Australian ADHD: What Exactly Is Going On?
ByI was surprised today to read online about the evolving ‘controversy’ about ADD/ADHD in Australia.
There was an article in the Daily Telegraph, which can be read here.
It seems that a committee has been set up to review the funding of ADHD medications by the government. However, because of the ‘ADHD Controversy’, the public and the press (and the oppoisition parties) are demanding to know the identities of the doctors involved to help to prevent a ‘conflict of interest’. The government has refused to release the identities of these doctors, because they were threatening to quit over it.
I am upset to hear that it is in this situation right now. It seems that the misinformation and stigma against ADHD has reached the level of the media and opposition parties.
But, I must admit – that I don’t really have a good sense of what is truly going on.
Is this debate affecting people’s ability to see the doctor that they need to see and to get the help that they need?
Are there any readers of this blog from Australia who can help to shed some light on this situation?
Is there anything that those of us from ‘overseas’ can do to help the situation?
Please add any comments below to share your opinions or views.
Thanks,
Dr. Kenny
Hi,
From my perspective the general feeling in Australia is that this is a non existant disorder & those who seek treatment are chasing the Drugs. After being diagnosed with ADHD at 27 (I am 35 now) I needed to go through an extreamly comprehensive approval process involving the Governments Medical Authorityt to be prescribed Dexamphetamine (I now live in Hong Kong & can go to ANY Family Doctor and they will give me a prescription for Concerta) so general perception is dissapointing. The ironic thing in Australia is that due to the incorrect perception the Government is reluctant to bring new extended release medication’s to the market. Essentially the governemnt will continue to push cheaper drugs that need to be dosed 3 times a day (and lets face it kids are kids and sending them to school with an afternoon dose of ADHD medication leaves the door open for these tablets to fall into the hand of other kids) rather than make Concerta available. As I will be returning to Australia soon I hope to see a change in attitude here and common sence prevail – as I have had a negative experience with Strattera and have no desire to go back to the multi dose rollercoaster available with the multi dose per day Dexamphetamine I will probably continue to purchase my medication from Hong Kong when on business travel – an expensive & uncontroled alternative….
We’ve had a SENATE INQUIRY into Australia’s Mental Health system in 2006. It was stated in that report that Australia had a large ”uneducated mental health workforce”. There’s a vanguard of psychiatry with brain science and then there’s ”psychiatrists/psychologists hanging onto the Freudian theories that used to ‘control’ psychiatry. No wonder thousands with pervasive developmental disorders go undiagnosed, untreated and therefore suffer catastrophic lives when you listen to the MYTHS that abound over allegedly the non existence of ADD, ADHD, ASPERGERS ETC. It’s a HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE to ignore a changed Medical world with brain science in the 21st century.
Cecile Lyons, son with ADD diagnosed by specialist in ADD/ADHD, medicated with Concerta.
The Daily Telegraph is well known to us in the ADHD community in Austtralia for running a consistently anti ADHD medication line in its reporting. Many attempts have been made to get retractions or clarifications published, almost all have been denied or belittled.
Commercial medi organisations are well known for their enthusiasm for “causes”- or editorial policies. These ploys are useful- as they allow the paper to have a pet issue guaranteed to whip their selscted readership into a frenzy and sell more newspapers and advertising space. Even handedness, and admitting you are wrong are bad for business.
As an adult AHD sufferer diagnosed at the age of 46 I find this incredibly frustrating. I know many people whose lives have been damaged badly when access to the right knowledge at the right time would have helped them, and their loved ones so much.
The curent situation suits so many people though. Untreated ADHD is a source of unending profit for many people. We spend carelessly, we suffer greatly and consume lots of medical resources, andin our distress we are a pool of suffering to be milked by any unscrupulous cult in town. Who would want to mess with that?
As a further comment- the issue over the guidelines is that some of the research was done by Dr Biederman, who has received funding from drug companies ( what medical researcher has not?) and was silly enough to say “I am God” to a US Senate enquiry ( not a group of people known for their appreciaton of irony).
The real irony here is that those making the loudest noises about self interest in this debate are concealing their own self interest.
