Thanks to Gordon Cheng for noticing this one first - he must read his SMH early!?
SMH article about Michael Phelps and ADHD
Apparently Michael Phelps was originally diagnosed with ADHD and had to take Ritalin until he was 11. At that age he told his mum he wanted to stop taking the drug ... and look what the discipline of swimming has done to his hyperactivity!? 8 gold medals isn't bad.
It is a bizarre contradiction that in the western world of consumer choice we treat everybody the same. Instead of taking great care to properly diagnose problems we do tend to go for the blanket cure ... especially if it is marketed as a 'quick fix'.
When this happens everybody loses out. This is a very painful issue. Parents with kid's who have been correctly diagnosed understandly feel that they are being stigmatised.
Sometimes to treat everyone equally, we don't have to treat them all the same.
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2 comments:
See my lengthy comment on this on Gordon's blog...
the pook - Thanks for the comment on Gordon's blog.
I'm aware of what you said which is why I mentioned the pain of those parents of children with ADHD.
Nevertheless I think my point still stands. Medication is not a 'quick fix' but needs to be seen alongside help with behaviour too.
My experience is the UK so I can't properly for Oz. GPs do a great job with little resources. If Christians have a tendancy to ignore the physical side then modern medicine can neglect the spiritual and emotional side too.
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