what we're experiencing now is analogous to what Rome experienced during her decline.
Yip that’s correct.
"We are a nation of teenagers being governed by 10 year olds. Or we are a nation of sheep being governed by a cadre of vain, pompous bureaucrats."
No, it's a cadre of rapacious wolves.
Agree
They are neither evil nor stupid. They, like most of us, want to be seen as valued and respected.
Look carefully at what government employment means in those terms, and most carefully at the potentials that the employment offers to force others to value and to respect.
It's simple manipulation to achieve the goal. Has nothing to do with good or evil, just the common, every day drives that make people be flaming asses in the workplace.
I fully admit that this is a cynical view, but it is honestly held and based on forty years of experience working with government officials why were perfectly willing to wield their powers for very personal goals.
I hear you and agree 100pct. And it's evil AND stupid. Depends on the day
They are evil Philly we are in trouble
Elites can easily be both evil and stupid simultaneously. The secret ingredient is Narcissism. Once one loves him/herself to the point of excluding realities that do not "taste good", the proverbial barn door swings open to all manners of abuse and faulty reasoning backing it up. I have seen it too many times to believe it to be a coincidence.
Our elite is not stupid. A lot of permanent Washington is, but the people pulling the strings are not. And it's going just like they planned. We now live in a corporate oligarchy.......
As someone who contemplates suicide everyday since being over-prescribed adderall so I would "shutup and code", your feelings of depression over reading this aren't unfounded
i hold a gun to my head once a week to feel like im in control over the amphetamines i've been prescribed to "be a good worker" at a private equity firm ruining our housing market. This world is dystopian.
From the look of the other comments here, help may be on the way. It is good to see that we, as citizens, are not alone. Depression is temporary. Despair is permanent. Don’t have despair.
“Having too much of any controlled substance floating around makes the DEA nervous, so it caps production” of Adderall.
How nervous is the DEA about all the Chinese fentanyl coming across our border, and why doesn’t the DEA pressure Joe Biden or Border Czar Kamala Harris to cap that activity?
The Chinese fentanyl distributors need a new marketing manager. Who needs illegal fentanyl coming across the border when you can instead open your very own online pharmacy and dispense it legally!
☝️💥 BOOM! 💥☝️
https://lailluminator.com/2023/04/14/mexican-cartel-targeted-by-biden-administration-in-multiple-fentanyl-indictments/
In answer to your question..
The two of them are making bucks why would they stop it?
Pharmaceutical amphetamines are at the root of school shootings. Add in "medical marijuana" which is a mystery synthetic drug sometimes causing psychosis. Plus testosterone now. The exposure numbers track with the shooting incidences, and unfortunately are likely to continue with the amount of poly-pharmacy. I routinely see boys under 10 yo on amphetamines.
Why is no one pointing the finger at the doctors? They could have prescribed medication along with therapy so the person with ADHD learned to also have self calming behavior to reduce panic attacks, etc. Therapy many not eliminate the drug but it could reduce the dosage and give the patient autonomy. An ADHD patient would be most inclined to be an addict, so why isn't the doctor proactive and protective of their patient?
Doctors have also created the antibiotic resistant bacteria by their overuse of antibiotics. When will the doctors be able to say no to patients' demand for pills and no to the perks offered by the pharm reps? Maybe doctors need to learn to say yes to better care for their patients.
The doctors have the education to understand the ramifications of inappropriate drug use and yet they continue to write prescriptions for the people who trust their education and experience. Yes, finger point at "big pharma" but take a long hard look at our personal physicians and demand better service rather than just long term prescriptions.
I'm not sure I would blame individual doctors as much as the medical schools which mis-educate them and the pernicious influence of big pharma.
Do you have evidence to corroborate your suggestion?
I am not a member of a medical profession, but I have for the past two and half decades had all of my medical needs handled by doctors at the highest-rated teaching hospital in the country. My experience has been with both new and experienced doctors, and I am more than willing to put my health in the hands of the fellows that that hospital attracts (These are doctors that are trying to make their names in that world and have a degree of motivation that can be in recession with the practitioner that has seen 35 years of medicine.)
Not once in those years have I sensed that I was seeing a pill pusher., In fact, I sensed a serious reluctance across my encounters to turn to a pharmaceutical solution particularly when there were other options available.
I am sensitive to the public perception that pills are the go-to remedy for today's doctors. I just haven't experienced it, nor do I get the sense from those whom I encounter that big phrama has them ensnared.
You are doing the smart thing by going to a teaching hospital. As a physician I recommend that to anyone with any remotely complicated condition. The best care is obtained at teaching hospitals.
Perhaps. But what of the ones dispensing Frankenstein operations masquerading as "gender affirming care?"
Even in July?? ;)
LOL =D well maybe not in July haha =D
And the reason teaching hospitals, aka academic hospitals, are the best is because doctors there are free to spend lots of time with you & doctors there will do what is best for patients (evidence-based medicine) because they do not have Big Business Financial Administrators cutting costs, which is the case elsewhere.
Most of the problems in the past 10 yrs stem from ObamaCare. Obama & Congressional Dems got payouts from Lobbyists in Insurance Corporations, Pharma & Hospital Chain CEOs, who wrote ObamaCare laws that took away physician autonomy & forced physicians to do whatever Corporations/WallSt want them to do. Cutting costs at patients' expense. Cutting doctors' salaries if they don't comply. To make money for Wall St CEOs.
"Do you have evidence to corroborate your suggestion?"
When you cite nothing but anecdotal evidence to the contrary?
Well, yes, in fact, I do.
"Recent CivicScience poll results reveal the picture of maintenance prescription drug use in the U.S. has shifted dramatically. The number of U.S. adults who report taking at least one prescription medication per day is now 70%, a 14 percentage-point increase from 2019 data.
Additionally, the percentage of people taking four or more prescription medications daily in the US has increased by six percentage points, from 18% to 24%."