As one of the first generation of ADHD drug guinea pigs, I have to agree Australian doctors are not under diagnosing ADHD and are handing out pills willy nilly. I had to suffer through high school with the ADHD stigma, horrible side and effects from the drugs. Growing up and getting to know “My disorder” I began to question the validity of the diagnosis and, when I was old enough to do so on my own, sought a second opinion. The result of which was the confirmation that I did not have ADHD, nor had I ever.
I suffered because of the medical industy’s desire to push drugs and make profits.
Remember when you complain about the government and media pushes to ensure accurate diagnoses, there are those of us who went through hell for nothing.
As a postscript:
Now 2 years and 2weeks after my life saving ( literally) diagnosis of ADHD- I have used the focus granted me by appropriately prescribed stimulants to train in a mindfulness technique. I have been happily off medication for 4 months now, as I have no need of it.
There is a lot of uninformed nonsense spoken on this topic. Those of us who have benefitted from the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of our ADHD remain deeply grateful for the care and compassion of practitioners who combine compassion with breadth of knowledge. We also know that the “drug seeking” story in relation to ADHD is quite frankly nonsensical. I am still of 2 minds though: should I sue the psychiatrist who missed my ADHD for 14 years? Is he fit to practice?
As for “anonymous” (13 October) – I do understand his concerns very well. I have seen some very disappointing outcomes of unskilfully applied drug only treatment of ADHD.
Anonymous should remember the old aphorism “One swallow doth not a summer make”. I am genuinely sorry that Anonymous may have been failed by his medical practitioners but that in no way makes his conclusions correct
As a member of a support group, I can assure Anonymous that incorrect diagnoses, have in the past, outnumbered correct diagnoses by a substantial margin. However, in the experience of our group (over 20 years) is that more people with ADHD are incorrectly diagnosed as not having ADHD, especially in the presence of comorbid anxiety, depression and Asperger traits.
The useful application of statistics will show that a sample of one does not constitute a meaningful observation when attributed to a population. Michael Sawyer’s observation in 2000 was quite clear that 11.2% of schoolage children exhibited ADHD traits. Note that this does NOT mean that they might be diagnosed with ADHD. Given that DSM4 is fundamentally flawed in that it attempts to use categorical classification of a dimensional problem (note I do NOT use the word “disorder”) that leaves a great deal of elasticity in the ability of less enlightened diagnosticians to set an arbitrary cut-off which can (and does) vary with the weather or if the diagnostician had bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Australia is blessed (or cursed) with an academic system which is so lassaiz fairre that it allows demonstrable lunatics to trumpet their idiocies from the highest balconies of the various Ivory Towers yet it allows the whole process of developing guidelines for ADHD to be derailed by the indiscretions of one loud foreign researcher.
The whole Guidelines development process, of course, was flawed from the stated a priori assumption that any findings made will be in agreement with government policy. As the then Minister for Health is on record before the process began, saying that ADHD is overdiagnosed and overprescription of stimulants is an issue, no other conclusion was possible under the terms and conditions of the process.
This of course, calls into question the whole process (I can hear the howls of protest from participants already) , as there is clearly a perception of bias.The rumour mill would have it that CoS and Big Pharma were able to also exert undue influence on some delegates (ie the Chairperson was forced to resign even before hearings began) and thus there is a second perception of bias.
Until ADHD is soundly correlated with objective markers of distress, discomfort and disfunction and the difference between causality and correlation are understood, there will always be arguments about incidence and diagnostic rates. A bit like arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
Meanwhile, as the numbers of adults diagnosed with ADHD and treated with stimulants reaches the number of children diagnosed, one has to ask, who is getting it wrong? Adults, being more articulate and less fearful of social stigma, are vociferously demanding their rights to a correct and appropriate diagnosis and treatment. The other interesting snippet is that with increasing age, the sex ratio more closely approaches 1:1. Does this mean that there is a fundamental attribute of ADHD which is being ignored by DSM4? That in females at least, the onset of ADHD can be delayed until adulthood. Or does it mean that there is some fundamental characteristic of ADHD in girls that has been ignored completely.