Faking ADHD – Time Magazine

[cakat01]

Faking It: Why Nearly 1 in 4 Adults Who Seek Treatment Don’t Have ADHD

I wonder how this article will affect how people respond when you tell others that you have ADHD as an adult. So many people already think this is a bogus diagnosis. Not everyone I meet would think that I have it, but that is mainly because they don’t know what it’s like.

I doubt most people are going to the doctor to get these drugs. The cost of seeing the doctor and drugs is quite high. I can’t imagine that 1 in 4 adults is faking symptoms.

I’m still trying to figure out how to afford the medication since I don’t have health insurance. After having used stimulants for a month, I can’t imagine going back to the fogginess and forgetfulness.

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[Anonymous]

Just remember the demographics that this magazine targets. What there agendas might be and why. If you have been diagnosed with ADHD and your symptoms are managed because of medication and systems in place created by those that are truly unbiased and you are a better person to yourself, family and society as a whole ignore the article per se. Better yet maybe we should ask the site developers and leaders here for some help and guidance in educating the people of this publication about ADHD…..

For the record, in my honest opinion the persons that fit the demographics/readers of the publication of Times magazine are afraid of what a better planet we could create then they have. They are also very nervous in loosing more sheep that follow in there footsteps in the paths of tethered lives and enjoy suppressing the sometimes weak for there own gains. In other words they are afraid of competition from the forward thinking minds of ADDers as there days of wreck-less abandon of old world ways of suppression through the art of control and manipulation they hold onto may be coming to an end…

Interesting… think of the large block of persons (millions) the politicians of the USA could control and suppress by manipulating the cost and manner to which ADHD treatments (including medication) are afforded to Americans that are in need of it.

Education is our best defense and offense. We need to support totallyadd.com and inform as many persons as we possibly can using informational mediums such as the internet and etc to invoke the changes we have worked so hard to obtain and continue to move forward in creating a more equal playing field for all not just the select few….

WOW this sounded like a speech …… “BILL” the floor is all yours!!!

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[Bill]

Interesting too that the article didn’t point to the fact that ADHD is genetic. To get a diagnosis, there needs to be a family history.

It was an interesting article. I remembered filling out the questionnaires, trying hard NOT to be diagnosed as ADHD. Oh, the irony!

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[Wgreen]

I wonder what percentage of people who walk into a doctor’s office claiming to be in pain are really just looking for a prescription for Oxycontin? I wonder how many people who claim to have injuries are really just trying to get disability benefits or win a tidy settlement from a lawsuit?

I’m sure there’s some truth in this article, but so what? That some people lie to doctors to get meds or benefits shouldn’t be news to anybody. And it certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t others who really do suffer from legitimate diseases or disabilities.

You’d think people would be smart enough to understand this. Wouldn’t you?

I still maintain the highest hurdle ADDers have to overcome is the notion, shared by many, that everybody—if they try— is able to control his/her behavior and that therefore ADD/ADHD is really a character flaw, not a neurological disorder. The very idea that all people are not fully in control of their wills is, to those people, damnable heresy.

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[Bill]

Wgreen,

I couldn’t agree with you more. Here is the response of someone in a different forum:

I consider medicalizing childhood behaviors as a disorder and drugging these children to be a crime against their basic humanity… The news item below concerns people (read adults) who fake – “ADHD” Some do it for drugs and I believe others “fake it” because an ADD/ADHD diagnosis is a “Get Out of Taking Responsibility for Your Life”-Card.

I am posting this as a discussion — What do you think?

[name removed to preserve privacy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42710178/ns/health-addictions/

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[Wgreen]

Well, there ya go.

Still, I think we can all agree that kids should be competently diagnosed before taking a medication for anything—and then carefully monitored.

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[Anonymous]

wgreen

I agree and that goes for adults to….

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[Anonymous]

I what I find most disconcerting is the assumption that it is not. These pills cannot be bought in bulk, folks and certainly cannot be dispensed for periods longer than 1 month. To assume that one can just blythely take these without the cooperation of a doctor is simply ridiculous.

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[Wgreen]

GG, the thesis of the Time piece is that people are lying to doctors in order to get ADD/ADHD meds that will help them perform better in class or the office. While it doesn’t seem reasonable or cost-efficient to administer polygraph tests to every patient who walks through the door, researchers are suggesting there may be techniques clinicians can employ to help weed out the fakers.

We know that many doctors are disposed to prescribe what patients want (thus all those pharma ads on TV, at least in the U.S.). So all clinicians may not have clean hands. But the main purpose of the research cited in the piece was to reveal the scope of a fraud being perpetrated by PATIENTS.

Unfortunately, the article is sure to give additional ammunition to all those out there who believe the disorder we call ADD/ADHD does not really exist.

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[Bill]

About abuse, it’s black humour, but I laughed when I read this exchange: http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=104918

Q: Can someone please help me out? I just got a bunch of Concerta and I’m sick of chewing it up. I heard you can snort it but I’m having trouble crushing it up. Is there anything I need to do to get off the time release layers. Or any other way besides chewing it. Thanks

A: Concerta is really hard to abuse. Your much better off just getting something else.