That is a staggering amount of Americans taking prescription medicine. And, guess what? Some doctor is prescribing these drugs because we can't simply get them on our own.
The population is also aging, and aging means more maladies, and more maladies means more medications.
Agree, but a patient sees a doctor not a medical school or a pharma. Medical schools and pharma are dragons that cannot be slayed, but each person deals with a doctor, a small dragon version that is far more malleable. As an individual, we can demand better service from our doctors and to educate ourself to understand that every pill has a benefit and a harm.
We are in fundamental agreement. Doctor/patient has to be a partnership. With skeptical, educated patients who, after agreeing on an appropriate treatment, will follow it.
You left out the real power - the insurance company.
exactly
The Big Business Insurance Companies control doctors & medical offices. They routinely deny patients life-saving medications, labs & imaging. Insurance Companies seek to earn $$$ for Wall St Stockholders, by spending less & less on patients, by forcing doctors to do their bidding to make money for Wall St.
https://fixpriorauth.org/
As a physician, it’s not the docs fault. (For the most part!) It is Obamacare’s fault by linking doctor salaries and their jobs to Patient Satisfaction Scores. And Hospital /medical clinic chains, with Big Business Wall St CEOs forcing doctors to do whatever patients want. These Wall St Business people with zero medical knowledge tell doctors they will be fired if they spend too long with patients or if patients don’t get what they want, when they want it.
As usual, the finger can be pointed at billionaires running gigiantic hospital chains, Insurance corporations and Pharma
The opioid epidemic was started by the AMA's "healthcare quality" program, creating the "pain scale" with Purdue Pharma, and linking those scores to reimbursements. A clear ethical violation. I personally would say 'no' to patient's who did not need narcotics. It was very uncomfortable. Security had to escort me to my care several times because addicts would threaten me, and the administration would look the other way. Ultimately, it is my responsibility as a physician to draw the line. If physicians don't stand up, they shouldn't be surprised that the culture gets worse AND they feel awful. Also, alternatives for physicians need to be created. Where are the innovators for medical culture?
I'm a retired RN and I can validate what you report. The doctors I've seen and worked with are controlled by the administration. Several years ago, one of our doctors on the detox/rehab unit wanted to discharge a patient b/c she was completely detoxed, completely disinterested in rehab and was disruptive on the unit and demanding d/c. Admin said (essentially) her parents are paying for 30 days and she stays. One month later the doctor was fired.
Agreed, patient satisfaction scores link successful doctor visits to prescribing medications and doing whatever the patient wants.
There’s still doctors with wait and see wisdom. My 20-yr old son had always been on the cusp of an ADHD diagnosis thru grade school. Two pediatricians refused the ADHD label which would get him hooked on medications and instead diagnosed him with anxiety. He still struggles with motivation/ low dopamine and scrolls on his phone for hours. He’ wonders if Adderall is a solution but really, when he puts the phone down and goes for a run, it solves most of his issues.
"He wonders if Adderall is a solution but really, when he puts the phone down and goes for a run, it solves most of his issues."
That's the key! smartphones, social media & all these devices create numerous problems for everyone, particularly youth. Increased anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, low dopamine, worse ability to focus/pay attention, suicide, self harm, etc etc. The less time people spend with these devices, the better for their mental health. For me personally, 2 years ago I stopped using social media & my mental health has greatly improved.
The doctor is the first line, possibly only line of defense, that a patient has against big pharma, insurance, etc. Being the first line must be incredibly hard, but there is a need for doctors to nudge the status quo and advocate for and educate their patient.
I advocate for my pts & spend time educating them, b/c I love my pts & care about them. But at my own peril. I am scolded for doing so. by doing what's best for the pts, I run the risk of losing my job. I am told to spend less time with pts. By Administrators with no medical knowledge.
Most pts see a physician & think the physician has choices & autonomy. That used to be the case. But since ObamaCare, fewer physicians actually have the ability to decide things & do what's best for pts.
Obama & Congressional Dems got payouts from Lobbyists in Insurance Corporations, Pharma & Hospital Chain CEOs, who wrote ObamaCare laws that took away physician autonomy & forced physicians to do whatever Corporations/WallSt want them to do. Private practices were forcibly taken over by Big Hospital Chain monopolies. Cutting costs at patients' expense. Cutting doctors' salaries if they don't comply. To make money for Wall St CEOs.
ObamaCare created tons of bureaucratic red tape. Lots of nonsense administrative paperwork & computer work, which increases everyones' workload. Increases healthcare costs.
this website explains one (out of many!) of the problems: https://fixpriorauth.org/
It's often an insurance issue. Insurance will pay for doctor visits and prescriptions, but mental health visits are extremely limited in terms of coverage.
Agree. But there can be long term gains for insurance companies by providing the complete solution. Pharma along with therapy for behavior or coping changes. A panic attack not in the ER, lower drug intake, avoiding treatment for side effects of high and prolonged use of adderall are possible benefits of why insurance should be holistic. Providing better mental health care could prove to safe money long term.
I agree with you.
I wish Insurance Corporations would do things that make sense. They should cover mental health therapy. They should cover physical therapy. They should cover preventative health. This would save them costs in the long run.
But Insurance doesn't use common sense. Example: I advise pts to try physical therapy rather than narcotics or surgery, for their pain. Physical therapy is much safer, no side effects, beneficial, etc. Lower cost. But insurance charges co-pay for physical therapy (even when you've used up your deductible) which discourages people from trying PT. It seems insurance would rather pay for a $50,000 spine surgery which has major risks, long recovery, adverse effects & could make things worse! Or Insurance would rather have people be addicted to narcotic pain meds. It doesn't make sense.
