Archive for March, 2010

What is Behind the Mass Number of ADD/ADHD Diagnosis

Date: 31.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

The prevalence of the ADD/ADHD diagnosis does not definitely indicate that something is dreadfully wrong with the nation’s children, but rather that something has definitely changed. How society has taken to raising the next generation could be more the cause behind the ADD/ADHD diagnosis as well as dietary and nutritional issues.

Many supposed disorders are due to factors that influence the social, emotional, and environmental development of children. It is because of these factors that ADD/ADHD landed in the American Psychological Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a psychiatric disorder. In truth, it is likely that ADD/ADHD is not best described as a psychiatric disorder at all, but rather as more of a personality type.

There are numerous experts who would agree that many disorders that are placed under the psychiatric category should not even be located in the DSM. Understandably, most diagnosed with ADD/ADHD would argue that they do not have psychiatric issues. Not unlike many other conditions that have been labeled psychiatric in the past, it is being shown that there is not much evidence to support ADD/ADHD as a true psychiatric disorder.

Could it be that those with ADD/ADHD are just unique?

It is obvious that an individual suffering from asthma would not be classified as having a psychiatric condition. It’s also obvious that someone with diabetes would not be classified according to DSM criteria. Therefore, those that have been labeled as ADD/ADHD might want to avoid being classified as psychiatric in nature.

There’s no real evidence to support a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD.

In the rush to diagnose and medicate individuals to fit into the mold that society creates for the majority of people, the medical community has labeled an entire generation of children as unmanageable. And in that rush, millions of children are being medicated on a daily basis. There is some data that opens the possiblity that the issue is not that of being diagnosed ADD/ADHD, but more of the fact that society wants to eliminate their characteristics.

Psychiatric disorders might be less of the reason for the increased number of ADD/ADHD diagnosis and be more of how we currently life as a scoiety in our parenting and educational issues. Most with ADD/ADHD do not understand that they have issues that go beyond reacting to the events around them.

Once upon a time, children were allowed to interact with their environment. Children were encouraged to run and jump and play at will. More and more children are ignoring these limitations. The demands of conformity along with the stresses of modern life may have a significant effect on people who cannot manage to fit into the mold.

Yet, this is not necessarily the fault of the unruly individual. They may be just wired differently than most other people. Being different doesn’t mean being defective; it merely means that concessions need to be made.

In reality is ADD/ADHD the warning bell that society is missing the mark in raising the next generation?

It could be that ADD/ADHD, a condition in which individuals just can’t slow down, is a signal to do just that… slow down! Children who were once raised by stay-athome moms, allowed to sleep in, and encouraged to explore life like a child are now roused from sleep at all hours to be shuffled off to daycare and preschool, fed prepackaged convenience foods for breakfast lunch and dinner by busy parents, and placed in front of the television to revel in the antics of Sponge Bob and Family Guy.

Before placing the burden of the diagnosis of disorders such as ADD/ADHD, Tourette’s, and others on the heads of the parents, it needs to be understood that much of the problem lies with society which has created the family structure that we know today: two income families needed, expensive educations, and schedulesthat are quite the opposite of what would be better fitted for those with these psychiatric disorders. The ADD/ADHD child could be just not geared to the current lifestyle just as a diabetic child cannot have the same diet as the other children and the child with asthma cannot play outside as much as the other children.

And before parents ride the waves of a guilt tsunami, they must realize that most people do what they are think is right. There has been nothing, until relatively recently, that encouraged parents to think for themselves when selecting options for their children. The FDA labeled food additives safe and the medical community failed to keep people informed of alternative methods of treating ADD/ADHD and many other disorders and illnesses.

The trend toward natural, non-medicinal, alternatives for treating such health conditions as Type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and even ADD/ADHD indicates that people are beginning to realize that the medical community and the health industry took the wrong path in opting for the quick, pharmaceutical, cure, and that other options are not only available, but preferred.

Revolution of Psychoanalysis

Date: 31.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

“The more I became interested in psychoanalysis, the more I saw it as a road to the same kind of broad and deep understanding of human nature that writers possess.”Anna Freud .Towards the end of the 19th century, the new discipline of psychology became entrenched in both Europe and America. The study of the human mind, hitherto a preserve of philosophers and theologians, became a legitimate subject of scientific (some would say, pseudo-scientific) scrutiny. The Structuralists – Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener – embarked on a fashionable search for the “atoms” of consciousness: physical sensations, affections or feelings, and images (in both memories and dreams). Functionalists, headed by William James and, later, James Angell and John Dewey – derided the idea of a “pure”, elemental sensation. They introduced the concept of mental association.

