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Dr. Schiffer’s patient was thirty-seven when he laughed his way through his best friend’s funeral. At that time he had been confined to a wheelchair for five years by multiple sclerosis. He had been laughing his way through virtually everything for nearly two. Not because he was amused, but because he could not control his laughter. He suffered as many as eighty outbursts of raucous laughter a day, yet his mental state was profoundly depressed.
This patient suffered from a condition known variously as emotional lability, pseudobulbar affect, emotional incontinence, and pathological laughing and weeping. While little known outside the neurological community, it’s surprisingly common, affecting as many as 10% of patients with multiple sclerosis, 15% of patients with Alzheimer’s, and up to 49% of patients with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). It can also affect patients with stroke, head trauma, epilepsy, or almost any other condition that seriously affects the neurological system. It is characterized by uncontrollable laughing or crying without underlying feelings of amusement or sadness.
The condition can be socially crippling for the people who suffer from it. Many retreat from contact with a society that will not understand their apparent emotional outbursts. Even families and caregivers can have a difficult time dealing when their loved one cries and/or laughs continuously or inappropriately.
At the time this particular patient came to the Center for Brain Research in 1985, there was no treatment for pathological laughing and weeping. Dr. Schiffer diagnosed his patient as profoundly depressed and prescribed an antidepressant – amitriptyline. To everyone’s surprise the uncontrollable laughter stopped within a day of the first dose, leaving the patient able to reliably control his emotional expression for the first time in years. Surprised and excited, Dr. Schiffer and his colleagues, Drs. Herndon and Rudick made a small trial of twelve similarly afflicted patients. Eight responded positively to treatment with amitriptyline. Other trials showed another antidepressant – levadopa – had similar positive effects. Oddly, in both cases, the drugs acted within 48 hours of the initial dosing – far faster than their antidepressant effects, which can take up to two weeks to show – and with smaller dosages than the therapeutic levels for depression. Also oddly, the worst afflicted patients were the most likely to improve with treatment, while those with less frequent or spectacular outbursts were more likely to not be helped at all.
In the twenty-five twenty years since, there have been a few studies of pathological laughing and weeping, but its mode of action is still largely a mystery. One of its alternate names – pseudobulbar affect, arises from the apparent involvement of the brainstem, while the possible involvement of an entirely different area of the brain led to the testing of dextromethorphan, a common cold medication, as a possible treatment. A new formulation, called Neurodex by its manufacturer, Avanir, is currently being tested for approval by the FDA. If approved, it would be the first drug specifically for pathological laughing and weeping.
In an unusual twist, there have been some protests over the new drug, despite the promising results of the first round of tests. A group called the Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP) claims that Avenir is inventing or exaggerating the syndrome in order to sell patients the new drug. The intended patient base for Neurodex, AHRP says, is already dealing with major neurological disease. Do they really need to be trying to treat a physically benign syndrome that is only a minor symptom of the real problem?
Yet for many patients, pathological laughing and weeping is far from benign. It may not cause a physical fallout, but it can alienate them from the world – keeping them away from all the myriad social interactions that keep people connected. To some, being in a wheelchair may be far less devastating than laughing at a friend’s funeral. To others, their uncontrolled, unwanted laughing and weeping may be one of the few aspects of their disease that can be treated. For all the advances in recent years, neurology largely remains “the differential diagnosis of incurable disease”. Advances in treating the symptoms may not look like much, but when the symptoms are all you can treat, at least it’s something.
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The objections made remind me of those who claim that ADD and ADHD are all just excuses for lazy parents and pill pushing doctors. They sound like the same people even, convinced that since they do not have the symptoms and have to live with it; it is not a problem. While I don’t know anyone with emotional incontinence (my favorite name above :D ) I do have ADD and my brother is very ADHD and it always bugs me when people claim that it is all in my head, that I dont try hard enough or whatever.
