Videogames Used to Treat ADHD 275
deeptrace writes "USA today has an article about a videogame based treatment for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). It uses NASA derived technology to measure brainwave activity while playing videogames. Clinical psychologist Henry Owens says 'If they just play videogames on their own, they will zone out. When they play on this system, if they zone out [as detected by brainwave activity], the videogame doesn't respond any more' This is supposed to help the patient increase the ability to focus and concentrate."
Re:AD[H]D has gone way too far. (Score:3, Interesting)
Is this a medical condition or a societal condition? Or both?
Oh, it's both... (Score:5, Interesting)
There are people who honestly have a neurological imbalance that causes them to have difficulty completing tasks, and in these cases drugs like Ritalin are a godsend, allowing them to normalize their routines. I know one or two people who have that, and without their medicine, they can make a ferret look like the paragon of focus and concentration.
On the other hand, ADD and ADHD make for a wonderful scapegoat for when children are acting up. Bright children being bored out of their skull in class? Must be ADD. I know from personal experience on this one - when I was a kid I was misdiagnosed with it, and I thank God that I had parents who knew enough to ask for a second opinion. It turned out that I was bored in class and reacting to food additives. Once I got into a gifted program in school and I stopped eating food I was reacting to, I settled right down.
It really does drive me nuts. Back in the 1980s when I was misdiagnosed, the misdiagnosis happened because ADD was "fashionable." Now it's an excuse. Pump kids full of sugar and chemicals and of course they're going to be hyperactive. Make them sit still in a classroom doing boring things and of course they're going to get restless. I just wish more medical professionals would rule out the obvious causes first before doping the kids up for having AD(H)D that they might not actually have.
I am tired of this "disorder" crap (Score:5, Interesting)
We should be teaching people to adapt not modify. (Score:2, Interesting)
By adapting your lifestyle, not training the person to be something else, you can maintain a level of creativity. Case in point, ADD people can forget menial tasks. More than once our lights and water were turned off becasue my husband forgot to put the chack in the mail. Easy solution, I set up everything to be paid online twice a month. More than once he has forgot our aniversay, but the surprise vacations in the middle of the year make up for it.
What I am trying to say is that I would rather be married to unpredictable, creative man than a man who has lost all personality from taking medications. The same is true for our child.
Hyper-Focusing (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A better treatment is this... (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, physical punishment, or aggression of any kind, exacerbates ADHD to a large degree. Every wonder why hyper kids who are beaten stay hyper?
Re:Nice to see something unabigously good (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Great! (Score:5, Interesting)
I got far more value out of the programs the therapists etc gave my parents to help me than the 'medications' which i stopped taking after 3 weeks because I could tell that all they were doing was making me tired, and the 'real' benefits weren't from the medications...
yeah, i'm sure some people might find the meds useful, but the're really not solving anything. They never have nor will they ever sell a magic pill that makes all the problems in life go away. If they ever do, it most assuredly will be a simple nanotech mind control implant, that allows your body to be used as a mindless robot while your mind drifts thorough an electronic fantasy world...
Re:Great! (Score:3, Interesting)
Goddamn right. You hit the nail right on it's head and sent it thru the board. I was 'diagnosed' ADHD *AND* 'Depressed' at age 5. Hello Ritalin and Desipramine, in MASS quantities (ritalin: 300 mg/day at a body weight of MAYBE 60 pounds. That's damn-near lethal IIRC, and Desipramine 100 mg/day.) And people wonder why I smoke so much pot... my body's been hyped up at such an early age from this nasty shit, and until I started smoking pot, I couldn't stay calm, or focused, or even sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time, let alone sleep.
In my case, Ritalin was my gateway drug, not marijuana. Some government assholes need to get some facts straight. I'm willing to bet many people my age that smoke pot today, were most likely on Ritalin earlier in life.
