#ADHD and #ODD can be a way of getting the brainy ones to conform, but…

This site is about rethinking bipolar, so why the interest in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and all those other mood disorders?

Could it be that all these diagnoses are just different ways of describing the same troubles?

Some people are emotional and some people are very emotional. When the world around us does not seem to be the way it should be, some of us become increasingly emotional. On our ‘understanding mood‘ course we share a view of how powerful emotions cause kids to start thinking too much. Unfortunately many schools and workplaces are not geared up for those who are ‘thinking outside the box’.

There is now a trend towards diagnosing everyone who challenges authority as mentally ill. In 1980 the ADHD diagnosis was created allowing children who are not fitting in with their family and school to be medicated with drugs such as Ritalin. Ritalin is a stimulant drug which over time tends to increase ‘manic behaviour’ and the likelihood of bipolar disorder diagnosis.

It is another driver for the bipolar boom

This is the article I read this morning that got me thinking about this. It is rather good:

Einstein: Being anti-authoritarian is being seen as mental illness