The
lead article in today’s Review section of the NY Times is by Richard Friedman, who is a professor of clinical
psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html?_r=0
For
a short piece he gives a good over-all look at what ADHD is and isn’t. What I was most impressed with is the
wide range of factors he cites, as well as all the new machines that are used in these studies.
The
studies he cites use things that were not available twenty, ten and in some cases even two years ago. These include PET scans and fMris to
look at brains, but also macines to examine genetic differences.
Dr(?)
Friedman also puts ADHD in a social and cultural context. He talks about how schools now demand greater concentration and conformity.
He also mentions that video games are so stimulating and can seem so
exciting compared to sitting in a class, trying to listen. You shouldn't blame or stigmatize a kid for something he can't do.
With
all of this new machinery we can now see differences in brains and genes that
we couldn’t even imagine ten years ago.
But a different brain is not necessarily a bad brain. Differences can
show the world how to improve and differences are what help humans evolve and adapt.
But
still, it’s not fun to have your four year-old rip apart everything in his room
and throw his toys out the window.
There are multiple causes for that kind of behavior, not just fewer
dopamine receptors.
