subject: Is There A Drug Free Alternative For Adhd Treatment? [print this page] Parents can struggle with their child's behaviour often to the point of desperation, when schools refuse to have them in class unless they seek medical attention. Referral times vary as to where you live, but then a professional in mental health care will carry out diagnostic procedures to evaluate what is going on with a child. These will consist of observations of a child's behaviour and requiring forms to be completed by the parents and teachers. It is from these observations and comments that an evaluation is made as to whether or not your child has ADHD. The behaviours are in themselves apparent as the parent of the child who 'kicks off' in public is aware. It is the underlying cause that is often not addressed.
There is a bible for mental health practitioners called the DSM ( the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ).Last revised in 1994 it divided ADHD into 3 sub categories the inattentive type, the impulsive type and the combined type. Since then the level of diagnosis has proliferated to epidemic proportions around the world. The manual will be reviewed in a couple of years and will have some very controversial new entries in it.
With terminology like 'Temper Dysregulation Disorder', we can predict another increase in "Terrible Two's" being prescribed drug treatment programmes like Ritalin, Adderall and Vyvanse, all of which are associated with high risks factors of damaging side effects. 'Psychosis Risk Syndrome' is another category which is alerting even leading psychiatric professionals to concerns over potentially everyone being classed as having a mental health disorder.
The diagnoses are made from checklists of symptoms which fall within the DSM's guidelines, flawed with inaccuracies, these checklists of symptoms are often come under fire. For example, professional diagnostic tools like the Connor's Scale have been rewritten due to inaccuracies in diagnosis which lead to drug treatments. Recent Australian research has stated ADHD is misdiagnosed in a third of all cases. However, in practical terms once a diagnosis is given there is very little opportunity for further diagnostic procedure, even when the side effects of prescribed drugs are taken into account.
The new guidelines have caused excitement on stock markets. Already there are financial forecasts available which invite investment into the pharmaceutical industry for powerful financial returns. This rings alarm bells judging by the performance of the ADHD market since the last revision, which has generated a staggering 5 billion dollars in the US alone in 2008 and 31 million in prescriptions spent in the UK last year.
ADHD has proven to be big business through the drugs used for treatment over the last 10 years , and all the indications are that it is going to get a lot bigger.
There is an ALTERNATIVE! There is choice. Holistic approaches to ADHD are natural, do not have side effects and address the underlying cause not just block the symptoms!