Re:Great! (Score:2, Interesting)
Your comment upsets me. I feel like I am starting a whole new life after this diagnosis and I dont want to hear ignorant, from the hip comments from people who have no clue of the impairment involved in ADHD.
Granted the diagnosis is WAY overused, particularly in some school districts; but dont let that be a reson for you to invalidate my suffering. It's embarrasing anough thank you.
While you have me on a soap box, psychiatrists dont actually sell drugs. That would be the pharmaceutical companies. You mention that "It is simply a case of teacher to (sic) stupid to teach kids" and "Most kid's (sic) diagnosed with adhd (sic)...". I can only assume you teacher was also too stupid to really teach grammar.
As I'm sure you can tell, I am offended. Like with any other mental illness, do your research before you humiliate someone!
Your comment may be 'insightful', but it is wrong.
Re:Great! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Great! (Score:5, Interesting)
Folks, I have met about 100 Ritalin victims in my life, and every last one of them were either misdiagnosed or had nothing wrong at all before getting doped up. They used to call it "hyperactivity" and "dyslexia". It's proper name is "Bullshit" and if you aren't assertive about it, you'll be gambling with your children's lives. Every expert in the industry says so, and the only people you'll find saying different are the lowest-level beaurocrats - the lowest paid, coincidentally - could there be kickbacks involved?
Pardon the hyperbole, there really is info on this out there, but I'm too lazy to Google today.
Re:Great! (Score:3, Interesting)
As a kid, I was struggling with sitting still, concentration and getting my homework done. After thorough psychological examination, I was diagnosed with ADHD.
I'm sure it was a misdiagnosis.
Then I began ritalin. On a proper dosage, many of my previous behaviors and inabilities started to fade. I became more calm, and I was able to focus and get my homework done.
I'm sure it was a misdiagnosis.
The excessive amounts of sugar in my diet probably had a huge contribution too. I didn't have any refined sugar before the age of two, and my parents watched me like a hawk because they're health nuts. I ate whole grain foods, vegetables, and very little sugar.
I'm sure it was the sugar.
I went to a private elementary school at the time where everyone in the class of 18 scored a 95th percentile or above on the standardized tests. The students continually exceeded the expectations of all standardized tests that were given. But... I agree, it probably was a case of a really stupid teacher who couldn't teach us kids. After all, my teacher DID recommend my parents that I be investigated for ADHD. I'm sure her ability was subpar and she was just trying to cover it up.
I'm sure it was the teacher.
I also agree that if someone is able to concentrate for 30 minutes straight in one particular situation, they should be able to concentrate the same in any situation. For instance, factors such as interest in the activity are completely unimportant. People to this day testify that "hyperfocusing" is exactly the way I focus in life--If I'm interested in the activity it's nearly impossible to get my attention, but if I'm not interested, I seem constantly distracted. But I'm sure all of my friends are wrong. They probably don't know me too well.
I'm sure it was a misdiagnosis.
Finally, how dare we give our kids drugs. Giving drugs to kids is inherently evil--everyone knows that drugged kids just sounds bad. Regardless of what it treats, be it severe depression (for suicidal children), autism, or for heart conditions, I think we should put a blanket ban on drug use in Children. That'll teach our children about being careful around drugs. Sure, a few may die from heart attacks, or commit suicide, but at least they won't be doing illegal drug use later in life.
I'm sure it's a misdiagnosis.
Finally, all people who use ritalin are highly prone to illegal drug and substance use later in life. Teaching children that they can take a pill for their problems obviously reinforces this behavior, and is solely to blame for drug use later in life. Okay, so I'm not a substance abuser, even though I've taken ritalin, but I'm sure I'm an extremely rare case. I must have been very lucky because I took Ritalin for many years. Obviously all substance abuse cases aren't the responsibility of the abuser, but the fault of the drug Ritalin that they were FORCED to take earlier in life.
I'm sure it's a misdiagnosis.
