Channel 4 ADHD documentary

[crackerjackbaby]

Totally totally one sided. And very dangerous as a result of that. AIBU to think this?

The state wants to cut back on treatment and care for certain conditions so it demonises them or creates a false narrative as a smokescreen, ADHD has been hit in recent years with this.

They dont say how it was grossly ignored for decades. How it was massively undiagnosed. They wont say that its a condition from birth and that its actually very difficult to be diagnosed with the condition even when all high numbers show it the lag in diagnosis that this country suffered with. It doesnt say about the hardship of living with ADHD and the stigma. It doesn't show the huge multitude of evidence to support it. No….of course it doesnt…

They generally target conditions that they see as easy to muddy the waters with. diabetes is one of the biggest to be hit by this, even though medically and scientifically proven to not come about from poor diet and exercise in how it comes about initially, the government and the NHS and therefore the news media, keep the false info going. Type One is an autoimmune condition yet the awareness of that is shockingly low. Why? Because they want it to be shockingly low.

There are many other conditions but this is just what happens when the state decides it doesn't want to fund care anymore so
slowly wants to find ways that it can socially acceptably withdraw it. The level of attack on ADHD in the last two years has been huge!

For good reason, they first have to make sure its socially acceptable to withdraw it…

🙄ADHD is not a mental health condition. Don’t try lecturing on something when you don’t even know what it is.

And as for suggesting that one just brings changes into one’s life to treat mental issues such as OCD, trauma, deep depression, suicidal idealisation etc. 🤔How does that work, care to give us your tips for treating these conditions successfully with zero help from medication. Ditto with ADHD.Not the zero additives, yoga limited screens and leaping about on a forest advice either because as I desperate parent I tried all that and it didn’t work.

The NHS is actually very supportive re ADHD and autism, it wants more support and better access to diagnosis and treatment ( see NHS ADHD Taskforce I linked earlier). This is coming from SM keyboard warriors and the far right media.Oh and ignorant abelists who think they know better than those living with the condition but actually know very little and frankly just dislike ND people.

ADHD is from birth! You will
have symptoms from birth. So how do you explain that? Clearly something is wrong, if its not ADHD what is it?

Yea it is for now….But governments current and before have gradually started publicly giving their opinions against ADHD treatment and care. Now these ruthless careerists and opportunists are just number crunching psychopaths for the most part, but its them that dictate what the NHS can and cannot do. Thats the problem and when push comes to shove, the NHS will not hold the line.

I work in a school. I have worked with a number of children with ADHD and none of them have been medicated. I think the documentary gave the impression that every child who receives a diagnosis then goes on to use medication. Perhaps in other parts of the country this is true but it's not the case where I am. There is one child at our school whose parents would like to consider medication. They have been on the waiting list for the clinic for this for a good year or more.

Sorry I don’t agree. The NHS are unlikely to go to all the trouble of formulating an ADHD taskforce,with experts in the field, publish a report and then do the opposite to what they’re saying needs to happen in said report.

I am really on the fence on this one. On one hand I have a DD who was relatively ‘fine’ up to puberty with some autism signs, but beyond daydreaming, not necessarily ADHD. Cue secondary school and she’s diagnosed with dyspraxia and the occupational therapist suggests maybe Adhd.
We go to a private clinic and she is diagnosed and they suggest she’s perhaps AudHD.

Meds are not agreeing with her and she hasn’t suddenly become more able to focus. She went up a dose and it was disastrous.

I am convinced her issues are a mix of hormones, dyspraxia and maybe autism, but we were pushed meds.

Were they the right thing for her. I don’t know 🤷‍♀️

His point around learning coping mechanisms rather than medicating, is a good one. I do mean this for less severe cases.

C4 has always tried to be edgy, this is probably what they wanted - a a widespread reaction. The reality is their show could have done a lot of damage for people and children and their parents already struggling, they dont care and have never cared about the impact of what they put out. For the few shows its had over the years worth anything, Channel Four has always been a gutter TV network - and thats saying something by todays standards.

I know!!! The NHS published recently that only 5% of children are diagnosed with ADHD and only 25% of them have medication. Not the narrative the maker of this programme wanted so they left that out and just pushed their own obsessive views. Really awful damaging journalism.

Government are talking about cutting back on disability benefits for people with ADHD and Autism.

Their point is that most people with these conditions can and do function well in society and identifying as disabled and living a life on benefits is becoming endemic in the UK and it’s going to make it more and more difficult for the truly entitled to access these.

I know someone whose DS has autism. He is troubled and went through long periods of school refusal. My friend gave up work and gets 500 a month in benefits even though her son was 16 and back to school. It’s hard to see the reasoning behind this

No….But what happens when government pulls the plug? This is what Im saying, the government is whats circulating this rubbish and other two-bit politicians like Farage. There will be an agenda behind it there always is. The NHS may not have a choice in years to come.