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[sdwa]

What is there for anyone to gain in denying ADD exists – ?

Aren’t there people around who still say autistic kids are just “bratty” and “spoiled”?

You know that expression “Can 10 million people be wrong?” – I think the answer is Yes. They can be. And frequently are.

As for the topic of Free Will, I don’t think the concept is at odds with ADD at all – at least not any more than any other disability. It’s not like anyone expects a blind person to get over their willful refusal to see. But a blind person would still be able to make choices – such as the choice to learn how to get around town without getting lost. The idea that we can’t change the way our brains work at will – just as we can’t change the color of our eyes – should not be that heretical. What we can change is our willingness to find compensatory strategies – which I think most ADDers are dying to find, would love to find. Because having a life that doesn’t work really isn’t that much fun.

What about the fact that Concerta – a stimulant – relaxes me? It calms me down, and helps me sleep!

>

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[Anonymous]

A bit of a different take – While that say one out of four people may be faking ADD, they’re implying (perhaps unintentionally) that three out of four are NOT faking it. I also like the retort from a Dr. Charles Parker in the comments section. Here’s what he says:

Dr Charles Parker

Meredith,

My own experience with treatment and diagnosis of adult ADHD is the fact that the current criteria are nothing less than Paleolithic when stacked up against contemporary neuroscience and brain imaging studies. Having used SPECT imaging since 2003 I can report to you and your readers that the “appearances” of Hyperactive, Inattentive and Combined just don’t cut the mustard, and pervasively miss the point.

The inevitable conclusion: If using inadequate measurements the investigators will find imprecise, inaccurate findings. My own take on these matters: in just few years we will convert to functional brain measurements, usable in the office, that more precisely target specific executive dysfunction findings – and abandon the outdated superficial labels currently in place.

For more specifics I write about all of these issues regularly over at CorePsych Blog: http://www.corepsychblog.com/

For a Complimentary Special Report on these matters:

http://www.corepsychblog.com/adhdbook

Thanks,

cp

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[Wgreen]

ADDers have trouble focusing. Doctors have problems writing. I THINK I understand what he’s trying to say. If I do, it’s good news.

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[Geoduck]

I’ve posted this in other forums on this site, but my first effort to work with my ADD was met with an unwillingness on the psychiatrist’s part to diagnose. I wasn’t looking for drugs, but maybe some help in working through the disorder. There have been and always will be people, even learned people who are distrustful of mental disabilities and disorders. One of the videos on this site points it out. Dr. J saying something to the effect that people aren’t willing to deal with the fact that the brain can be hurt.

There also is an element of society that believes if someone has a mental disorder, it is because they lack the willpower to improve themselves. Go to your bookstore and look in the “self-help/improvement” section and you will see many books on how to will your depression, ADD, or other disorder away. This just goes to show that those of us who do suffer from mental disorders are seen as lazy, ignorant, idiots, who just need to suck it up.

I’ve seen this with other issues. Sexual abuse victims were subject to being called liars at one point, right when people were just feeling safe enough to come forward with their stories. This just goes to show that when people are uncomfortable with whatever is “wrong” with you, they would rather just disbelieve you or flat out blame you. It’s also why subjects such as domestic abuse remains hidden by family members. It’s why mentally ill people were locked up in institutions for hundreds of years, or hidden in back of the house, instead of being dealt with, and truly helped. We still see this in the poorer part of the US. I myself have two close family members that have severe disabilities, that are not addressed, just denied by their parents. People would rather not face the problem, then to do the work necessary to deal with an issue. What they don’t realize is that doing the work is much easier.

All this said. Time Magazine is not for the intelligent of our society. It’s a magazine that is what I call “fluff news.” It’s not in-depth, well researched reporting, and it doesn’t surprise me they would publish something like this. What gets me is that they produce something called “Time for Kids” and peddle it to the schools. Now my kids are forced to read the juvenile version (because I guess they think they are publishing an adult version of this in the first place) of this rag.

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[Anonymous]

As a nurse and parent – like evey other over used and misunderstood condition or tratment – the media can report whatever it wants – and there seems to be a market for it. I have marveled at my own brain chemistry of ADD that – I am taking a stimulant – and feel calmer and can think more clearly for the first time in years. WERID !! I guess I’ll never have the “benefit” of getting addicted to a “high”. I am just not built for it biochemically.

But like any other legititmate treatment and prescriptions – there are both lay-people who will seek to abuse. . . and health care professionals who may be diagnosing and prescribing treatment that it out of their scope of practice and understanding.

So – like eveyother condition. . .especially those associated with mental health concerns – those of us “affected” need to “effect” those around us by being very well versed to combat this fluff science being reported as fact.

Stimulents have been successfully used to treat ADHD (or it’s previous names) since the 1930’s. It is safe, and the (as of yet) only consistant research proven treatement. And the consequences of untreated ADHD are horrific. The prisons are full of people who have not had the benefit of knowledge and treatment..

Just because others may choose to divert and abuse stimulents should not more be a barrier to legitimate treatment for ADHD than the prescription of medications to treat chronic pain just because there is a group of people who may use them for other purposes.

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[Author]

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