Labeling Kids with Bogus 'Mental Disorders'


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20 Million Kids & Adolescents are labeled with "mental disorders" that are based solely on a checklist of behaviors. There are no brain scans, x-rays, genetic or blood tests that can prove they are "mentally ill", yet these children are stigmatized for life with psychiatric disorders, and prescribed dangerous, life-threatening psychiatric drugs. Child drugging is a $4.8 billion-a-year industry.

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Thank you for the video. As one who studied to become a Elementary Teacher years ago this is reason I didn't become a teacher. In Child Phys they were just starting to teach about all the different disorders. It made me mad, so I went with Marine Engineering.

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Your logic is faulty. There are no tests, brain scans, x-rays or blood tests that can diagnose mental illness unless it arises from a physical process that results in a physical change in the brain (some forms of schizophrenia, tumors etc.) or a biochemical cause that alters blood chemistry, and those are a small fraction of the total.

Fact: about 5-6 percent of the population are sociopaths or psychopaths, and they don't just come down with them as adults.

Fact: ADHD is increasingly being looked at as being comorbid with autism. Not autism per se, but a related condition with genetic variations in chromosome 16. Other comorbids: fragile-X, bipolar disorder, etc.

I know this topic well as my 28 y/o stepson was one of these kids. He tested positive for ADHD and other behavioral problems at age 5-6 that persisted through childhood. By his teen years he was exhibiting emotional outbursts so strong a full psych evaluation was done, which resulted in a diagnosis of intermittent explosive disorder - IED - an appropriate acronym if ever there was one. He refuses meds, has inconsistant to no empathy and IMO is a ticking time bomb in spite of a slightly lengthening gaps between outbursts.

IMO we need more screening, not less, as there are a lot of kids like him we don't know about until its too late and they hurt someone.

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:)

20 Million Kids & Adolescents are labeled with "mental disorders" that are based solely on a checklist of behaviors. There are no brain scans, x-rays, genetic or blood tests that can prove they are "mentally ill", yet these children are stigmatized for life with psychiatric disorders, and prescribed dangerous, life-threatening psychiatric drugs. Child drugging is a $4.8 billion-a-year industry.

The problem is that most of those tests can?t diagnose mental disorders. Blood tests aren?t useful neurons communicate through local connections, not via the blood steam. X-rays are for bones so that?s no use at all. Things like EEG and MRI can show you structural problems within the brain and regions of the brain are active, but it lacks fine detail of brain activity. Genetic tests can be helpful, but only if you know what the genes to look for and you still have to account for environmental factors.

This is all compounded by the fact that we have a rather underdeveloped understanding of the human brain. Researchers can?t go opening up people?s heads to see how they work and, unlike other body parts, analogs in other species are not similar enough. A lot of our understanding has come from autopsies and rare case studies. Only recently have researchers begun to understand structures like the amygdala, things like memory are very much a theory currently, and we?re completely in the dark on consciousness.

But you are right. Sometimes doctors can be too quick to prescribe meds. There?s a very fine line between sanity and mental disorder. After all, we?re not all supposed to be the same, and something that is treated as a mental disorder could well be classified as personality. A good question to ask is, ?Can this patient function??. If the answer is yes, I would consider the issue of personality. If the answer is no, it could be a mental disorder.

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Don't agree with the 'function' test as sociopaths and other personality disorders are very often great actors, capable of mimicking 'normal' so well most people in their lives don't have a clue. Again I bring up my stepson, who can play the role right up until all hell breaks loose.

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I'll be the first to admit that teachers, administrators, and doctors are too quick to jump at a diagnosis and then throw meds at it. That doesn't mean there isn't a problem, though.

Yes, I'll say there is a list of behaviors that can reliably point to ADHD. The biggest problem is that there's little follow-up after the condition is diagnosed. And while meds are frequently helpful they should really be considered a last resort after cognitive behavior therapy, diet, and exercise.

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And a lot of this is due to overvaccination and all the chemicals and junk in our food these days, too--I firmly believe that. Look at the rise of disorders like this in recent years..

(Before you lot start jumping down my throat about being one of those anti-vaccine people, come off it, I'm not totally against them. But these babies are getting something like twenty of them before they're two years old, it just seems an excessive assualt on their developing immune systems. It can't be good, is all I'm saying.)

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It makes me so mad when I hear a parent say:

  • you cannot eat that otherwise you will be jumping off the walls ? well of course they will you are the single most powerful influence in their life if you tell them that that's what they will do.
  • every time you come back from a party you are hyperactive it must be the jelly ? nothing to do with the party then
  • I treat all my kids the same way why is one the devil child ? it is impossible to treat all your kids the same even the slightest comment like " you wouldn't see Johnny doing that" you are labelling one of your kids as naughty ? and they are surprised one grows up naughty

The list goes on.

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And a lot of this is due to overvaccination and all the chemicals and junk in our food these days, too--I firmly believe that. Look at the rise of disorders like this in recent years..

(Before you lot start jumping down my throat about being one of those anti-vaccine people, come off it, I'm not totally against them. But these babies are getting something like twenty of them before they're two years old, it just seems an excessive assualt on their developing immune systems. It can't be good, is all I'm saying.)

sorry do you have any scientific training at all? or would you prefer a lecture from my sister the doctor or me the biologist? you are just guessing what it could be without any training at all.

i my self am autistic and i showed signs of autism before i even had my jabs most mental disorder which are being talked about here come from a thinning of the myelin sheath on the axon causing electrical impulses to get lost/jump chaotically, its all to do with genetics ... i have studied a few cases where the children of parents with minor mental "disorders" (i do not view them as disorders as most of the time can be beneficial) have the same or similar condition as their parents but on a larger scale.

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I don't feel the need to engage you because I am not trying to argue, just bringing up my point of view, but I do have a somewhat scientific background, yes. More importantly, I have done a lot of research and looked at all sides of the issue. It's mean to provoke thought, not a debate. Calm down.

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There are no brain scans, x-rays, genetic or blood tests that can prove they are "mentally ill",

:rolleyes: The same thing applies to adults as well. Mental illness typically isn't something that is going to show up in a blood test or brain scan. The very fact that you chose to include this nonsense in your post shows how little you know about the subject.

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Well, I don't think that just a list of symptoms should classify somebody as having a mental disorder. For example, I have pretty much zero empathy for everyone, but I live a pretty normal life, have friends, and a good relationship. When you tell a kid that they have a mental disorder, they'll never see themselves as normal, and that might hurt their development more than any supposed disorder.

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Well, I don't think that just a list of symptoms should classify somebody as having a mental disorder. For example, I have pretty much zero empathy for everyone, but I live a pretty normal life, have friends, and a good relationship. When you tell a kid that they have a mental disorder, they'll never see themselves as normal, and that might hurt their development more than any supposed disorder.

Sociopathy *in and of itself* is not dangerous - in some careers, sociopathy may actually be an advantage. However, labeling is inherent in society, as much as we wish it weren't, and how dangerous it can be for both sides.

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