100% the Government are looking at pulling back ADHD / Autism disability benefits.

I wouldn’t be banking on these benefits being available long term

ADHD most certainly does exist, but not in the numbers we see today. Grossly, grossly over diagnosed.

No the UK government is not specifically targeting autism or ADHD for individual benefit cuts, but it is broadly reviewing and proposing major reforms to disability benefits like Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit due to a rapidly rising national welfare bill. Whilst opposition parties have suggested removing cash benefits for conditions like ADHD or anxiety which are only allocated on need not diagnosis anyway , the government's official reviews focus on system-wide sustainability.

Completely wrong. ADHD is underdiagnosed in this country.

Exactly this - they wont be able to pull benefits without at least dividing the country in whether they should or shouldn't. Imagine as an example, they decided to withdraw treatment for people with cancer or some
such horrific condition, there would be millions on the streets tearing the country to pieces over it. Thats not how they do it, they plant the seeds of doubt enough so that they divide opinion then they act. Its what they have been doing for at least 30 years now. The fact that Labour and Tories both do it, while select politicians from all parties will also become weirdly onboard like Farage with his current anti-ADHD hate, should tell you all you need to know about how one of the same the parties tend to be on one too many issues! Im speaking as an electorate of no fixed political abode though! I distrust all politicians equally.

I didn’t say I think I know better.

I have myself battled anxiety and depression intermittently throughout my life. I have experienced both family members and GPs palm me off with anti-depressants, sleeping tablets, etc. I genuinely don’t believe they made much difference.

I fought back and overhauled my entire lifestyle. I needed to overhaul diet, sleep, exercise, those I interacted with, the types of situations I would involve myself with.

I truly believe medication often masks issues and prevents people from realising their own power within to change their habits and life. I wish more people would push back and realise the power they have within themselves already. I think there are a lot of people pushing medications and making money off people without looking at other lifestyle factors and negative influences they can change themselves, with encouragement and support.

NHS change their tune all the time. All the changes in mental health, care in the community, disputes on diagnosis etc. I wouldn’t count on ADHD provision remaining over the long term.

The use of ADHD medication has long been a concern around its use for weight loss that is not new

it can wear off but for some the reduction in appetite doesn’t particularly wear off when on a higher dose. The how to pass an ADHD assessments isn’t hard to access online and if you think this wouldn’t be used for weight loss then that is naive.

Private assessments in particular can be very quick and at times little advice is given (is printed out without full discussion) the monitoring advice of regular checking of weight and blood pressure or advice on how moods can be impacted and possible adverse effects when using substances along with an acceptance that the patient or parent understands the condition (at times this isn’t possible)

this should be standard when prescribing the medication but unfortunately it just doesn’t seem to be the case

oh yes they are

the NHS main policy at times appears to be covering accountability rather than what is in the best interests for their patients

Anxiety and depression can be fixed in the ways you have said as they can come and go and people can be more predisposed to them than others but you can also have a period of ease for years….and they hit again. Its great that this worked for you….ADHD is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and from birth. Its not the same. Its great that worked for you but to apply it to neurodiverse conditions would be hugely ill advised. It may assist in parts absolutely nothing wrong with what you are saying in terms if a healthy lifestyle but it may also make things hugely worse for some people.

Something's got to give though, and as has been said before on threads similar to this, people simply cannot go on disability benefits (at 18-20 years old) because they have ADHD, (as many do!!) and then stay on them for 50 years until they retire. It's untenable, and people with ADHD (and anxiety and depression and similar mental health conditions that people go on benefits for) need to be helped into work.

Training is needed, and a way into work for these people. It's impossible for them to be on benefits forever. Plenty of people have always worked with similar health issues, and unfortunately, the previous governments have enabled too many people when it comes to spending many years on benefits for mental health issues.

I am not saying these conditions are fake/made up, but everyone with these conditions cannot just go on benefits at 18-20 years old and stay on them or 50 years. Never working cannot be an option for them. As I said, they need help to get into work.

Wrong. The government has not said that. Their own NHS taskforce highlighted the huge impact autism and adhd have on life and how our prisons are over represented by those with ADHD, the impact on their education , MH and how under employed and unemployed people with both are not least because of the lack of diagnosis, support and treatment. To get an autism diagnosis it needs to have significant impact on life.

A diagnosis does not get you PIP, need does
and the process is robust. Some people with Austin will qualify, some won’t. Ditto ADHD and it’s often comorbidities that qualify you for any help.

No they’re completely different drugs. They actually have opposite effects on the brain. They’re both a stimulant but that’s where the similarities end. It’s like trying to compare caffeine and cocaine. Spreading unhelpful and false misinformation only adds to the stigma.

Google could have told you that.