ADHD

Attention deficit, with or without hyperactivity disorder has long been diagnosed in children. It is now also described in adults who have not outgrown the disorder from their childhood, although this is not a common outcome. The disorder raises much community controversy because dangerous drugs of addiction are then used to treat such a disorder.
It seems to me that some children/adults need help with medications under strict supervision of course. Sadly I see many children/adults labelled ADHD/ADD without a full look at the myriad other issues and potential diagnoses that are more likely. Imagine sitting in class trying to listen tot he teacher and there is a huge pain in your tummy. Hard to concentrate and pay attention- of course. Imagine if that pain is emotional- you are depressed, anxious, feel terrible because your parents are fighting, or they are ill or dying. Equally hard to concentrate. Imagine that you cannot hear/see properly or your brain cannot process information even though you are intelligent. What about the child who feels self conscious, bullied and un-liked?
So there are many reasons for poor concentration, distractibility, poor attention and impulsivity.For many people there are more than one factor in their lives causing these symptoms. Sometimes these issues mask an underlying ADHD as well.
So if the diagnosis is confirmed, ADHD, ADD, I do not think medications are the first approach to management. We are used to the simple medical approach, here is an illness so we can match up the cure. There is no cure. There is a management strategy that maximises potential and minimises harm and suffering ( for everyone, child, parent, teacher, school and community). Simple support strategies are important. If your attention span is five minutes then dont do something for hours unless you have a break and change your focus every 5 minutes. Reward achievements, dont berate failure. Set goals, order and boundaries in place and distractions reduced to keep the mind focussed. Don't work in a room full of noisy people. Do games that aim towards extending concentration. Computer games are great for this. Look for the positives. Kids with ADHD are usually great at activity, like sports. So you can steer them into areas where they do well, feel good about themselves and enjoy rather than feel oppressed.
Learning is through fun, FUN, FUN. 
Look at the levels of information in the environment. Bombarding a child/ adult with ADHD with lots of emotion, noise, activities, the television on, talking is bound to overwhelm them. This is fine at a party, outside playing or kids playing together but not when you need to concentrate on chores and homework, schoolwork and assignments.
Understand that everyone has a limit to their concentration and attention span. Some have more and some have less. This is something we are born with, slowly develops with maturation. A baby has a split second attention span. The mismatch of adult attention span and children's span is confusing and wearying for adults.

Bad behaviour is not a symptom of ADHD or ADD. Bad behaviour is merely learned. It has a whole new approach needed. Medications do not stop bad behaviour.
I hope this starts some alternative thinking about the issue of ADHD/ADD treatment.

Doctor's dispute

I am concerned about the doctors in Queensland. They work hard with the aim to help everyone in need. They are now stressed and I feel for their families as well. Now they are seeking a mass resignation. They have been told they will be replaced. This implies that they do not count as people, Queenslanders, voters. They are people with families, mortgages, who once had a bright future.
Now the employer, the government, is sueing their unions to enforce unfair contracts.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/qld-doctors-dispute-heads-to-court/story-fnihsfrf-1226869424274
Luckily the polling says that Queenslanders support their doctors- for which they are grateful. Queenslanders have seen enough government action/inaction over the years to know who has their best interest at heart. it is a shame that most of us are too complacent to act on the government that we employ to run our State.
I suspect that the government, State and Federal will be happy to have a medical system without doctors. That will save a lot of money. That will push people towards the private system. Unfortunately that will also mean that the poor will suffer and die without health care. It also means that people will be more unwell when they seek help, no more preventative strategies.
Seriously re-consider medicine as your career pathway. There is little future in it. 

Carer's health

More people are cared for by loved ones, family members and spouses than in formal mental health clinics, hospitals and NGOs. Partly this is because it is part of a loving family to care; a reciprocal arrangement of spouses  in sickness and in health); and if you are unwell who do you want near you and who can you trust. It is also economic rationalism to place people, no matter how sick, in the community and rely on loved ones to provide care.
This care is not without cost which carer's allowances clearly does not cover. It means an economic loss for the carer. The carer often has a 24 hour job with no or few breaks. The mental health for the carer needs to be considered. The demands of the job and, often demandingness of the patient, can be extreme and things for which the carer has little or no training. Burnout is common. Carers also have little room to set limits and boundaries that professionals can more easily do and  the lack of privacy for both patient and carer can become claustrophobic.
It can be rewarding of course, to spend tie with a loved one, be there for recovery and spend precious moments together especially in terminal illness. When the carer is supported by other family members, extended family and community, the model is a good one.
Carers however can be physically and verbally attacked or even killed in their role. Women take up the majority roles of carers, along with their domestic chores and the social roles of women in general.  This expands an already unfair social, economic and emotional distance between men and women in society. After the care situation ends it can be difficult for the carer to re-enter the workforce because they have not been engaged in paid work that looks good on a resume.
Carers are often left out of medical information and the treatment alliance between patient and professional health care provider. Mostly this is to give the patient some privacy and confidentiality. Not all carers are well meaning or capable of providing good care and abuse is a problem to consider. I think it is wise to divide up the appointment time between a private discussion and then ask the carer to join in, often able to give in depth discussion about the problems and observations on progress. It also give the professionals the opportunity to see how the carer is faring and if they need help.
Not all carers are fulltime. Not all patients are fully dependent and promoting as much independence as possible is a good approach.
There are often good self help groups for carers. There is usually respite available so a carer can take a break. Resources are low however and people in rural and remote areas often miss out.
Spare a thought for the carer's role.

