Call it approach, diagnosis, or difference in philosophy. The article getting the most clicks from Monday’s post details why French kids don’t have ADHD.
It’s an article you should read. It’s very informative. As usual, I’ll tack on a couple quick thoughts.
1. Somewhere in between.
The answer to this is somewhere in between. Do I think the U.S. system relies too much on medicine? Yes. Do I think the French system is skewed somewhat as well? Yes. It’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it. I’d suspect the answer to be somewhere in the middle, with the French missing some cases and the U.S. creating too many.
2. Being a good parent CAN reduce your child’s stress.
Listen, there are some things beyond our control and some kids have certain types of personalities. But, I do think a lot of stress is added to kids. I’ll call it a hunch and in the same breath I’ll admit I haven’t put together a 20 page research paper on the subject.
Reducing stress can happen when parents have realistic and developmentally appropriate expectations. Reducing stress can happen when parents live in civility with those around them (gasp) even when they may not like others. Reducing stress involves discernment to avoid pushing children too hard at too young of ages.
I’m not saying kids with ADHD come from dysfunctional families. That would be ludicrous. But rooting out stress in kids lives can certainly set them up for general productivity in the long run and provide a healthy environment for the ups and downs of failures and successes in the short run.
Think. What is behind the drastically different statistics?
Act. Maybe it’s time to do some research and thinking. If you have a child with ADHD, be sure to work several angles in addition to medicine!