Good for the drug companies (for once) for doing what they can to alleviate some of these people’s sufferings. Remember, no one forces them to take the drugs. And to some people, even the smallest improvement is a major improvement.
Next time someone laughs foolishly, I’ll lash them with the “stop being so emotionally incontinent” gem. Thanks!
i have to say, emotionally incontinent, who came up with that title?
Wow, my mum has multiple sclerosis, and sometimes she does get very depressed and cries. Hate to dampen the mood folks, but very interesting might look into it. Would definately explain a few things.
Whats the painting at the top of the article? It looks like a half-dressed Che Guevara laughing his arse off. Wish it was but I’m guessing not.
Strange that they would use dextromethorphan to treat this disease.. in addition to it’s use as an analgesic, at higher does (which I assume Neurodex would contain) it’s a powerful dissociative hallucinogen.
I had a teacher with MS. I always wondered why she’d laugh at me if I gave an incorrect answer-
-oh, wait. she did that to everyone.
Ah well, she was a good teacher, even with MS.
As for the depressants working, I’m guessing that since they target depression, the PLaW (read the title if you don’t know) syndrome could be in the same part, and therefore when the antidepressents attack they get the PLaW also.
mind you, what I’m saying could be very old info indeed, I don’t know.
Research in 1985…
In the twenty-five years since…
I hate people from the future. They took our jobs. Damn goobacks.
xircso said: “The objections made remind me of those who claim that ADD and ADHD are all just excuses for lazy parents and pill pushing doctors. They sound like the same people even, convinced that since they do not have the symptoms and have to live with it; it is not a problem. While I don’t know anyone with emotional incontinence (my favorite name above :D ) I do have ADD and my brother is very ADHD and it always bugs me when people claim that it is all in my head, that I dont try hard enough or whatever.
Good for the drug companies (for once) for doing what they can to alleviate some of these people’s sufferings. Remember, no one forces them to take the drugs. And to some people, even the smallest improvement is a major improvement.”
U DONT TRY HARD ENOUGH! PUSY
very few ppl in the world that actually have ADD really need the pills.
Please don’t compare your BS learning disorders with real neurological problems. ADD, ADHD, Hyperactivity, all of them are just ways to separate kids into groups, sell them useless drugs, and subject them to their own paranoia. I was diagnosed with this bullshit, and I simply refused to adhere to their assesment. I tried a little hard, spent a little less time in front of the tube, and managed to become a useful member of society.
xircso said: “The objections made remind me of those who claim that ADD and ADHD are all just excuses for lazy parents and pill pushing doctors. They sound like the same people even, convinced that since they do not have the symptoms and have to live with it; it is not a problem. While I don’t know anyone with emotional incontinence (my favorite name above :D ) I do have ADD and my brother is very ADHD and it always bugs me when people claim that it is all in my head, that I dont try hard enough or whatever.
Good for the drug companies (for once) for doing what they can to alleviate some of these people’s sufferings. Remember, no one forces them to take the drugs. And to some people, even the smallest improvement is a major improvement.”
I agree completely with Carcer. I’ve been diagnosed with everything from Tourette’s to manic depression, but y’know, I’ve come to believe it has little to do with brain chemistry, and more to do with your environment and lifestyle. If the narcotics help you, good, keep taking ’em. Just please don’t think that you’re treating a disorder…ADD is unproven, so until it is, you’re basically doing drugs.
So just in case you didn’t get the message, Xircso:
YOU are FULL of SH*T and your mileage does NOT F*CKIN VARY. Carcer and Whiterasta’s experiences are universal truths and therefore you are delusional for suggesting anything but the same.
WOW – this is slipping fast..
More fuel…
Just remember – He who has the last laugh, obviously thinks the slowest!
Folks I read the articles because they’re interesting. Personal attacks are just sick. Obviously you have real problems, because if the way you respond is symptomatic of your real life… I certainly wouldn’t consider you well adjusted. For what its worth, the National Institute for Mental Health has a well researched summary concerning ADHD here: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm Perhaps in your mind its unproven, but its documented since 1845.