Experience uses associations to alter the nervous system, they hypothesized. Freud revolutionized the field (though, at first, his reputation was limited to the German-speaking parts of the dying Habsburg Empire). He dispensed with the unitary nature of the psyche and proposed instead a trichotomy, a tripartite or trilateral model (the id, ego, and superego). He suggested that our natural state is conflict, that anxiety and tension are more prevalent than harmony. Equilibrium (compromise formation) is achieved by constantly investing mental energy. Hence “psychodynamics”. Most of our existence is unconscious, Freud theorized. The conscious is but the tip of an ever-increasing iceberg. He introduced the concepts of libido and Thanatos (the life and death forces), instincts (Triebe, or “drives”, in German) or drives, the somatic-erotogenic phases of psychic (personality) development, trauma and fixation, manifest and latent content (in dreams). Even his intellectual adversaries used this vocabulary, often infused with new meanings.

The author is a   life insurance consultant and works on Christmas Presents and he is a big fun of mortgage.
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The Most Popular Reasons For Insomnia

Date: 31.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

Quite a few factors could possibly be the reasons for insomnia. They might be psychological issues or physical disease. Because there are many different reasons for insomnia, so it’s not easy to learn the root on the problem without consulting a doctor. But, they are often classified into some categories.

 

Psychological reasons

 

These reasons for insomnia can be stress, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. These conditions are grouped into the category of mental disease or mental disorders, however the psychological problems that evoke insomnia usually are not always that severe. Every person has ever experienced stress, tension, fear and nervousness, which can induce insomnia.

 

Medicines reasons

 

It is general that drugs could possibly be the reasons for insomnia or sleeplessness. The stimulant anyone feel and alcohol can evoke difficulty to nap. When you consume a lot of coffee during the day, caffeine – the substance that contained in coffee-will affect your brain and disturb your ability to fall asleep. Alcohol may also disturb your sleep. Other stimulants that can also disrupt your regular sleep cycle are cocaine, amphetamines, ephedrine, methamphetamine, and several types of herbs.

 

The environmental changes

 

Lots of people are familiar with a normal nightly routine and conditions which must be in position to acquire a good night’s sleep. Any change of this routine is most likely the reasons for insomnia mainly because it disrupts the physical and emotional balance which can lead to sleeplessness. Jet lag can also make difficulty to sleep.

 

After we know several reasons for insomnia, we should avoid anything that will lead us to sleeplessness so far as we could. At least, we learn how to reduce the sleep problem. But, if it needed, consulting to some doctor may be beneficial. A doctor will help to get rid of your problem to acquire a good night’s sleep.

 

reasons for insomnia

What Is Bipolar Disease?

Date: 31.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

Bipolar disorder is also called BPD or perhaps called manic depression and is a condition that’s known by extreme mood swings. Moodiness occurs in everyone; but, someone that has bipolar disorder experiences extremes of both major depression and extreme enjoyment as well as over optimism.

This can be dangerous since the depression might be so extreme these people cannot function during those times and think about or even act on thoughts of suicide. On the other hand, the excited (upswing) can lead to high-risk conduct such as over spending, and activities they may not normally do.

A lot of people with bipolar mood disorder will also enjoy intervals of normalcy between the mood swings where they function and come to feel much as everybody else. Certain individuals with bipolar disorder may encounter mood swings more often and of short duration while others sometimes have lengthier durations of both moods.

BPD could start as early as the teen years however a diagnosis may be delayed since the mood swings could be ignored as typical teenager moodiness or attributed to ADHD. By the age of 25, the symptoms are more definite and a diagnosis made easier.

Complicating the diagnosis of BPD is that someone may experience combined states and have symptoms of both manic and depressive states present at once.

The cause of bipolar disorder is unknown, some doctors suggest there could be a hereditary connection but study results are not consistent. Even so, individuals who later develop bipolar disorder may show signs and symptoms in childhood. According to some research the symptoms are so subtle they can be easily mistaken as normal conduct or even another matter such as ADHD.

Adults suffering from BPD can have complications in many areas of their life. The high intervals cause these people to become over optimistic, engage in high risk behavior, as well as to be financially foolhardy or sexually promiscuous. These complications might be endless.

Throughout bouts of despair, anyone suffering from BPD may not be able to function or maintain employment. Committing suicide is a danger also.

There are a lot of prescription drugs that might be used to care for BPD. The reason behind this is that although some prescription drugs work on some individuals, other people show absolutely no signs of improving.