I would consider how medicine has become less about individuals taking care of patients than employees pleasing the for-profit corporations that now own the doctors. You are literally expected to take care of a patient, prescribe, meet their unrealistic expectations from what they’ve seen from advertisers and the news media, and heard from the neighbors, fill out a never ending electronic medical record so that the corporation can bill it that’s highest tier and do all this in 10 minutes. A doctor literally has their salary and bonus is tied to patient satisfaction. It takes 30 seconds to write a prescription but at least ten minutes to explain to a patient why that’s not appropriate
Being in medicine is a grind and maybe a grind that continues to get harder, but there still is a responsibility and priority to the patient before the bonus. Isn't that our expectation from a financial advisor that it is about our financial health not the advisor's bonuses?
Do the advertisements contribute to the consumption of drugs, absolutely! It is mind boggling that a disease and the medicine can look so desirable in advertisements. But when a doctor complains that they only have 10 minutes to write a prescription, I wonder why every problem ends with a prescription. A doctor should reach for more than just the hammer in their tool kit.
Yes, I completely agree and it makes me so sad that is what we are slowly becoming. Doctors are almost by definition people pleasers but young ones don't realize it is the patients that are important, not the bosses who are now not even physicians themselves, just administrators (I call them handlers).
and its 10 minutes to talk to the patient, examine, determine diagnosis, write a treatment plan, explain it, chart, and bill. We are scheduled to see 5-6 patients per hour. Most stay late to finish charting. Ask any physician in the states, we are at breaking point. things will have to change soon. THis is bad medicine.
completely agree
most patients have no idea what is happening behind the scenes
https://fixpriorauth.org/
I do not think doctors receive education in med school regarding pharmaceuticals. If you have any long-term prescriptions, particularly if prescribed by multiple doctors you need a good relationship with a competent pharmacist. On another note I read yesterday that an antibiotic shortage is expected.
Since pharmaceuticals play such a huge role in today's medical practices, my hope would be that current doctors are more trained in this area. Hoping that all doctors are keeping up with the changes in pharma with medical journals, etc. since this field changes so rapidly. A doctor remaining static with their pharma knowledge is like a computer engineer using punch cards.
As for antibiotics, the potential shortage is once again a reflection on a poorly designed foreign policy with China that benefits the Biden family rather than endeavors to meet the needs of many American. https://asia.nikkei.com/static/vdata/infographics/chinavaccine-3/
While the profession may have an interest in this topic, it seems that it is one that you need to be comfortable with how YOUR doctor handles the subject.
I suggest reading up on a new medication that targets some condition you might have, and ask some questions. His response wlll tell you if he is up on the literature.
Absolutely agree. The Merck manual, a drug information book, is now available online at some public libraries which supports one becoming an informed consumer about drug benefits and harms. The website "The People's Pharmacy" by the Graedons also provides useful information.
Check this out:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19112717/#:~:text=Pharmacology%20is%20a%20core%20course,the%20treatment%20of%20human%20diseases.
I agree about the China sourcing too. I thought almost all drugs or components were sourced there.
As an adult who was diagnosed with ADHD in my mid 30s and took Vyvanse for several years, it boggles my mind that this stuff is given to kids. It was astonishingly effective at making me a reliably productive person, and I have a family to support so that’s really important. But what the hell does a 10 year-old need this for??
Pathologizing normal boy behavior. Similar parallel with pathologizing puberty re: gender dysphoria and the iatrogenic harm.
I wonder how much of this is driven by educators who want a classroom full of docile , controllable children.
It’s easily at least half, with the other half being parents who don’t know how to raise children or understand their real needs
My brother was very active in kindergarten & the school tried to push ADHD drugs on him. My parents said NO. the school worked with him instead and within a year, there were no issues. He became one of the top students in jr high, high school and college.
Also true!
Starts with treating boys as merely "damaged girls" and medicating them to be servile.
100,000% this
When I was a kid in the 60's my parents got called to the principal's office with me. Principal says, "your son is obstreperous". Long pause. My dad says, "yeah, we know. Is that it?"
And you had all those years of life experience learning to cope. These kids are getting no experience learning to cope with hardship.
The elephant in the room.
Also a large supply of antipsychotics prescribed to kids with dubious diagnoses of bipolar, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder.
When I was a kid, back in the dark ages, we didn't have an ADHD problem in schools. There was no such thing as ADHD. It may have existed but it hadn't been defined yet. Back then were had corporal punishment. If a kid left his or her seat and constantly disrupted the class, they got their butts beat. After that happened a couple of times nobody disrupted the class, a nonchemical cure. Who knew?
It seems to me doctors are too quick to turn to a chemical fix and parents are too quick to demand a chemical fix.
Could the mystery of ADHD be like the mysterious rise in autism?
Don't forget the feminization of schools and demonization of boys behaving like boys. I'm not talking about bullying - I'm talking about them needing to have lots of outdoor time to wrestle and work out aggression and behave like the little bear cubs nature made them to be.
Years back, when my kids were three girls aged 9, 7, and 5 and a boy, 1, we moved and started at a new elementary school with all the high test scores and all the recommendations. I was quickly dismayed to find that the only male adult in the building was the janitor. All the teachers and all the admins were women (both principal and vice principal had no children of their own, to boot), and the way they achieved those high test scores was eliminating recess in favor of more drill & kill worksheet time, and the way they managed their classrooms was to harshly punish any normal kid [boy] wiggles, even jiggling a knee under a desk, and to not allow the children to talk unless called upon. Each classroom had one tiny window which the teachers covered up to eliminate "distractions" (God forbid the kids be able to see the sky). They had to "earn" the freedom to converse at lunch, even. When I made inquiries about the lack of recess and the rest, I was told that PE time was enough physical movement, but even that was A. under the direction of more bossy women with no freedom of movement for the kids at all and B. often used as flex time to fit in things like fundraising kickoff assemblies. These midwits also condescendingly told me "we are professional educators" and "every day here is rigorous and we have high standards for behavior that informed parenting at home can help meet if the parents are committed enough." They were so poorly informed at their own jobs and how kids work that they had no idea they were driving 75 mph in the wrong direction down the highway.
