Saturday, February 04, 2012

Psychiatry vs Personal Well Being and Growth

In the post two posts below, ADHD is addressed among other issues.

I have encountered people who have genuine neurological disorders, and ADHD, or at least something similar, is certainly among them. There are people who have problems with proper functioning of their neural pathways.

Sadly, as in the one link that I labeled as an ADHD joke, ADHD and the Brain: An Inside Look, horribly false statements are made. Amazingly, the three things that are listed by this pharmaceutical advertisement as being myths, are actually the things that have been scientifically proven. The one of greatest concern is the nutritional or dietetic contributor.

Two food additives that have been proven to be what are called excitotoxins are very powerfully destructive to the proper development of the neural pathways especially during the periods of gestational and early childhood development. At these critical stages of development, these neurotoxins can and often do cause permanent and irreversible damage.

The two neurotoxins are processed glutamic acid and aspartic acid, often commonly called MSG/glutamates and Aspartame. While these are not the only contributors to neurological disorders, they are documented and prevalent. Yet the mainstream medical professionals not only do not warn people, but actually deny their destructive effects. They actually lie, as in the video, saying that the causes are not known. Then, they prescribe other harmful drugs.

Thankfully there are health care professionals and researchers who are reporting these things. Many of the incidences of “mental disorders” can be prevented through avoidance of these toxins in the diet.

Amazingly, the other factors that the video farcically dismisses as myths are actually validated by what is later stated as part of proper treatment for ADHD. Consider the four things listed:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Positive reinforcement
  • Individual therapy
  • Group therapy
Now compare this list to the list of so-called myths:
  • “ADHD isn’t ‘real’ and it’s often blown out of proportion”
  • “ADHD is caused by a poor diet or too much television”
  • “ADHD is caused by poor schooling or poor parenting”

Do you see the fallacious presentation and misrepresentation? First, they combined ‘blown out of proportion’ with ‘isn’t real’ so as to present the two as both being false presumptions. However, they are not at all the same. The one is factual.

The second so-called myth actually has two factual items listed together in a way that they seem to cancel one another.

The third is presented in a way to anger teachers and parents into feeling defensive.

Yet their four approved methods of treatment all assume that teaching behavior modification and counseling and encouragement (which all belong to the role of parenting and teaching and are often overridden by too much TV and video games and Internet and texting) are the missing factors that are in need of being supplied.

Then, they add that stimulants can be helpful, and especially prescription stimulants. They may as well be promoting caffeine and nicotine. Those would actually be safer and less expensive!

But the last thing that they want to do is to tell people about the food additives that are flooding their foods and beverages.

And naturally they do not want anyone to think that the ADHD diagnoses are in any way blown out of proportion and often entirely wrong. Then parents and teachers might actually encourage these energetic youngsters to put their excitement and energy to something productive. The kids might actually be encouraged to investigate what special inborn talents and skills and aptitudes are driving their “hyperactivity” and eagerness to find more stimulating studies and activities.

Oh, they might even be led to discover that they enjoy learning, if they were given some encouragement to see how their aptitudes could be applied in real life applications.

Oh no!

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