Now whether a person can function or not without a medication is largely dependant on the severity of the problems the child/adult is facing. We aren’t all the same in terms of environment, ability, education and what not.
If you feel the need to be abusive..take it somewhere else.
pinoakkeo said: “Folks I read the articles because they’re interesting.
If you feel the need to be abusive..take it somewhere else.”
I agree, wholeheartedly.
pinoakkeo said: “Folks I read the articles because they’re interesting.
For me.. Ill admit I look at the pictures too..
whiterasta said: “I agree completely with Carcer. I’ve been diagnosed with everything from Tourette’s to manic depression, but y’know, I’ve come to believe it has little to do with brain chemistry, and more to do with your environment and lifestyle. If the narcotics help you, good, keep taking ’em. Just please don’t think that you’re treating a disorder…ADD is unproven, so until it is, you’re basically doing drugs.”
Your environment and lifestyle… the computer screen? Thanks, that explains a lot! :)
As MrEleganza implied, people need to remember that their personal experiences are just that and not universal truths that apply to everyone. Do most kids labeled ADD or ADHD or whatever really have a problem worthy of serious medication? I highly doubt it. Does that mean that serious cases of such problems don’t exist? Hardly. Just because your parents found drugging you easier than dealing with the real you doesn’t mean there aren’t kids who do need medication.
I like the fact that I can read the articles and comment on THEM. When the personal attacks started on other sites I enjoyed, they took away the comment section. I would hate to see that happen to a site where one could actually have an intelligent conversation about a diverse range of topics – such a rarity on the Internet these days, it seems…
You people disappoint me, you really do. I’m sorry if you perceived my comments as an attack on someone. I personally don’t care for getting into arguments over the Internet…
“YOU are FULL of SH*T and your mileage does NOT F*CKIN VARY. Carcer and Whiterasta’s experiences are universal truths and therefore you are delusional for suggesting anything but the same.”
That wasn’t what I was saying at all. You’re right, my experiences are only my own, as are my beliefs. I was simply trying to express them here, not to force them on anyone or declare them absolute.
“Personal attacks are just sick. Obviously you have real problems, because if the way you respond is symptomatic of your real life… I certainly wouldn’t consider you well adjusted.”
Again, my comments weren’t an attack on anyone, and I’m sorry you wrongly perceived them to be.
“Perhaps in your mind its unproven, but its documented since 1845.”
Do you ever question the government?
“If you feel the need to be abusive..take it somewhere else.”
The only abuse I’ve seen has been the ignorant backlash to Carcer’s and my comments.
“Your environment and lifestyle… the computer screen? Thanks, that explains a lot! :)”
We got a frickin’ comedian here, folks.
While I’m sure it was mostly directly at the stupid posts of Armani and MrEleganza your comment about ‘doing drugs’ could be seen as very nasty, even if you didn’t mean it to be.
As to ADD being a non-existant problem, well, EVERYBODY knows mental problems are all in your head.
Xiphias said: “While I’m sure it was mostly directly at the stupid posts of Armani and MrEleganza your comment about ‘doing drugs’ could be seen as very nasty, even if you didn’t mean it to be.”
Well, fair enough, I can see someone taking offense to that. The thing is, I’m on several different medications myself, treating a variety of diagnoses. I don’t criticize others for taking meds, as I know the ones I’m on help me a great deal. Whether I actually have a chemical imbalance or a stress disorder I can’t say, but as long as they’re helping more than hurting, it doesn’t really matter whether the drugs are actually treating a medical condition or just helping you to cope with your own psychological problems.