My girls were miserable enough, but there was no way on EARTH I was going to subject my son to Jail For Children Especially Boys. We made it to Thanksgiving of that school year and I pulled them out for a transfer to a neighboring district which, while not perfect, wasn't quite as aggressively horrendous. But thousands upon thousands of kids are going to schools run by harridan women like this.
I had teachers tell me my son had "problems" in class (very common boy things of being restless, annoying, etc), they wanted me to take him in for a neuropsych eval which probably would have led to meds. LUCKY for me (and my son), I grew up in a large family and I have four older brothers. I couldn't see anything different from my son's behavior and the way my older brothers acted sometimes.
This article reassured me greatly:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/saving-normal/201610/dsm-5-diagnoses-in-kids-should-always-be-written-in-pencil
especially this:
"Children and adolescents vary dramatically in the way they develop and in the chronology of their developmental milestones. Individuality and immaturity should not be confused with disease."
and
"we should not medicalize difference".
The destruction began when Education became a required degree credential back in the mid-1960s. It's been downhill since then.
The solution might be as simple as requiring teachers of tomorrow to have degrees in the liberal arts, mathematics, or science; i..e., the subjects that they are going to teach.
Your post is a shocker Mr A. How your kids doing now especially your son. I have grandchildren in the same system it’s really difficult to watch what’s happening, I feel really sorry for my kids.
Did these NAZIs have swastikas tattooed on their chests and a picture in every calssroom of a wild eye fanatic with a weird short black mustache?
When I was in elementary school we had a 15 minute recess between the second and third periods. Then, after the fourth period, we had lunch for an hour that consisted of as much time as anyone wanted to eat followed by time on the playground. Many schools have eliminated these breaks that allowed active kids to run around the playground. I think this is one cause of more kids having trouble sitting still.
We had two periods, a recess, then two more; English, history, math, and science. Lunch was at noon. We then spent 1 pm to 4:30 pm playing sports...participation was not optional.
The postmodernists are right about one thing: so much of what we see is driven by our assumptions about the world.
If we believe children are selfish people who must be shaped and molded into adults... we see behavior problems and deal with then punitively.
If we believe children are little adults with rights... we see mental illness and deal with it pharmacologically.
Did the behavior change, or did our perceptive filter just change?
Note, I'm not saying that there hasn't been a huge increase in behavior problems in schools over the last 50 years, but that is likely the result of this perceptual shift not the cause of it.
Both drugs and punishment work to solve attention problems in children. However no one can make any money on the latter.
You overlook the consequence aspect. If a person cannot control their behavior or makes poor decisions, there are consequences. Suffering those consequences allows those capable of moderating their behavior or decision making to do so. In that sense, corporal punishment is a consequence.
corporal punishment for school behavior doesn't have the long term effect of a daily drug dose that goes on for years.
Me too. I'm from the "dark ages" and was diagnosed as hyperactive in the 70s. My mom said no when the doctor suggested Ritalin (I think that was the drug on offer then) and I thank her for that and so many other wise choices over the years.
Kay, on a personal note, I love cats too. When my wife and I moved back to the states we brought our 21 year old cat with us. She died a month away from her 22nd birthday. It was to us, like losing a child.
Oh wow! That's impressive. Even with all my experience and know how, I've never gotten a cat to live that long. They top out at 18-19 years with me. Well done!
I thought it was improper to diagnose a young child with schizophrenia.
I would add that ADHD meds are also a major driver of the groupthink we see on campus!
“Where are NPCs made? They are in large part the end-product of pharmaceuticals. When not paying attention to one’s teacher becomes a treatable medical condition, the only possible future classroom is one in which total obedience is the norm.”
My first things article here:
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/03/medicating-the-masses
And more here, including Walker Percy’s every prophecy about American life without souls but with lots of drugs:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/walker-percy-pharma-and-the-end-of
“No two people are the same; nitrogen atoms, however, are indistinguishable. Your Concerta pill doesn’t have a personality, or laugh lines, or pet peeves; only you do. Some might reject discussing the big picture around medicating the masses, arguing that such a perspective belittles the individual nature of medical practice, wherein a personalized decision is made by your doctor for your unique needs. Yet we are losing a great deal of perspective indeed if we consider mass ingestion of sub-atomically identical assembly-line pharmaceuticals to have anything of the personal about it. You might as well be drinking from the same drugged water supply. If you are prescribed the very mind-altering pill that all your neighbors are on, how long will it be before your minds are, like your factory-made medicine, indistinguishable? ”
Add to this medical decisions being made by health insurers, thereby relieving doctors of their duty of care.
When I was raising my sons in the 90’s and aught’s, the diagnosis of ADHD and prescribing of the drugs was off the charts. Teachers, in my view, wanted to take the life out of boys, and parents were going along with it. I observed pre-teen and teen boys who were lethargic and almost zombie like, and boys and girls who took the drugs ending up with stunted growth, later requiring growth hormones to correct. I appreciate that ADHD is a legitimate diagnosis when accompanied by a thorough analysis, and I’ve known adults whose life was changed for the better through an accurate diagnosis. But, what I saw too often when my kids were young was parental or teacher diagnosis and weak-willed pediatricians just going along. Now, with the advent of on-line medicine the gates to self-prescribing are almost non-existent. Very scary. And I can’t help but agree that there is a connection with all of this medication and the increasing rates of violence in our youth. If I can be forgiven for hearkening back to “the good old days” of my youth when the rowdy kids had to stand in the corner and learn to focus, maybe occasionally got the paddle (horrors), and worked their aggressions and hyperactivity out with a lot of good playground time and a game of bombardment, maybe we need to rethink some of the philosophy on discipline and play that has previously been discarded as harmful. I also think there is a connection between attention deficit and video games. Kids are handed electronic devices as young as two years old to keep them occupied. It just seems logical to me that the ability to focus will not develop when their “play” is all digital.
