From carrie at stayfreemagazine.org Sun Jan 7 20:55:43 2001 From: carrie at stayfreemagazine.org (Carrie McLaren) Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 21:55:43 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | 8 January 2001 Message-ID: Howdy, Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. Got a couple more things from the last issue up: Attention Deficit Disordered: An Anthropologist Studying ADHD Reaches Some Surprising Conclusions (see below) http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/ADHD_interview.html A _Real_ ADHD Screening Test http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/screeningtest.html [ more later ] Wanna help out Stay Free? For the next issue (a "history" issue), I'm trying to get my hands on some old textbooks. If you or someone you know has any history or advertising textbooks that you would care to donate, please let me know: carrie at stayfreemagazine (PO Box 306 Prince St. Station, New York NY 10012). - - - - - - - - Attention Deficit Disordered An Anthropologist Studying ADHD Reaches Some Surprising Conclusions http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/ADHD_interview.html The number of people diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has skyrocketed over the past few years. While psychologists and educators scramble to figure out what's behind this seeming epidemic, one thing is clear: America is on a lot of speed. Nowhere in the world are more kids popping pills for ADHD than here in the U. S. of A. According to Dr. Lawrence H. Diller, author of Running on Ritalin, we consume 80 percent of the world's stimulants such as Ritalin-ten times more than Europe and industrialized Asia. So either American kids are more hyper and badly behaved than everyone else or something is amiss in the way ADHD is diagnosed. Ken Jacobson, a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, says it's the latter. Jacobson conducted a cross-cultural study comparing kids in the United States and Britain. Jacobson found that kids in both countries were equal in displaying ADHD behaviors (fidgeting, blurting out, etc.). What's more, there was no significant difference between kids diagnosed as ADHD and those considered normal. Jacobson's results-which, incidentally, used techniques typically applied to apes-suggest an inevitable conclusion: All kids have ADHD. | Carrie McLaren GRAPHIC: A 1967 ad for Ritalin (before the discovery of ADHD), when the drug was said to treat "tired mother syndrome." Stay Free: Tell me about your study. What did you find, in a nutshell? Ken Jacobson: Well, say you're at a meeting. If you randomly selected one person and studied them, half the time they wouldn't be paying attention. That's pretty much what my study found with kids. Since the normal, natural condition for childhood looks a lot like ADHD, it's really easy to find ADHD wherever you want to. Now, because everyone exhibits this attention deficit behavior some of the time, the psychological fraternity argues that some of the people are more distractable, more hyperactive, more of the time. My study doesn't show that. I saw children who are doing well academically, who showed ADHD-like behaviors . . . Stay Free: But if they're getting good grades it doesn't count as ADHD. Jacobson: Right. Which is why after the DSM-IV lists all the symptoms for ADHD (see next page), it adds that there has to be significant impairment in work or academics. ADHD behaviors do not necessarily cause problems. Inattention itself means nothing. Stay Free: You would expect that if someone had ADHD, it would show up in everything they did. Like if someone is unable to learn grammar, it shows up in the way they speak, the way they read and write. And it would show up not only in schoolwork but in play. But that's not the case with ADHD. I read about one study of kids who had been diagnosed with severe ADHD yet if were offered money, they could do the task. Some of them can also play video games for hours on end. Jacobson: The tasks we're asking kids to perform are politically defined. Standardized tests are what experts decide they need to know. Kids are only considered ADHD when they don't measure up to those tasks. Another thing my study showed is that girls exhibit ADHD behaviors just as much as boys, but boys are much more likely to be labeled. Stay Free: How are things different in England? Jacobson: In England there's a category called Emotion Behavioral Difficulties-notice it's "difficulties" and not "disorders." EBD kids include Oppositional Defiant Disorder (which is basically telling authority where to go) and Conduct Disorder (anything from stealing a pencil to grand theft auto). These EBD kids may exhibit ADHD behaviors, but it's the fact that they're running around the neighborhood killing pets or defecating in the classroom that is the problem. So in England they handle that with behavioral modification programs, not drugs. . . . Americans are more likely to consider ADHD behaviors genetic. There may be predispositions in the brain, it's true. But I've got a degree in neuroscience and I think most neuroscientists would agree with me that the environment predisposes the brain. Stay Free: Why do psychiatrists say Ritalin is so much more effective than behavioral modification? Jacobson: It's a great American myth. I mean Ritalin is speed. It was used during WWII by the Army for soldiers who had to stay awake to fight... In England they don't label kids as much. Schools have a looser definition of "normal." Of course, they also use more draconian practices on everyone. If kids get too far out of line, they give up on them. They don't expect everyone to go to college, whereas in this country expectations are higher. Janie might not be learning because there's so much pressure on her to succeed. Stay Free: Kids worry about standardized tests at a younger age. When I took standardized tests in 4th grade I had no idea what they were, I just filled in the bubbles. Now it's "this determines your life for the next three years." Jacobson: It may be that extreme stress sets up architecture in the brain that makes it difficult to focus. I could see that. That coincides with what we know about the stress response in mammalian brains. Stay Free: Are you familiar with Jane Healy? She writes about the effects of television and computers. Jacobson: I don't buy the idea that anything is different today. You can go back to the 1900s and find descriptions of ADHD kids . . . Stay Free: She's not necessarily saying kids are biologically different, but that their environment has changed. There is less reading, for instance, and more electronic media. Jacobson: My research doesn't show that. These kids do read. I tried to do television surveys, they don't even fill them out. Stay Free: Have you gotten any feedback from any of the ADHD experts? Jacobson: No, and I'm not hoping to get in a debate with the ADHD establishment. What concerns me are simply the real reasons kids don't learn. From carrie at stayfreemagazine.org Mon Jan 15 20:14:57 2001 From: carrie at stayfreemagazine.org (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 21:14:57 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | 16 January 2001 Message-ID: For more Stay Free! subscribe to the magazine: http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/order.