I'm not saying ADHD is overprescribed or incorrectly identified. I'm sure some doctors and teachers DO use it as a copout; however, saying that there is no such thing as ADHD is extremely shortsighted. If you've ever met truly ADHD people, there would be no doubt in your mind that the disorder actually exists. I know because I am one. I struggle with it every day--I attempt to act as normal as possible--and most of the time people can't even tell. But being able to do that has taken years of self-training as well as years of Ritalin use for me to tell what "normal" is. I no longer take Ritalin now, but had I never taken it, I would be struggling in life much more than I do today.
what an ignorant bunch of crap (Score:3, Interesting)
ADHD is a name we put on a combination of attributes common in some portion of the population which gives them specifically different ways of processing information. I am one of them.
It is not a disease, nor is it "made up to sell drugs".
Its a difference in what the brain considers INTERESTING or IMPORTANT.
Some people are "wired" to notice things like movement, change, differences, instantly. They're hyper-aware of these things. It prevents them from ignoring those things they someone who is wired more toward the opposite end of the spectrum.
Want to know what it is like?
Telling a child who happens to think this way that has been placed in a busy classroom with big windows that she shouldn't look at the bird landing on the branch outside is like telling you not to blink execpt once every 20 seconds, exactly on the 20 second mark. You have control over your blinking right? Assuming you were told it was REALLY important that you not blink -- that you would be in TROUBLE and LOOSE RECESS if you fail -- you could control EXACTLY when you blink. As long as you remembered to CONCENTRATE on that 20 seconds you could do it. After about a minute, it would become extremely onerous to keep up. After as little as two minutes, you would become angry at anyone who started talking to you because it would make your job harder. With practice, you could get the timing right -- as long as something didn't interrupt you. You would become very irritable, probably frustrated and depressed as well. If you found that drugs helped you, you would take them.
That, exactly, is what school can be like for someone who's brain works in a way we classify as ADHD.
ADHD is NOT an inability to pay attention. It is a very big difference in what the brain considers important and interesting. The classic reference is hunter/farmer in developing societies. A farmer needs to be able to ignore the woods, the sounds, the noises, and plant his crops for weeks at a time. Routine, hard work day after day. The hunter needs to be automatically aware of EVERYTHING without having to look. When something is spotted, the hunter has to just REACT without thought and take action. The skills each have are valuable -- and would cause each to fail at the job of the other.
So, kids who have genetic tendancies toward this kind of brain focus, are poorly suited to sitting in classrooms and learning. Its not how they (we) learn. Your making a hunter into a farmer and it doesn't fit. So, here's the real deal on what happens to kids who are not treated as they are being forced into a role they are ill suited to:
A high incidence of failure in school, as well as a high incidence of drug addiction, early pregnancy, criminality, risk taking, depression, and violence. Why? It is INCREDIBLY frustrating. Drugs HELP. Why? Damn if I know why drugs that that would hype you out the to moon, calm me down and let me get started. Its a brain chemistry thing. Nicotine works too -- but not as well. Caffine works -- poorly -- if you take enough of it. High grade speed works perfectly. Its best, however, if you have perspription for it in one form or another. If you like, I can describe the differences in detail between the various sorts.
As to video games, sports, etc.. -- ALL THOSE THINGS that require a lot of focus? Guess what? HYPER-FOCUS is another KEY indicator of this syndrome. You see, the brain in this case is fined tuned to notice things QUICKLY and constantly until it finds something that it considers important. Typically, these are activities that require intense concentration and focus to the exclusion of all else. Again, the common metaphor is hunting. Once that rabbit pops out the bushes, the hunter will give chase and will run headlong through brambles, jumping logs, wherever the rabbit goes. Its hyper-focus.
Sometimes, its called emerency focus.
Where do you find the adults who's brains wo
Re:Great! (Score:2, Interesting)
Have any links for those studies? That's very different than the treatment recommendations I read last I looked at this closely.