Of course, Carrie, in addition to amphetamines being at the root of school shootings - shouldn’t easy access to semi automatic weapons also be a part of the root structure?
Being in a hospital trauma ward looking after a torn apart eight year old because she happened to be in the way of an AR-15 round might entail more than dealing with the influence of mere pharmaceuticals. Especially with fellow students in the same emergency room dealing with the same wounds. If they aren’t already dead. A whacked out kid on stimulants is one thing. Put a weapon in his hands and that’s something else.
Gun violence is certainly an issue, but not one the politicians in my area have ever done much about. We have high gun violence in Chicago and the strictest gun laws. There are many causes to the black-on- black gun violence in my city. Caring for those affected by the violence in Chicago is tough. Amphetamines are not the main issue in this cohort.
Simple minded nonsense.
And does everyone know that Adderall is a Schedule II drug, the same as all opioids, which means it carries the same risk profile for addiction, abuse and misuse? Even though I spent my entire career in pharma R&D, I just learned this recently and it really just blew my mind. DEA gave it the same schedule as OPIOIDS...and that includes, fentanyl, btw. Let that sink in.
That makes so much sense 🤯
Boy a lot of this sounds like addicted people being really, really articulate about their need for a fix. And I absolutely think ADHD is real. And I also think it’s very, very easy to get diagnosed with ADHD.
Addiction is defined by obsessive, compulsory behavior *despite escalating negative consequences*. I would call this dependence, not addiction.
A distinction without a difference so long as the dependence is satisfied.
There's a big difference. I was severely injured about 20 years ago and took opiates for about two months. I took them as prescribed and didn't abuse them, but after two months I was dependent on them, and felt like crap when I didn't take them, but not an "addict." The doctor gradually reduced the dosage, and I went back to normal life without them. "Dependence" means you have withdrawal symptoms if the drugs aren't tapered, "addiction" means you do ANYTHING to get more of the drugs even if those things are dangerous.
I am not diminishing your situation. But doesn't that mean it is a matter of degree? If you were not aware of the possibility of addiction, or, if your doctor was not responsive, could you have slipped into it? I know several.educated, well-heeled people who started out with legitimate pain meds and now use street drugs. It started with oxygen and then they got cut off or it wasn't doing the trick anymore. Heroin and then fentanyl are the last steps. I think there is a genetic component to addiction too.
Yeah. I think the critical piece is that a lot of doctors simply cut off patients and then they go into withdrawals and seek a way to avoid that. I was really fortunate in that my doctor knew the importance of tapering off the drugs when they were no longer needed so that I didn't have any desire to seek out more drugs.
Sounds like you had sense and a good doc. I fear few are so blessed. Another factor now is the role of insurance. Most doctors can't or won't buck them so it is health services by algorithm essentially. I have understood that for years now. But an article I read recently made me realize that health services backed by health insurance are not looking at long-term outcomes because insurance companies only have a contractual obligation for so long as they insure an individual. It would be an unsound business practice to put the long-term well-being of the insured abo e the company's bottom line.
"And I absolutely think ADHD is real. And I also think it’s very, very easy to get diagnosed with ADHD."
For boys, yes, but not necessarily for girls or women. ADHD in females doesn't typically look like ADHD in males, so it never occurs to some people that a girl or woman might need to be tested for it. For example, I have a very hard time sitting in one place and listening to someone unless I have something to do with my hands. In high school and college, I used to start every semester promising myself that I wasn't going to doodle on my notebooks this time, and would get to the point where it was an irresistible urge by the second class. But that's small-scale hyperactivity. It's not disruptive, so it goes unnoticed, just like perpetual daydreaming or writing stories in your notebook when you're supposed to be taking notes.
One of the most common ways for adult women to get diagnosed with ADHD is for their children to get diagnosed with ADHD. "That's ADHD?! No way. I do that all the time and I've done it my whole life." I was unlucky enough to reach adulthood without being diagnosed, but lucky enough that someone finally suggested testing when I was 22.
It's no surprise that so many people like amphetamines when they are living in a society that asks them to pay attention to boring office work for hours a day without any exercise, with the spare time spent scrolling a phone. Give most people a little Adderall and they'll get more productive, feel like they have "better executive function", maybe with a bump in mood, etc. We need to be honest about whether psychiatrists are treating illnesses or doing something more like "cosmetic psychiatry" focused on enhancement. Maybe giving tons of people Adderall isn't so bad, or maybe it is, but we should at least be clear about what we're doing and stop calling everything ADHD.
I’ve long believed that I’d be just fine if I lived in, like, a pioneer family in the mid 1800s (as long as I survived the gauntlet of childhood infectious disease). But no, I sit at a computer all day because that is the most remunerative use of my brain in this day and age. Vyvanse makes that a hell of a lot easier to manage.
No amount of wealth, power, or anything else could possibly make me want to live in the 1800s as opposed to today. But I see what you’re getting at.
Mary Harrington has taken to calling the birth control pill the "first transhumanist step", in that it, for the first time, treated normal human function as something to be cured. Psychotropic drugs are in the same vein. If you need a bunch of drugs just to make your brain work and a bunch of other drugs just to make your body work... at what point do you start to shed your humanity?
I’m not so sure that’s true... You could say that caffeine and nicotine turned normal human tiredness and inattentiveness into something to be cured too. It’s all on a spectrum. Sure it’s possible to go too far, but our bodies are machines made out of meat and sometimes we need help to keep it together. Same applies to our brains. For many people psychiatric medications really are lifesaving. But yes, there are huge problems with over prescribing, misprescribing, and our culture’s attitude to all this stuff. And when suddenly everyone needs it, that’s probably the sign of a problem.
I'm not saying psychiatric drugs should be done away with. After all, the brain is an organ and it can have problems just like the pancreas or heart can. We prescribe insulin and statins for the latter and aderall for the former.