For the record, I am not medicated nor have I ever been. I “tried a little hard” and it works out for the best. Usually. But I know a lot of people who failed course after course in school simply because they couldn’t sit still for a lesson (and no, I was never in special ed before you try to say that) but with ADD meds, they sat down and worked like everyone else (not better, just normal). And yes, many doctors and teachers do jump on learning disabilities of all kinds as easy answers, but that still doesnt invalidate the issue.
What makes the one disorder real and another fake? Physical symptoms (like laughing or crying uncontrollably)? Then what about depression? Is that only a problem when you start cutting yourself?
Anyway, the only real point I was trying to make (and was sort of helped by carcer and armani) was that the OBJECTIONS to this disease and their treatments made by those who cannot really know are foolish and ignorant at best, if well meant. (not to mention poorly written in some cases)
That’s enough for now, something shiny has me all distracted.
If my post was percieved as an attack on the person whom I addressed, then for that I apologize. My intent was to attack an alarming attitude towards people blindly accepting whatever diagnosis a doctor hands out. Doctors are interested in getting people hooked on medications. Does that mean that they are not interested in healing? No. Being a doctor is a calling akin to joining the clergy. You HAVE to want it to go through all the sacrifice. That being said, I think they buy their own bullshit too, and in the interest of healing, they do far more harm than good. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not some Luddite that thinks all modern advance is bad, I just think that the medical community sees only one solution to any problem, and that’s to get people hooked up to their pharmecudical (sp?) pipeline.
I apologize for the horrible punctuation in that last post. If it helps, just immagine it’s Christopher Walken saying all that.
I have found that there are many things that I don’t know and the more I learn, the more I know that I don’t know. Everything ranging from the existence of God to why people just can’t get along to the nature of atoms to what the inside of a womans bathroom looks like. These mysteries plague me and everytime that I delve into one of them, I come back only asking more questions. Though I have not come back with any difinitative answers yet, I still have hope and look under every rock and in every crevas for the answer. BUT, for all that I do not know there is one thing that I know for an absolute, infalible, undeniable fact:
None of these questions will be answered on an interenet chat board.
whiterasta said: “I agree completely with Carcer. I’ve been diagnosed with everything from Tourette’s to manic depression, but y’know, I’ve come to believe it has little to do with brain chemistry, and more to do with your environment and lifestyle. If the narcotics help you, good, keep taking ’em. Just please don’t think that you’re treating a disorder…ADD is unproven, so until it is, you’re basically doing drugs.”
I’m not saying that I know you’re wrong, but can you site some credible sources? I atleast have my pie. The writers do research before they post informative articles. Thanks Cynthia.
I was misdiagnosed with ADD when i was a kid. I don’t blame them, as i exhibited all the classic symptoms, but the problem wasn’t that i lacked an attention span, it was simply that i had an extaordinary memory for a kid my age. I easily learned what they taught in class, and promptly got extremely bored. This affected me at home as well, since i was eager to learn stuff, but reluctant to repeat the process as chores often involve. The only thing that really bugs me was that my parents didn’t take my word for it, and instead listened to the doctor. So they doped me up a bit. Certainly, it helped with the symptoms.. Reading through my school record the teachers all noted a marked improvement in my behavior. And it didn’t hurt me in the least, except for a ding on my pride, so i can’t fault them too much.
I’m on medication for anxiety/depression. Ever since I can remember, I’d always been upset about something. I was very sensitive and easily provoked to tears. In 4th grade I tried to kill myself…4th grade! Finally, I was put on medication, and it finally felt like a dark cloud had passed over. I’m much more productive, confident, and most importantly, happy. I actually feel more like myself now.
I hate when people tell me, “you weren’t really depressed, you were just looking at life the wrong way, you just needed to smile more,” because that’s not how it works. It’s not like having a bad day where you can get cheered up.
Granted, I think some people are on medication when they don’t really need it, but for the sake of us who do, please don’t assume.
Well, I just know that WE used to laugh at my Dad for having “Laughing Disease.” My sister seems to have it also. Nothing like a BIG GRIN when you are at a funeral or visiting a terribly ill friend in the hospital while their family is there. But I think it is there reaction to difficult situations.
