First off, let me explain. I have been wondering for a while if my DS is not also bipolar and if my 8 y/o DD has OCD. These have been strong feelings I've had for a while. We'll know, I guess, when the psych eval happens in January.

But that got me to thinking. There are SO many children nowadays diagnosed with an array of disorders, placed on medications and getting special help. Yet there was never much talk of these disorders when WE were growing up. What does that mean do you think? Is it that there wasn't much research on these disorders way back when? Is there something that has happened (food additives, environment, for instance) that has caused this generation to develop them? Is it just that parents are more aware nowadays? Did people have these problems 30 or 40 years ago, but somehow they just muddled through?

Just kind of doing some brain rambling at the moment. Feel free to jump in if you have any thoughts on this.

By Kaye on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 04:38 pm:

I precisly remember a boy growing up named Brandon, he was not diagnosed with anything, but I am sure looking back at it he needed to be! I think there is a combination of things that have led to all of our dx's. One being education and awareness, two being working parents, daycares, etc, there are children who are just not taught to behave and others who once would have hid their kids issues have to face the realities much sooner in life. I do not believe you can cause ADHD, but the first thing to do for this is behavior modification. When we were children we didn't call it this, but certainly parents of tough kids had parents who ruled more strictly, with help from the whole neighborhood, so those children in turn learned to manage better than those today who are sometimes just thrown to the wolves. And thirdly I think it has to have something to do with all of our crap, think about how we eat compared to how we feed our children. I grew up out in the country, we cooked from scratch all of our food, we added little to nothing to most things. Now days we eat fast food weekly, cook things from boxes and can with all sorts of preservatives. You can hardly find food without modified this, processed this, etc. I think that combination had led to more issues. The other thing is I believe we over DX. We don't want to admit many times that we just have tough children, or spoiled children, we would rather medicate and "know" something was wrong than admit that we just don't alway do the best parenting job. Anyway, that is my take on it.

By Cat on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 04:56 pm:

Pam, if you truely think Garrett may be bipolar, check out http://www.bpkids.com/ There is a wealth of info there. The site has been a God send for me. You'll see me occasionally on the message boards there.

I'm not sure why there are so many more dx's these days. I really do think that "way back when" they lived in simpler times and there wasn't as much free time to get into trouble. They also worked a lot harder (I mean manual labor) so maybe the kids with more energy just worked it off. The inattentive kids? Maybe their teachers just didn't think they were as smart or thought they were day dreamers. I don't know. A lot more people (teachers, doctors, etc) are a lot more informed now. I often think I'd have been much better off if I'd been born 100 years earlier. There also weren't as many violent games, tv shows, movies, etc. So maybe food additives, environment and just the busy-ness of life nowadays has effected our children. I don't think we'll ever know. I did read something about an Amish study about bipolar and how their records were absolutely wonderful for generations prior. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

By Cat on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 05:08 pm:

Another thing I just thought of which is especially true for bipolar is that a lot of people with this disorder self medicate with drugs or alcohol. That's their way of dealing with it. So how many alcoholics or drug addicts, present and past, are/were actually bipolar?

By Gammiejoan on Thursday, November 20, 2003 - 09:09 pm:

All of you have made some interesting points, and I see some validity to all of them. I do think that there was an underdiagnosis of these disorders years ago, but I have my doubts that underdiagnosis alone would account for the perceived increase. While there may be some children diagnosed inaccurately now, there are probably just as many or more who are not diagnosed and who should be. I believe that a combination of factors account for the increase. While I believe that part of the increase is a result of more awareness of these disorders, I can't help but believe that environmental factors somehow do play a part. Exactly which environmental factors play a part, I am not sure. I do feel that processed foods and food additives very possibly could play a part. While I do believe that parenting techniques play a role in children's behavior, I can really get upset when someone implies that my five year old gs's behavior could be controlled with proper parenting techniques. My dil and I suspected for a long while that there was something very strange about his behavior, but months went by before anyone would agree that there was anything wrong that coudn't be cured with strict disciplining.