However there is a far greater question of our humanity when you start altering biochemical or even physical attributes (ala Musk's Neuralink dreams) of the brain. As such, I think psychotropic drugs should be handled with greater care becuase they carry greater risk. Your pancreas doesn't convince your brain to OD on insulin so the pancreas can get high.
Replace Adderall with cocaine and you’ll describe my work day in the mid eighties. Never felt more productive in my life. Not endorsing it, mind you - but in the end, what’s the difference?
‘Cosmetic psychiatry’ indeed..
Thirty or forty years ago many people needed a little pick-me-up to deal with their dreary jobs. They often took a quick break with their co-workers and ingested their mild stimulant before getting back to work. Smoking helped people's moods. Then the stimulant was vilified and its use declined. Now many people buy expensive stimulants and antidepressants prescribed by their doctors. I wonder what fraction of the people who today are prescribed Adderall or Ritalin or SSRIs would in previous decades have become social or regular smokers. I also wonder whether nicotine has larger or smaller side effects than these other drugs.
I remember being in grad school in the early 90s when the anti-depressants craze started. I was having trouble adjusting to a new environment, and didn't particularly enjoy my part-time editing job, so I called a hotline about depression and was offered a prescription for anti-depressants. I turned it down.
Meanwhile, just about everyone in the program was on anti-depressants, walking around with fake smiles on their faces. No wonder I experienced difficulty connecting to these people. Now those are the Progressives who buy the transgender, race, and other bullshits on the market. The sheep my mother warned me not to become, hence my saying NO to anti-depressants.
For a time in New York, I had a GP who was a trans man. I was uncomfortable around this person, but would remind myself of my open mindedness (to a fault, actually), but this person creeped me out. Once I went in for extreme fatigue, and the transman doctor told me I needed to be on anti-depressants. I said, "I'm tired, not depressed. These aren't the same thing." The transman doctor fought with me about it. I didn't know what I was talking about, the transman said. My tiredness was caused by depression. This transman shoved the prescription at me.
I never filled it. And never went back to the transman doctor. A few weeks later, another doctor diagnosed me with severe anemia and gave me a prescription for iron pills.
As a culture, we've got to grow a pair and face up to the fact that life is hard, and we don't get stronger by hiding behind prescriptions. Every minor discomfort has been turned into something you take your kid to the doctor for. Then the doctor says your kid is trans...
JUST SAY NO.
Agreed! I can’t tell you how many prescriptions I have refused to fill over the years - except for antibiotics for infections. It’s nuts how readily drugs are given out by doctors. That said, a few doctors have told me that folks seemed ‘disappointed’ when they aren’t given a prescription when they leave the doctor’s office. Everyone is looking for a magic bullet but perhaps they should be looking in a mirror instead and do some soul searching.
I have read Substack comments from doctors saying there is now SO much pressure in corporate medicine to goad patients into LeAvE uS a FiVe StAR rEviEw!!’ that doctors will do most anything for patients to leave happy which is usually clutching a prescription which won’t technically hurt them at least not short term but that they don’t need. I know I’ve been puzzled a bit when I have doctors immediately jump to writing a prescription when I want to talk to them about the pros and cons and make a decision together. It seems so reflexive now.
I listened to Bari interview Dr. Casey Means and she said "quality care" metrics in Obamacare include whether a prescription was given. Physician's get higher quality scores if they write prescriptions... whether or not the drug is in the best interest of the patient. They are trapped in the pharmaceutical and insurance scam just as much as the patient.
There is also pressure to get you in and out so those discussions impede that.
I spend a lot of time with my patients because I enjoy it but get in trouble for it! We are not allowed to spend time with patients :(
I do not know how you are supposed to get to know your patient if you don't have meaningful interaction. Bedside manner used to be considered a good thing.
As a doctor, it is Obamacare’s fault for creating the Patient Satisfaction Score system which forces drs to do whatever patients want or else they can lose their jobs. And the hospital chains that push them to get the reviews or else lose your job
That’s horrible.
A rising "disappointed without a prescription" problem may be cultural. My parents lived in Mexico for many years. In the culture of rural Mexico, it was expected that the doctor would give you 3 prescriptions regardless of what you went in for. Their neighbors would refuse to go to doctors that didn't abide by this informal rule. They cold be "prescriptions" for Vitamin C, but you'd better get 3 prescriptions.
Considering our changing demographics over the last 60 years, this behavior appearing here in America is not surprising.
And how many infections did you take antibiotics for that were actually viral? Both bronchitis and sinusitis are 90% viral. "Disappointed" is being kind.
The sad thing is it doesn't matter whether you filled them or not. They are STILL a permanent part of your medical record.
I’m sorry. That person was clearly mentally ill. Why would you use as a medical professional someone who is prima facie mentally ill.
Unfortunately with the way medical schools are going, this may become more and more common.
Wow. Thanks for telling your story. Iron pills. Just wow.
“There’s more to the story than the criticism that ADHD pathologizes normal childhood behavior.”
There certainly is, but that criticism is a large part of the story. I taught high school for five years. My wife is entering her 13th. There are kids that most certainly have ADHD - but they are few, far between, and generally easily recognizable. Or at least they were when I was teaching. I quit seven years ago, just before the social media kids got to high school. Snapchat was still in its infancy, and tik tok wasn’t a thing.
That said, I generally observed that a lot of hyperactive kids either needed more challenge or less challenge in school. I think a lot of the rise since then is because their parents don’t pay enough attention to them. I’m guilty of looking at my phone at home too, and my young kids will try to do things to get my attention when it happens.
All of which is to say that it’s a multi-faceted problem, but over-diagnosis is definitely one of the facets.