Too bad they just can’t cross their arms over their abdomen and not look up like normal people.
Floj said: “I’m not saying that I know you’re wrong, but can you site some credible sources? I atleast have my pie. The writers do research before they post informative articles. Thanks Cynthia.”
Sure thing. Try the Citizens Commission of Human Rights:
http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/5329
Of course, the credibility of any source is debatable.
Video here of psychiatrists and doctors admitting that ADHD is unproven:
http://www.cchr.org/
This reminds me of me. Laugh Laugh Laugh.
Wow, this subject stirs up strong feelings. It reminds me of the joke about the atheist who runs into Big Foot while hiking in the woods and says, “Lord, help me”. Suddenly a voice from above asks him, “I thought you didn’t believe in me?” The atheist answers, ” I didn’t believe in Big Foot either until a minute ago.” People change their perceptions based on their own experience. Medicine after all is not an exact science like say… Physics.
Maybe that’s why doctors first promise to do no harm. Now, how about that pie!
My brother has an attention disorder that came from an operation that went wrong, he has to take medicine for it, and it really helps him. I had to take some medication when i was younger and it didn’t help me at all with my dyspraxia/ADD
The cases need to be taken on an indevidual basis we can not generalise and say that ADD and ADHD don’t exhist at all, they need to take each case as it comes, and since these medications need to be prescribed we have to trust the doctors. We have to trust doctors to do there jobs or then you would take nothing from any doctor, and then die of appendicitus!
Bibliophile said: We have to trust doctors to do there jobs or then you would take nothing from any doctor, and then die of appendicitus!”
Which almost happened to me. I have Fibromyalgia. (By the way, a study done in 1999 was finally released that their is a “gene” connected with Fibro.) Anyway, Fibro scews regular observations and sometimes test results. So, when I took an ambulance ride to Emergency and WLAKED into the ER and said “I have appenicitus” they did not believe me. I was not vomitting, (although in a flare with fibro, I can) was not “turning colors”, was able to walk around, had no fever (Fibro patients usually do not get fevers and our normal temp is usually a little lower than 98.6) and my temp was 98.6 and on and on.
11:00PM until 8AM when the Cat Scan came back (shifts were changing and no one would take me until the new shift) and what do you know. It was not my ovary. 11:00AM I was in surgery.
I think everyone so far has made some good points to their arguments. However I would like to offer another viewpoint; there is a pharmeceutical industry out there that in combination with the health industry (doctors, hospitals, etc) has such a huge share in the markets and economy of the United States that to disallow people to be sick would kill Wall Street. I think of few of you are right on the mark when you say some people are medicated and told what’s wrong with them by their doctors when the truth is they are just fine. Some? Try tens of thousands; children that are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD when yes, someone really probably should have just taught them how to act appropriately. And of each of these contributes to more children on drugs, which in turn raises profits for PharmCo’s everywhere. Alas when you live in a country where almost every Congress person and Senator is filthy rich and them as well as the President of the US holds shares in those pharmacy companies, the debatacle gets much dirtier and much further in the pockets of America than most people can wrap their heads around.
I think a good lesson from all of these comments is not to try to fire back at one another, but maybe look a little deeper as to what the real problem is. It’s not a question of “It is a disease” or “it’s not a disease”, the fact of the matter is that, as we continue to drug the world’s children, what are they, the doctors and caretakers and congressionals, REALLY doing to help, and who exactly are they helping; themselves and their pockets, or the kids? You’re kidding yourself if you can’t see that we as Americans have a vested interest in keeping people sick, and keeping them medicated.