By Feona on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 07:44 am:

I am angry about the special education system for preschoolers.

You need to take a person as a whole not judge little parts of them. Nobody is perfect.

You couldn't never in a million years teach me some things such as spanish or how to be an accountant.

Just bothers me that the teachers just judge a child on

how easy they are to have in a classroom.


You literally need to be such a strong person to deal with the special education system and early intervention.

I would say all the super achievering moms are using the early intervention system to help their kids. If I was alittle weaker the system would have crushed me spiritually. Luckily I have a masters in education and my husband is pretty practical so I feel like we can make decisions not based on the so called experts.

A speech teach said practically all the moms she knew in early intervention were on anti depression medicine. I personally think it was due to the system and not the child.

By Karen~moderator on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 09:23 am:

A friend of mine (actually my boss's son, who is a grown man now of 32) is ADHD. He was diagnosed around age 6. I have known him since he was 7 or 8, and he was a holy terror. I don't mean that in a derogatory way. They used special schooling and diet control, no meds at all. After witnessing the *transformation*, I am truly convinced that additives, dyes, etc. in foods have a profound effect on some people. They followed the Feingold diet to the letter with their son and the change in him was amazing. That being said, I agree with Kaye on that point. I feel pretty certain that food additives/preservatives/dye, and environmental pollutants play a part in this. I'm not sure why some people seem to be sensitive to them and others not, but it makes sense to me.

As for Cat's post, Jules is bipolar. She did exactly that, self medicate with alcohol and drugs. She was an alcoholic at age 17 with liver damage. She had a serious drug problem. She went through substance abuse rehab several times before she got serious about it and really wanted to *get better*. She was on meds for a while and went off of them when she got pregnant with Madison. She takes nothing now, has a VERY controlled diet, and usually recognizes when she is *drifting* towards problems. And our relationship is such that, if I notice she is falling into previous behavior patterns, I can tell her what I am seeing, and she will really look at whatever it is she's doing and make every effort to correct it.

I am not very knowledgeable about any of this, all I know is what I've learned from the people I know who have these issues, and this is just my take on it.

By Mommmie on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 11:51 pm:

I think about this a lot, too, and so far my only conclusion is that it is a combination of things.

My 41-year-old brother was undx ADHD, as were many people in the past. But getting through school was a lot easier then. The teachers would just push you through it whether you were learning anything or not. There was no accountability so no one really knew if kids were learning anything or not. Course, this would be true for LD kids back then too. This would explain all those people with high school diplomas who can't read.

Kids with significant problems were probably institutionalized. They were out of site out of mind and ...not procreating and passing on their disordered genetic material. Now more kids are still at home, in public school or alt school with an IEP until they can drop out and ulitmately procreate.

Absolutely, the environment is doing a number on us! Additives, perservatives, teflon, saran wrap on microwaved food, food coloring, wireless everything, pollution, ozone, smog, styrofoam, asbestos, chemicals in out water, noise pollution, crowding, breast implants, recalled drugs, steroids, pesticides, poisons, road rage, new viruses, etc.

I think the high incidences of autism/Asperger's among smart people who breed is really interesting.

By Vtuggle on Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 10:50 pm:

I think that people were much more loathe to discuss their children's mental illnesses back in the old days. I am sure that if I'd had my two autistic children back in the 50's or so then I would have been under great pressure to have them "put away" and start over with some new kids.

They may have not been underdiagnosed... they may have been hidden from view and not discussed openly.

Of course certain illnesses such as ADHD and Aspergers and even bipolar might have been masked and sufferers isolated depending on the frequency and intensity of their symptoms.

I am a new member. I am Veronica Tuggle. I have two autistic kids and a schizoaffective teenager. I also have a 4 year old who appears normal and a husband who, until this Thursday (barring any unforseen disasters), has worked in New Zealand for the last two years.

Smiles!
Veronica