There is also a lack of sleep in many students. They get up early sometimes before 6 for daycare so their parents can commute to work then are picked up 12 or 13 hours later. Then there is dinner, homework, wind down time, and the 9-10 hours sleep for a growing child is not happening. The child is exhausted, unable to concentrate, irritable, etc. and so they are diagnosised with ADHD.
It’s the school setup which isn’t good for kids or really parents but great for teachers. And isn’t that the important thing?
Little kids should go to school the earliest. 7:30
Then middle schoolers. 8 or 8:30
Then high school. High school should not start until 9 or 9:0 simply because of their brains.
In reality, those starting t8mes are backwards.
Agree. England's school survey also noted that the time between 3-6 , when school is out and before parents arrive home, is a time when many teens get in trouble. It would be interesting to see what would happen at a middle or high school that offered a later start which fits the bio clock and kept the students later including with programs immediately after school until 6.
Teachers wouldn’t like it
It would definitely be an innovative charter school with teachers who believe that the admin and the students will contribute to a better classroom experience.
My wife’s district does this. Public school district in Colorado. High school goes 9:15-4:15. It’s a nice schedule, but they don’t seem to tout any performance difference since they changed a few years ago. Of course, 2 years of Covid school makes any analysis in that regard pretty much impossible.
It's not because of "teachers". It's because of after school activities in sports that middle school and high school kids participate in, that a later start would result in those activities spanning even later into the evenings. The sleep science does support a later start but then we'd be pushing them much later into the day with activities and homework and home time etc. Which means they would go to sleep even later, and might not benefit much from the later start.
Not everything is a nail.
Oooh. Because after school activities like sports couldn’t possibly be done in the mornings. Those committed enough to do sports would most likely welcome that.
And homework? What century do you live in. Kids don’t get homework anymore. And just how early to you think high schoolers go to bed anyway?
But but but we can’t do this because……..
I'm not in charge of this or employed by any school district, but I'm pointing out why this initiative hasn't moved forward at least in the district my son attended when it was discussed - and has been raised in other districts around this proposal.
Your otherwise sour little response notwithstanding because yeah, it doesn't involve teacher bashing, and this being TFP's comment board, we all know every article is really just a starting point to bash libs, woke, teachers and Democrats : P
“ It turns out people with ADHD have low levels of dopamine...”How exactly did they measures dopamine levels? This chemical imbalance theory is questionable at best for all psychiatric labels.
Psych world and big pharma tried this myth successfully for years with “ serotonin imbalance” for “ Depression”. The myth was recently debunked. It was NEVER shown to be a serotonin imbalance! It’s probably the same with this dopamine theory in ADHD. Even if one isolated study did expensive testing on a small select group of “ ADHD” people( data that needs to be made public) .there is clearly no objective testing performed on the masses carrying this label- diagnosis. Psychiatry is the least scientific field of medicine. There are no lab tests, imaging studies , or biopsies to substantiate any of their labels . These so called diagnoses often do way more harm than good ,all based on subjective “ criteria” in the ever growing DSM .” Psychiatry is to medicine what astrology is to astronomy”( not my own but I agree)
About 26 years ago I started reading up on the ADHD bandwagon. The so-called "research" both then and now was a joke. To sum it up, one would give the ADHD diagnosed test subjects a drug and declare the changes in behavior and feelings proof the drug was fixing a neurotransmitter problem. The obvious problem with that is everyone has changes in behavior when on the drugs.
Except when this method actually does facilitate a diagnosis. Parkinson's disease is often diagnosed this way. If one responds to, for example, Levadopa, it's a likely confirmation given Parkinsons has some 25ish symptoms.
I was talking about research, not diagnosis.
"Anatomy of an Epidemic" talks about this at great length. Very interesting book.
Sadly, I connect our 31 year old son’s addiction to meth and other party drugs to his taking increasing doses of Adderall at 13. We were getting our 13 year old high legally. I caution parents from putting their children on this medication.
Society is doing so much better since it turned away from God and the church, and people found their true meaning from all these pharmaceuticals that enhance their lives. 🤔
You’ve clearly never read your Bible. Do you not remember this famous parable?
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Here, have a Valium.”
You’re probably using ESV or King James’ adulterated translation, this is straight from the BPV (big pharma version):
https://gaty.substack.com/p/the-good-portion-a-warning-to-parents
What in the world? Faithful Catholic mom of 6, finding out I have ADHD was an answer to prayer, seeing emotional regulation fail and then succeed after medication in so many of my family members is also a God send. How are so many people so ignorant that they are calling using ADHD medication a moral failing?
Corrupt big pharma & a captured industrial medical complex continues to be an existential threat to our nation. That is all.
These drugs should all be the last resort. In some cases they can be beneficial, but dangerous in many others. And this is true not just of drugs such as Adderall but of all prescription drugs. Truly, our medical industry has become entirely too reliant on chemicals. Aided and abetted by an indolent and impatient populace that demands instant gratification and won't take any measures for self improvement. Note the recent craze for diabetes drugs by people unwilling to undertake the harder steps of diet and exercise. Moreover, please don't get me started on the insanity of allowing pharmaceutical advertising.......
If you do get started, please consider the role of pharma advertising on the media. As in would media ever be willing to bite the hand that feeds it?
as an australian I cant believe the direct to consumer advertising allowed for pharmaceuticals in USA. However these days with influencers on social media etc even Australians are getting up there with similar rates of use of neuropsych drugs.
That is a depressing article. I had to take 3 Prozacs and a couple shots of tequila just to pull me out of a severe funk.
A bazillion word essay on the fact people REALLY like and get addicted to speed?!
Dude, it’s like glasses! Glasses that get you high…
This is the hard, nuanced truth: The pharmaceutical industry does great things; the pharmaceutical industry does terrible things. They are full of people who want to do good; they are full of people who want to make huge profits without regard to societal costs.