Some may not consider this a significant problem but it is for some individuals. Imagine trying to have a serious discussion with your spouse who can’t stop laughing or crying as the case may be. Imagine laughing at a friends funeral (I have had more than one patient who did this.). It seriously disrupts emotional communication. It is hard to believe someone who laughs constantly can be depressed or that someone who cries repeatedly is not depressed but it happens. In severe cases, the internal emotional state is disconnected from the mechanism of expression. It is associated with a number of diseases. The current new medication was studied initially for Lou Gherig disease which it didn’t help but a number of patients who had been on it demanded to continue on it because it controlled there involuntary emotional expression.
I have days where I laugh like a bitch I don’t think I suffer from this though.
I tried to read the ADHD article posted above, but couldn’t bring myself to pay attention to it…
easterlingman said: “Strange that they would use dextromethorphan to treat this disease…at higher does it’s a powerful dissociative hallucinogen.”
I can attest to this firsthand. Seems to me that it may be used in lower doses, seeing as they mentioned the other anti-depression drugs worked at lower than normal doses. I’m still annoyed they added guaifenesin to just about every cold medicine on the market. Dextromethorphan hydrobromide makes for an interesting and quasi-legal experience, and now all the semi-safe sources of it include that particular vomit-inducing chemical. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having my butt carted off to jail if I endanger the public by attempting to drive while on the stuff, but I should be able to stumble around my own home if I so desire.
Anywho, I think it’s a great idea to work towards treating any symptoms that so adversely affect someone’s social life. As if it weren’t bad enough to be confined to a wheelchair, and the stigma that’s attached to it, you have to appear utterly socially incompetent to boot. Sad.
I have found that there are many things that I don’t know and the more I learn, the more I know that I don’t know. Everything ranging from the existence of God to why people just can’t get along to the nature of atoms to what the inside of a womans bathroom looks like. These mysteries plague me and everytime that I delve into one of them, I come back only asking more questions. Though I have not come back with any difinitative answers yet, I still have hope and look under every rock and in every crevas for the answer. BUT, for all that I do not know there is one thing that I know for an absolute, infalible, undeniable fact:
None of these questions will be answered on an interenet chat board.>>
Au contraire, moi petite..
1. The existence of God. God exists else we wouldn’t have the software to speculate or yearn for it. Or the ferocious need to disprove.
2. People can’t get along because each is hardwired with the need to have their genes passed on, and other people are the competition.
3. The nature of atoms. The link to the infinitely small.
4. The inside of a womans bathroom looks like the inside of a womans bathroom.
Whiterasta, the Citizens Commission of Human Rights (CCHR) is a Scientology front group. They don’t believe any psychological problems are real, and think everything can be cured with vitamins, an E-meter reading, and a donation to their organization. See here:
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) – Scientology Front Groups
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c119.html
The credibility of the CCHR isn’t just “debatable,” it’s pathetic.
As for ADD, my when my brother was younger he had that along with epilepsy, and he was much better off when he was taking his medication than when he wasn’t. That’s anecdotal evidence to be sure, but we could usually tell when he hadn’t taken his medication.
in regard to the use of dextromethorphan the use of one compound in different formulations and doses is common in pharmacy. little awareness of this symptom is due to the fact that the general population have limited knowledge of the conditions mentioned above never mind a side effect/symptom. the patients may find this one sympom the most distressing and their families also because the patient will have happy deminor rather than the true one. I have encounter instances of a patient being extremely distressed or jovial. this drug may allow better communication for the patient and in the conditions mentioned that is truly what the patient, family, physican and pharmacist strive for. I think any medicine that improves the quality of life for any patient who has a serious neurological condition is brilliant because generally it’s not given a lot of funding for research.
Just about my entire immediate family is being treated for ADD and my brother for ADHD. My brother needs it. He simply CANNOT focus at school without it. maybe now that he’s a little older he can find a new way to focus without medication but he has had a tough time. I was being medicated for ADD as well however I only started doing this after I graduated from high school.