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hello, Continuing on the attention-deficit theme, a few items from the magazine have been added to the site: An excerpt from the Journal of Modern Brain Damage (copied below) http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/braindamage.html Letters to the editor about ADHD: http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/adhd_letter.html http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/adhd_letter2.html - - - - - - - SCIENCE FINDS THE ADHD CURE An excerpt from the Journal of Modern Brain Damage http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/archives/17/braindamage.html INTRODUCTION Although counseling is considered suitable for many adolescent behavior problems, science has not demonstrated this to be true for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Hinshaw, 1984). Inadequate results of psychotherapies have necessitated a search for alternative treatments. Harlow's seminal study found that chimpanzees overwhelmingly exhibited ADHD symptoms (DSM-IV, 1994; see opposite page). Clinical studies of primate responses to laboratory stimuli can therefore offer insight into possible treatments. METHODOLOGY Clinical trials randomly selected 300 chimpanzees, all of which displayed typical ADHD behaviors. To determine base response level for each primate, subjects were strapped into an upright position and shown a 24-minute segment of Three's Company ("Jack Gets a Workout"). Individual responses were registered and measured in accordance to the scale Inappropriate Clinical Trial Behavior (ICTB): * Lateral eye movement * Facial tics, grunts * Inability to increase television volume * Visible dislike of clinical researcher * Lifts buttocks off seat * Attempts to remove or damage rawhide leather belting Individual ICTB scores were calculated to reveal a .475 group average-approximately 1,932 inappropriate acts per chimp, per episode. Subjects were then randomly divided into three groups of 20: Groups A, B, and C. Each grouping was tested for responses to one of three experimental treatments: Group A: After the viewing, primates in this group received a swift blow to the left brow with a concrete block (10 lb, 93 cubic centimeters). Subjects were immediately returned to the main facility and measured during a second screening ("Janet and the Englishman"). Group B: Same as Group A, but the blow to the left brow was preceded by dropping a 2" x 4" wooden dowel from a set distance of 3.3 meters. Group C: Primate received blows to both sides of the head, is lectured on anger management, and rendered senseless through repeated strikes to the base of the cranium. ANALYSIS Mean ICTB counts for each group were calculated. Subjects in Group A displayed on average 1,652 Inappropriate Behaviors per segment for an index of .397, or 349 fewer inappropriate acts from the initial finding. It should be noted that while this represents a marked improvement over the base level .475, it is unacceptable for the National Standardized Monkey Norm. Subjects in Group B fared better, with an average count of .317, representing 588 fewer inappropriate acts. Improvements with this group were visible even before secondary measurements were calculated: lateral head jerks markedly declined, as did general body movements and aggression toward research assistant. Chimps in this group were said to be "slower" and were considered "more amenable to instructions." Group C surpassed the other two groups on all counts. Inappropriate behaviors dropped to an unprecedented low for an index of .001. Chimps in this group were said to be "unconscious," while also "extremely manageable." RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The preceding suggests promising possibilities for ADHD treatment. Few side effects were reported in the two-hour span in which this study was conducted. While subjects experienced a slight appetite reduction, abdominal pain and bleeding rarely occurred. There were no reported shoulder injuries. While the implications of these results extend only to short-term benefits, there is no evidence that this study has no benefit over the longer term. On the contrary, Loney (1981) found that similar treatment was associated with less drunk driving, less police contact, and better table manners. -- Carrie McLaren - - - - - - - - - OTHER LINKS OF NOTE "Fast Finns Find Fines Fit Their Finances" http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/wsj_finland.html In Finland, speeding tickets are levied on a sliding scale based on the driver's income... so rich leadfoots may pay as much as $71,400 for speeding. Great idea, eh? Where fines serve as the main disincentive for breaking the law, it makes perfect sense. "PR Watch" http://prwatch.org The PR Watch site has back issues of their fine newsletter, as well as the full text of MAD COW USA. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For more Stay Free! subscribe to the magazine: http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/order.html From carrie at stayfreemagazine.org Mon Jan 15 22:54:10 2001 From: carrie at stayfreemagazine.org (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 23:54:10 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | clarification Message-ID: Hello, Apologies to anyone confused by the "journal" article. (I suppose it only really makes sense when you see it in the magazine). Fear not, no apes have been harmed. the study is FAKE. ie SATIRE. LINKS THIS TIME, IN CASE YOU MISSED EM: "Fast Finns Find Fines Fit Their Finances" http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/wsj_finland.html In Finland, speeding tickets are levied on a sliding scale based on the driver's income... so rich leadfoots may pay as much as $71,400 for speeding. Great idea, eh? Where fines serve as the main disincentive for breaking the law, it makes perfect sense. "PR Watch" http://prwatch.org The PR Watch site has back issues of their fine newsletter, as well as the full text of MAD COW USA.