We were all sold a story (or many stories):
"Your depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. Take this pill"
"Your kid can't sit still because of a brain chemistry issue. Give him this pill"
"Your poor eating habits can be cured by these injections you take for the rest of your life"
"Your reflux can be cured by taking these little pills for the rest of your life. Just small side-effects (like permanent kidney and liver damage)"
and never forget:
"Just take this injection and you'll never have to worry about contracting or spreading COVID-19"
You forgot "All your problems are caused by the parts between your legs. Take these pills every day for the rest of your life."
Your comment about the nuances is correct. I have been an anaesthetist for over thirty years. The basic “recipe” for a general anaesthetic has remained the same but I am amazed by how the pharmaceutical industry has refined and perfected the drugs we use. We have significantly improved side effect profiles, dramatically shortened durations of action and some completely new drugs. It is difficult to explain to a layman how fantastic the drugs have become; we need something and they get to work to provide it. I tell the medical students that we love “Big Pharma” in the operating theatre! 😂
Oh, I know. I work with life sciences companies every day. They are doing amazing work. One of our customers recently developed a gene therapy that cures a certain type of genetic blindness. Thinking about kids who have been blind their whole life being able to see makes me tear up when I think about it.
That's why it's so sad the same industry that produces these amazing cures does terrible things to people and societies as well.
When my youngest son, now 17, was in kindergarten at our Catholic grammar school (which has served us well in the long-run, this is just an incident), his teachers asked us to make an appointment with our pediatrician because "something is wrong with him, he can't sit still and his behavior is inappropriate". He was a 5 year old boy, pro-social, very verbal, and liked to be up and about. Our pediatrician said "I've seen ADHD and your son does NOT have it, I don't know what they are talking about, he's 5". The teachers and principal still insisted we get a psycho-educational evaluation, just to be sure, which of course was not covered by insurance and because it was not a public school, not paid for by the Dept. of Ed. We went ahead with it anyway, mainly to prove them wrong and because, well, you can never know too much about your kid. The doctor was amazing. He did a whole battery of tests, including Stanford-Binet, EQ, IQ, executive function, etc. The evaluation came back in a lovely, 20 page binder. Off the charts for verbal and memory, pro-social, NO ADHD. He just needs to not have to sit still like a little girl for 8 hours a day and be told to sit out at recess for acting restless when recess is EXACTLY what he needed. So lo and behold, we present this to the school and they say, well, good, we'll keep this file confidential and if any further problems arise we'll reevaluate. Never mentioned again. His first grade teacher loved him, was young and had little brothers, totally "got" boys. But there were several other kids in each grade who were advised to put their kids on meds. The office of the doctor who evaluated our son had a waiting room full of little boys in the school uniform of our school. So, a matriarchy of early childhood teachers who don't want kids who can't sit still, leads to an over-diagnosis of a "problem" when what it is in many instances is just "5 year old boy syndrome" that they outgrow. I'm just glad we were able to prove them wrong.
On another note, this same son was a counselor at his camp last summer, and there was a kid there who was on Ritalin during the day, and then had to take melatonin to help him sleep. 10 years old and in the pharmaceutical loop already. Very sad. You wonder, is it parents who just can't be bothered figuring out how to keep their kids on track, so just drug them to make life easier, or is there really a higher incidence of ADHD?
Thank you for having faith in your child and in your instincts. You are so very right that expecting children to sit for hours on end then deny them 'recess' is cruel. What I find so interesting is society wants to keep kids from movement then implores adults to keep moving for their health.....most adults are too sedentary for their well-being. Well, maybe kids are too!
In much of Europe at least for now they still believe that play is the work of children and don’t start them on any academic type learning until 6 or 7. No wonder they outscore us on all the metrics.
Boys are often singled out as "problems" because their development doesn't match a curriculum which emphasizes fine motor movement. Most boys have greater gross motor skills than fine motor skills when they are 4 or 5 years old . It is not a matter of intelligence that makes all the sitting, cutting, formal reading hard and frustrating, but a matter of development.
A year can make a huge difference in a child's ability to master the fine motor skills needed for formal reading training, cutting, and sitting. The hard thing is that the year of frustration can lead to a diagnosis or the child learns that they are bad or dumb. This leads to a child being labeled by teachers or the child developing the class clown skills, the moan when any paper is put in front of them, etc. which makes school hard for them.
When kindergarten and preschool went from emphasize on socialization to strong academics like introducing a formal reading program, is that when ADHD become more frequently diagnosed for 5 year old boys?
Add to that all those methods of teaching reading that did not.
Went to urban public school in the late 70’s and 80’s. One teacher 30 plus kids. We had so much freedom to move around the classroom. Teachers sat at their desks and we were pretty much self sufficient. We knew our tasks and except for some short times for lessons, we never sat still except to work on our assignments at our own pace. Fast forward to my children’s classroom. Kindergarten is a whole day and they are constantly sitting on mats and having to sit still while the teacher is explaining, talking, reading to them. Basically helicoptering them as a group. It is a much more collective experience.
I had a similar incident with my 6 year old and Mrs. Dupre. Your analysis is spot on.
So many of these comments sharing personal experiences begin with some variant of “the teacher/school reported a problem”. Shouldn’t that tell us something?
What?
Schools prefer classrooms full of docile, controllable children.
Schools prefer children who know how to move as a group, keep up and can move as a collective. It’s part of integrating into society.
Collective being the operative word.
If schools want children who can keep up, perhaps they should try teaching them to read. But they prefer to virtue-signal by talking to 6 yr olds about gender identity.
I agree.
The school tried to push Adhd drugs on my brother when he was in kindergarten. My parents said NO. Within a year, there were no issues. He became a top student in jr high, high school and college
My nephew (now 32) was misdiagnosed with ADD in first grade, had to repeat a year. Then they moved to FL (from VA), got a new neurologist who said that he had a minor neurological electrical signal imbalance that caused him to zone out on occasion and the Ritalin was making it worse. Meanwhile his confidence in school plummeted. He’s fine now but it was a tough journey.