skinny is happy????

Interesting site
https://www.google.com/search?q=skinny+is+happy&client=gmail&rls=gm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=s2EqU5ylDI3ikAXmpoCIAQ&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643
Could I suggest that healthy is happy and the concept that skinny and happy have a causative relationship is only in the mind of the weight loss industry. Sadly they target the young to sell their wares. The promise of happy of course can be blamed on you if you do not attain goals that have no boundaries.
Skinny clearly effects your brain and makes you depressed, not happy.
Healthy makes your brain function normally.
Happy - so many ways to achieve happiness, like getting into life, setting challenges and goals, meeting people, doing good things for your community, expanding your horizons, living life to the max, thinking positive thoughts..........

Boot camps for kids

Our Queensland State Government passed sweeping law reforms to incarcerated young people in adult prisons, force boot camps and 'name and shame' repeat young offenders.
 Shame.
 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/newman-announces-boot-camps-for-young-offenders-20130324-2gnp6.html
As we only have one house of government there is no balance of powers- there-in lies the first problem.
Where is the evidence that boot camps work? They do not. Kids might behave for the 4 to 6 weeks they are forced to be involved but the evidence is that they return to the same environment and the same behaviours the moment they leave.
Who is running the boot camps?  What are their credentials, their motives, their safety guidelines and who is supervising them? Will this be the next of a series of institutionalised abuses claims? Where is the information about these camps? Why are children treated more harshly than adults for lesser behaviour problems?
Of course dealing with the underlying issues and causes of recidivist youth crime is too hard it seems. Realistic education support; stop drugs and alcohol; employment for youth and their families; community services; support mothers to raise their children; community youth groups; family interventions all cost too much money it seems. So money will now be poured into programs after the horse has bolted, that may make the problems worse and lead kids into a life of crime as a career opportunity.
Despite valid information about the programs, legislation has proceeded as if this does not matter. Appealing to voters (and kids don;t vote so are disenfranchised) by strong arm tactics and short term solutions seems to be the order of the day. Shame!
Even more worrying is that the next news flash will move away from this crime against children and we will all forget that the abuse will continue, in our name. The news will briefly flash that one of these kids is raped, killed, maimed in custody, and then their plight will again be ignored.
Amnesty International is on the campaign trail to fight this legislation. Maybe you will feel moved to join their action http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/33834/

Free Will versus determinism

One hopes that we make our choices from free will. We like to think that our thoughts are generated by us alone. We definitely like to think that our behaviours are in our control.
Is it possible however that most of these things are controlled by our genes or learned in early infancy as programmed pathways in our brain. Freud seemed to think that we had repetition compulsions, automatic ways of thinking and behaving. The grace here was that we can become aware of these and consciously think about them, choosing to change if we wished. This clearly requires more energy and is unlikely to happen of there is no reason to do so.
So maybe we are not in control of our lives as much as we think.Perhaps we can live a more authentic and connected life but we need to work hard at that. This is usually called transformational thinking. If we aim to learn from the past, aim for better in the future then we can live a good life. We don't need to be anxious about the past, so long as we learn from it.
Of course, not everyone wants to improve and learn. Many people are happy with the place they are in. Many people cannot see the problems, especially if they blame everyone else rather than looking inwardly. It looks like they have little free will.
Where do you think you might be with respect to free will or automated living?

Coroner slams mental health system

Harrowing outcome
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-12/mental-health-service-under-fire-in-coroners-findings-on-teenag/5315328
Someone has finally said something of the truth for once. Pretending that it is ok for children/ teenagers to not see a psychiatrist because somehow their mental illness is not as bad, or severe or real as an adult has lead to this disaster a well as many others no doubt. Of course children do not have a vote so lack the power to do anything here. Therefore they rely on adults to look after them and lobby on their behalf.
It concerns me that there is a code of silence around the poor mental health services because it is such a political hot potato.
I just hope that one coroner is enough to shake the system rather than someone makes another feel good statement, covers up the trail and its business as usual.
Please think about this and start lobbies for investigations of mental health resources and proper health care.