Lithium is the only medicine shown to lessen the incidence of suicide in depressed BPD patients. The drug Lamotrigine has been shown to be effective in preventing depression symptoms in various bipolar patients. Antipsychotic prescription drugs can be utilized to combat agitation of the bipolar sufferer in the manic stages.

If symptoms are relieved and mood swings are in remission the patient still must keep on taking the medication or a backslide may occur. Certain sufferers with BPD describe the impact of their medication as leading them to feel dull or drugged. That complicates treatment compliance among patients having bipolar disorder.

There are effective treatments options for individuals with bipolar disorder and mood stabilizers are a main portion of treatment to help stabilize the patient having bipolar disorder. Since the moodiness could be so destructive to personal relationships, financial well-being as well as work performance BPD is going to be treated aggressively in most cases.

General Facts You Need to Know About Anxiety

Date: 31.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

anxiety can be defined as emotions which are typically negative in nature. It will often consist of fear and worry, and some organisms may even experience physical signs such as nausea or chest pains. anxiety is a complex emotion, and is composed of a number of different elments. Some of these elements are somatic or cognitive, and the body will prepare itself to deal with an external threat. The heart rate speeds up, and the blood pressure is increased. The various muscles in the body will also receive elevated levels of blood. At the same time, the functions of the digestive system will slow down. All is about anxiety Treatments.

People who have anxiety will generally have a sense of dread. A number of voluntary and involuntary processes will take place in the body, and the goal of these processes is to get the organism away from the source that is causing it to have anxiety. depression anxiety insomnia is an important emotion, and is designed to increase the survival rate of organisms. In humans it appears that anxiety comes from the hippocampus and amygdala, two regions of the brain. When a person senses bad odors or tastes, there will be a large amount of blood flow which will be present in the amygdala. The evidence also shows that medium levels of anxiety will be present in this situation as well.

Based on these studies, it appears that treating social anxiety is designed to keep humans and other organisms from eating food or objects that may be harmful to their well being. While anxiety is normal, a person that has excessive amounts of it may have what is called an anxiety disorder. In extreme cases, people with anxiety disorders may have strong cases where they are terrorized. anxiety disorders are broken down into phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders. Someone who is suffering from a phobia will have an abnormal amount of fear of a specific object or situation. People who have phobias tend to have extensive imaginations, and realize that their fear is often irrational.

When a person suffers from a panic disorder, they will have extreme panic attacks, and may have dizziness or breathing problems. These attacks will typically reach their height in about 10 minutes. Generalized anxiety disorders are common, and effect a much larger portion of the population. It is prevalent in both men and woman, and is characterized by long periods of anxiety that are not related to any specific object or situation. With the obsessive compulsive disorder, the individual with have an obsession or compulsion when it comes to specific types of behavior. People who suffer from this disorder will see the need to do something obsessively in order to reduce their anxiety.

Many people who have this disorder need to be extremely clean, and are afraid of germs. To reduce their anxiety, they will wash their hands numerous times in a single day. There are two primary methods that are used to help those who are suffering from anxiety, and this is either therapy or prescription medicaitons.

Natural Panic Attack Treatments

Date: 30.03.2010      Post by: Bob B Taylor

I’ll be blunt, panic attacks suck. You’ll be glad to know that there are many natural remedies for panic and anxiety to tread anxiety disorders without prescription drugs.

Breathing Exercises — The breath has long been used as a means to center the mind and calm the body. Meditation and Yoga are quick to come to mind. Controlling your breath will relax the body and soothe the mind. The root physical symptom of a panic attack can be found in the breath. Fast and shallow breathing can escalate to a intense panic attack. Learning to take deep, slow breaths will help to derail the train of events that has the potential to lead to a panic attack.

Herbs and Herbally Infused Teas — Prescription drugs can help, but they come with a whole host of side effects. Herbal remedies can often help with panic attacks without the side effects. These often include valerian, chamomile, California poppy, passion flower, kava kava, or lemon balm. It is difficult to know what the precise dose is. People are very different and while one person may need a small dose, another may require a larger one.

Homeopathy — These mixtures of herbs can be effective in treating panic and anxiety problems. Bach Flower Remedies are created from a mix of flowers. Their Rescue Remedy has helped many find relief from anxiety problems. Also be on the lookout for “Kali Phos 6x” which is crafted to treat the nervous system. Particularly when it is stressed by panic and anxiety.

Alternative Therapies — Have you tired acupuncture? It is an ancient art that aligns the body’s chi, or energy. Or if you can’t stand the thought of being stuck full of pins, try the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). You’ll get the benefits without the risk of becoming a human pin cushion. You can do this yourself in just a few minutes.

Everyone is unique, so some of the above remedies for anxiety and panic attacks may be more effective.