Writer promoted ADHD half-truths Bath Chronicle 13/09/2000 NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Edition Bath Chronicle Page 10 Record Number 723693 I WRITE in response to Mark Sparrow's article 'Kid's tantrums cured by drugs' on the View page of last Friday's Bath Chronicle. The page is sub-headed Speaking out for Bath, so I am puzzled why he should use this page to promote a collection of ill-informed, exaggerated misunderstandings and half-truths about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He starts off citing criticism of Dr Patrick Cosgrove, a well-known and respected Bath psychiatrist, by a group calling themselves the Citizens Commission of Human Rights. This title sounds very official, putting one in mind of the UN Commission for Human Rights; it is only in the second paragraph, in smaller type, that all is revealed. They are part of the Church of Scientology (like ADHD, an American import), and presumably base their views on the teachings of that church. He then falls into the trap of thinking that ADHD is simply another label for throwing tantrums and disruptive behaviour. It is not. ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are syndromes, collections of physical and psychological behaviours. To say that every child you see throwing tantrums or shouting and screaming has ADHD is like saying every person you see drunk is an alcoholic. Some children may manifest this type of behaviour as part of their condition, others will not. Mr Sparrow then tells us that he doesn't believe in physical punishment and hasn't smacked his own children, thus revealing another opinion commonly held by those who have not experienced or do not understand this condition. They feel that they have got parenting right - and those of us with ADHD children have simply got it wrong. An increase in cases of ADHD can be explained in several ways: 1. Some researchers have suggested that exposure of the unborn child to environmental poisons may damage the brain. These poisons may be on the increase; 2. As more people become aware of the existence of a condition they are more likely to seek medical advice; 3. Health visitors and other health care professionals are more aware of the condition. ADHD children exist in families where there is no divorce or family break-up - unfortunately their behaviour and its effect on the parents may lead to divorce. The fact that one in three marriages ends in divorce anyway results in a likelihood of any child coming from a broken home. Ritalin is an effective drug for some children, it certainly can reduce disruptive behaviours and hyperactivity. Because of this, people mistake it for a sedative, when in fact it is a form of amphetamine. It works by altering the abnormal brain chemistry of the child. It is interesting that it has no effect on children who do not have ADHD/ADD, in other words those who are just badly behaved. Behaviour modification (being strict as Mr Sparrow calls it) is part of the overall treatment of the condition. Most parents will have tried this before considering medication. It may also be used as an adjunct to medication. Behaviour modification may be partly successful or it may not work at all in the child who is badly affected by the condition until they start medication. In using an emotive phrase, Mr Sparrow suggests we would pump drugs into our children. This is incorrect in that Ritalin is an oral drug rather than an intravenous preparation. It is also offensive because for the majority of caring parents of ADHD/ADD children the decision to start medication is a painful one which they are forced to take when all else has failed. Equally offensive is the suggestion that better parenting is the sole solution to the problem. Better parenting will help spoiled children who are allowed to run riot, it will not, on its own, solve the problems of ADHD. I am writing this letter from a biased point of view. I have a nineyear-old daughter who has ADHD. I also have a five-year-old who is perfectly normal. Both have been raised in the same environment (not a broken home or reconstituted family). We have clear views about good behaviour, manners and respect for one another. As part of her condition, my elder daughter has a number of physical and psychological symptoms and her behaviour has always been challenging. She was diagnosed with the condition when she was four years old, but, being reluctant to start medication, we tried other approaches with no effect. It was the fact that she was starting at school which made us try Ritalin. This drug makes a huge difference to her life. She says that without it her brain feels like a madly racing engine over which she has no control. On the medication, she can enjoy her life and feel like a normal person. She is certainly not like a drugged zombie. The drug allows her to socialise and interact normally with her peers and enhances concentration on her work. I would accept the fact that ADHD is used as a scapegoat for some parents who are lacking in parental skills and can't be bothered to control their children. If anything, I welcome the exposure of this sort of fraudulent use of the diagnosis because it conceals the genuine cases like my daughter's. What made me angriest about this article was that it used a public platform to attack what is a genuine condition and to propagate so many of the mistaken ideas about it. I suspect that the author would not have attacked diabetics or epileptics, both groups who have a condition requiring regular medication to control them.

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