While I was in school it was hard for me to concentrate even when I wanted to listen because I knew the information was important for a grade. I would be listening for a while and then something that the teacher said would trigger a memory or thought and then that thought would turn into another and i would spiral off on a tangent for about 10-15 minutes before i would realize that i wasn’t paying attention. I found that if i was doing something to occupy my hands like doodle on a piece of paper or write a note to my friends that i could concentrate on what was being said. My teachers would always get frustrated when they would call on me for an answer to a question they asked thinking that i was fully absorbed in my note (hoping to make an example of me to the other kids to pay attention) and i would give the correct answer every time.
Taking the medication really did help me to just sit still and listen but i found that it took away from my personality. My friends had come to know and love me as scatter-brained, so i stopped taking it and resolved to just deal with it as i always had. It’s a lot harder for me to get things done but I do.
Medication can help and i really believe that some people wouldn’t be able to get by without it but i encourage anyone diagnosed with ADD or ADHD to try to find ways they can help themselves before resorting to drugs.
I’d just like to apply a little logic to this discussion. If we accept that the mechanics of the mind relies on the transmission of checmicals, then it is not so unbelievable that some genetic combinations with the support of the input these genes took from the environment could have produced results which were socially unfavorable and functionless. ie, people can get messed up cause they’re chemicals in the brain are out of wack.
Nextly, defining unfavorable and functionless are entirely up to the one perceiving the person’s worth. This is surely where people conflict at. “Over perscription” may simply be a difference in opion over this quality.
With that in mind, the ability to provide chemicals to medicate away certain undesirable traits is not impossible given the mechanics of the body. So to debate if these medications “work” is dependent on one’s opinion of the results in reflection to the previous state. In that I would debate that people have the right to decide if they want to change a unfavorable trait, because they do that when they raise a child anyways. However, parents should be aware of the potential risks these alternatives have, much like other tools used to raise their child. For those old enough to make their own decisions, well, they are old enough to make their own decisions heh. However, this is not to say that they should not be given all the information available on the supposed treatments being offered to them.
The ability of the drug companies and doctors to “push drugs” is limited only by our ability of critical thinking. Just because someone does not agree with your personal choice, it does not give them the automatic right to make it for you. For instance, I see two people that are dumb, ugly, and simply unpleasent to be around. I dont feel they are capable of having/raising a child and polluting the population with their seeds. Does that mean I get to chop of the dude’s balls and sew shut that skank’s legs? No, they have the right to make babies and be happy in whatever retarded way they want. Of course, this is subplanted should they be trying to muscle out the liberties I have extended to them. That is however, another debate over civil behavior.
Ultimately, the deicions of usefulness these drugs have for each individual is a per case situation, as well as a per person perception (say that five times fast). So to not draw lines in the sand, I just suppose that each person has only an opinion on the question of their usefulness and not neccessarily the answer as perception will surely alter the conclusion.
Wow.. I had always assumed you were male. Perhaps I wasn’t paying close enough attention.
My sister was diagnosed with ADHD and put on meds for it. I resisted it, even though it made a difference for her. She did do better in school when she was on opposed to when she wasn’t. There a attitude in the medical community right now that takes the patient’s quality of life into consideration when prescribing meds. In other words, if the drug makes the person feel better or work better or live better, then they get it. I can see the motivation behind that.
However, I think there were other options other than chemically rewriting my sister’s personality. Many of the most creative and interesting people in history probably exhibited symptoms very close to ADD and ADHD. People like Einstien, Da Vinci, Henry Ford, Beethoven and even modern giants like Bill Gates are or were considered to have ADD or ADHD. The creative drive and impulsiveness and energy that is inherent in many that have been diagnosed are characteristic of many of the most successful people around. I really think that sometimes changing the manner of teaching should come before changing the personality of the child.
I’d like to mention that Pinoakkeo’s link seems to have disappeared.
The NIMH’s updated page about ADHD is now located on http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml.
Additional ADHD related article published recently: http://searchwithmylife.com/the-hidden-price-of-adhd/