tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post174893498661924134..comments2024-03-28T09:59:51.779-05:00Comments on Family Dysfunction and Mental Health Blog: Immaturity in Young Children: Officially a DiseaseDavid M. Allen M.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06280912088483192599noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-21186068653197264472010-09-24T15:22:15.632-05:002010-09-24T15:22:15.632-05:00Thank you for writing this post. In my native Icel...Thank you for writing this post. In my native Iceland (population 310k) there has in recent months been some debate about ADHD and the potential abuse of the stimulant drugs used to treat it. What is interesting about this "debate" is that nobody discusses the elephant in the room: <br /><br /><i>Despite an ADHD prevalence similar to the US, the use of stimulant drugs in Finland is not only vanishingly small in comparison to the US, but smaller than in the other Nordic countries. <b>Stimulant use is 22 times higher in Iceland</b>, 8 times higher in Norway, 3 times higher in Sweden, and twice as high in Denmark as it is in Finland, despite the fact that use in Finland has increased by more than an order of magnitude between 1999 and 2005. </i>(1) <br /><br />It is not only in stimulant prescription to children and adolescents that Iceland holds the European record (in per capita terms), as the same applies to antidepressants (actually the world record) and antipsychotics(2). The physicians who have participated in the ADHD "debate", defending the drug use, have never discussed these facts, not even the ones who have written scientific papers about this dreadful situation. <br /><br />Last spring I wrote an article about this issue in Iceland's leading newspaper but it did not spur any public discussion, but I know that it had some impact behind the scene. The papers you discuss in your blog post have now given me an opportunity to address this issue again in a newspaper article, which is awaiting publication. My hope is that it will start a debate about the real issue, i.e. the overprescription of psychotrophic drugs to children and adolescents in Iceland (the same actually applies to adults!). <br /><br />(1) Leon Eisenberg1 and Myron Belfer, "Prerequisites for global child and adolescent<br />mental health", Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50:1-2 (2009), pp 26–35, p. 31.<br />(2) Helga Zoëga et al., "Psychotropic drug use among Icelandic children: A nationwide population based study", Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. December 2009, 19(6): 757-764.Steindór J. Erlingssonhttp://www.raunvis.hi.is/~steindor/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-54408439767390006512010-09-22T20:52:53.701-05:002010-09-22T20:52:53.701-05:00Dr. Allen,
Like other psychiatric "illnesses...Dr. Allen,<br /><br />Like other psychiatric "illnesses," "ADHD" is a collection of symptoms... <br /><br />Dr. Mary Ann Block provides some Congressional testimony on the subject of ADHD diagnosis, amphetamine use, and integrative (non-drug) options that are both safer and more effective than amphetamines -<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=095sN0xP-UA&feature=related<br /><br />For any parent who is concerned about the use of psychiatric drugs with their child, and any good parent should be!.... Here are some links that may help for integrative approaches to mental wellness -<br /><br />http://discoverandrecover.wordpress.com<br /><br />DuaneDuane Sherry, M.Shttp://discoverandrecover.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-3116816586369964032010-09-21T19:09:38.895-05:002010-09-21T19:09:38.895-05:00Hi Holmegm,
Yes, actually I do believe that it is...Hi Holmegm,<br /><br />Yes, actually I do believe that it is far fetched, and let me tell you why. While there may be some genetic influence on one's choice of mate because of assortative mating, the neuroscientists I read (like molecular biologist John Medina) say that there is a general consensus that no genes or group of genes codes for any complex human behavior - such as whether or not your marriage ends in divorce.<br /><br />It seems to me far more likely that the explanation is that the children of divorcing parents are on average more likely to be stressed out and to act out.David M. Allen M.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06280912088483192599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3125132926699584358.post-78434863183725385582010-09-20T18:47:06.562-05:002010-09-20T18:47:06.562-05:00As we all know, people who have ADHD genes to pass...<em>As we all know, people who have ADHD genes to pass to their kids are all genetically predisposed to get a divorce.</em><br /><br />Well ... they <em>may</em> be <em>more</em> likely to, at least?<br /><br />Is that really <em>so</em> far-fetched? I suspect the total picture may be a complex mixture of factors.holmegmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06025014997286777105noreply@blogger.com