OUR VIEW: ADHD a real disorder, help affected peers
How many of us as kids had a hard time focusing on anything specific for longer than five minutes that wasn’t Super Mario or Link? How much harder was it to pay attention if we weren’t interested in the first place?
Now imagine that you still can’t focus, and it’s costing thousands of dollars for you to go to college with the assumption you will score well on exams, take careful notes during 3-4 hours of lecture each day and eventually become a competitive, commodified and competent adult who participates in the working world.
Couple that abbreviated attention span with other variables such as insomnia, hyperactivity, compulsiveness, impulsiveness, short temper, depression or anxiety. Now you’re starting to sound like many students on college campuses everywhere — including USU.
Of course the university offers facilities meant to mitigate or, at least to some extent, treat the debilitating effects of conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder — one of many often-heard diagnoses gaining momentum in the world of pop-psychiatry in modern America.
But in this ever-growing global village where labels like autism, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, diabetes and ADHD, are uttered in examining rooms, doctors’ offices and clinics everywhere, to what level can the symptoms — and more importantly the problems themselves — be treated?
It’s not uncommon to hear that a friend or loved one has been proffered a prescription for Adderall, Ritalin or Wellbutrin in a doctor’s attempt to pacify oodles of extra energy and silence the endless pervasive distractions that surround us in our natural world.
Without too much skepticism regarding whether or not over-diagnosis is an issue, recent news reports show that prescriptions for these drugs are written faster than they are filled. Pharmaceutical companies can’t make enough to meet the demand.
How many of us, though, have asked the question, “Are drugs really the answer?” The response, for some, is clear. They don’t want the medication, and if they do, some tend to medicate on their own terms, which can be a dark road to travel.
The list of pros and cons regarding medications, as well as other more holistic remedies, is longer than space will allow. As for what can be done for students regarding academic performance, USU’s Disability Resource Center does offer means for taking exams that don’t cause students to tear out their hair or chew their fingernails down to the quick. For those who have a hard time staying focused, note-takers are sometimes hired to aid the perpetually distracted.
An accurate diagnosis of ADHD can be a good thing. The first step to treating a problem is knowing it’s there and understanding what it is. For those who know a person who has been diagnosed with some form of attention deficit or other such condition, we suggest invoking your human virtues of love, compassion and patience. Please help those you know by making the road to recovery a less lonely path to follow.