All over America there are moms in the shadows drowning in their daily
responsibilities and turning to the prescription drug Adderall for
relief.
Adderall is a drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but
these women don't have ADHD; they say they need Adderall to be better
mothers.
And the 1950s housewives are relentlessly mocked still for their supposed addiction to tranquilisers. Modern empowered women don't always eschew "mother's little helpers", either:
Several years ago, one of Degree's children was prescribed Adderall, a
central nervous system stimulant, for ADHD. In a moment of desperation
she stole a pill from her own child and the addiction was almost
immediate.
A super-mom was born:
"I was able to get all the stuff done around the house," Degree said. "I
was able to cook the dinner and have everything perfect."
Degree tells ABC News she felt like supermom and would stay up until 3
a.m. doing loads of laundry. She says she thought she'd only take it
once.
In all honesty, it isn't clear whether this unfortunate lady held a job outside home at that moment, but further on the article claims that:
Some women start on Adderall to keep up with the demands of career and home
Hmm, now I really start wondering about all these ladies popping up at homemakers' blogs and claiming how they really have little trouble balancing their careers with domestic demands.
There is a price attached to magic pills though:
"This is a significant problem," said Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical
officer at Hazelden, an addiction treatment facility. "We've got an
increase in women using drugs like Adderall ending up in our treatment
programs. ... We know from a medical perspective it's dangerous and can
cause seizures, strokes, heart attacks, even death."
The real question is, should a drug similar to meth be prescribed to children as young as three?
Parents, teachers, and doctors would benefit from reading "The Hyperactivity Hoax: How to Stop Drugging Your Child and Find Real Medical Help" by Sydney Walker III, MD. Dr. Walker posits that hyperactivity is a symptom, not a diagnosis; in the same way that coughing is a symptom, but not a final diagnosis. You'd think your doctor incompetent if he listened to your history of coughing and said, "Well, it appears you have a coughing syndrome. Here's a prescription to suppress the cough." What is the coughing a symptom of? Lung cancer, bronchitis, allergies, pneumonia? Same with hyperactivity. Dr. Walker gives lots of examples from his patients, and helps a parents find doctors who are willing to dig further. He also suggests that it could be a lifestyle problem in the home. Very interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteI dislike taking drugs that merely mask symptoms. I want to get to the root of the problem and cure it, through diet, exercise or other means first. I think drugging children is irresponsible and unnecessary.
Rozy, yes, I've heard about that book, and read an article written by this doctor.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to find out that apparently, ADHD wasn't even considered any sort of sickness/disorder until about 1980. Most diseases like cancer or diabetes have been known to exist since ancient times and yet that one was discovered so recently? Hmmm...
And the number of diagnoses is climbing. I wonder what's the reason behind it all?
Intresting article! I think it has to do with the diminishing of the difference between men and women. When women are in the workforce, there is allot of stress. When women are mothers it is even worse. Women mostly have a nurturing and caring personality which part of her nature. Children sense this very well. Wen mother is stressing the childeren feel it and adapt to it aswell. Also when both parents work fulltime , there is no home that feels like a home for the children. The home is a place where people should feel comfortable en stable, apart from the big bad world outside.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the first home of a child is in the womb. I read an article (it is catholic) about the importance of stressles inviroment for the pregnant mother.Even in the womb it has to be stressles for the child. Makes you think about the whole adhad phenomena.
http://www.traditioninaction.org/Cultural/A053cpPrenatalScience.htm
Lady F
Yes, children probably spend too much time in various institutions, often from the earliest days of their life. And even when the mother is home, they hardly ever play outside any more, which isn't good, either.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link!
No indeed children staying home all of their childhood is'nt good either. At a certain age they do have to go out into the big bad world to learn to survive. What i refer to is that children at a very young age are leaving the home, like daycare. Sometimes mothers have to work because of financial reasons. The childeren are babys .I used to work in daycare so i know the ins and outs of babys away from their mothers. Also children need balance of having a home to go to rest and have peace when they come back from the stressfull world outside, so as the husband ofcourse.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog and by the way: ik kom ook uit Nederland.
Groetjes
Lady F
Lady F, Wat leuk:)
ReplyDeleteWell, in the USA they have all these homeschoolers and they all appear to be doing fine, so I guess I should have been less vague when answering. I'm not at all for day care, after school care, leaving children with Grandma 3 times a week or any other forms of mother substitute though sometimes, unfortunately, it could be necessary. What I meant by "staying home" is that many children spend all their free time with their digital friend instead of going outside where they can run and shout to their heart's delight, as we used to do when growing up. Then when they come home they are so tired all they want is to go to bed:)
Luckily where I live, kids are still playing outside.
Groetjes terug!
Hi Sanne,
ReplyDeleteJa inderdaad haha, ik dacht al dat je uit Nederland of Belgie kwam vanwege je naam Sanne!Ok, im going to continue in English otherwise the other blogreaders might suspect our secret language.
Yes indeed that is true, i am born in the eighties and i still remember climbing trees and playing outside in the 90's. We did have videogame computers but only when it rained we played with it.But alas, internet has made many a child addicted to their electronic friend. In my neighbourhood they do play outside too so it seems that enough parents have some common sense that a smartphone is not a replacement for real life.
Lady F
Nee, natuurlijk niet! No suspicious discussions on this blog:)
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit older and in my time it was TV instead of video games, mostly. Computers started getting popular somewhere in the mid 80s? Funny, but I forget... TV programs were better in those times. I sometimes have a real nostalgia about the 1980s:) Anyway, we played outside and climbed the trees, too.
About smartphones, an auntie of mine chiefly uses Facebook to come in touch with old acquaintances and schedule a lunch together, I think we all could learn from elderly folks, they still prefer real contact to internet exchanges.