Psychosurgery for ADHD Kids??

You know it's coming. It's inevitable. If I were the parent of a child who medicine was trying to label as ADHD, I'd be very worried. Check out this article:

Brain Abnormality Linked to Hyperactivity Disorder

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Brain scans of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show abnormalities in the fiber pathways along which brain signals pass, scientists said on Monday.

The finding indicates the disorder may be more than just a chemical imbalance, they added.

Using an imaging technique called diffusion tensor imaging, researchers found subtle anatomical differences in children diagnosed with ADHD that may affect communication between key areas of the brain -- the frontal cortex, basal ganglia, brain stem and cerebellum.

"These areas are involved in the process that regulate attention, impulsive behavior, motor activity, and inhibition -- the key symptoms in ADHD children," said lead researcher Manzar Ashtari, an associate professor of radiology and psychiatry at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New Hyde Park, New York.

In another study, Ashtari found the brain irregularities diminished in children who had been medicated with stimulant drugs for an average of 2 1/2 years.

"The findings ... indicate that the therapeutic effect of stimulants may involve a brain normalization process," said co-researcher Sanjiv Kumra, a psychiatrist at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York.

"Typically, ADHD is described as a chemical imbalance, but our research has shown that there may also be subtle anatomical differences in areas of the brain that are important in this disorder," Kumra said.

Between 3 percent and 5 percent of American children are diagnosed with ADHD. Millions take stimulants to counteract the behavior, which can be disruptive both at home and in school and can lead to problems later in life.

The research was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

http://tinyurl.com/5gojm

Why Aren't the Men Considered Crazy?

I was sitting here reading this story about a murder similar to the one for which Scott Peterson has been convicted. http://tinyurl.com/6waoe The killer, Todd Garton, murdered his very pregnant wife and was sentenced to death.

What I noticed was that no one ever questioned Garton or Peterson's sanity. They seemed to decide that these men were evil, but sane. This is different than Andrea Yates or Deanna Laney who society decided were insane right away.

There are some important differences in the cases ... the men murdered an adult woman and an unborn fetus while the women murdered defenseless children.

But still ... there isn't even a hint that these men might be insane. Not even gossip. Interesting.

Once in a While the System Works

This is a great story - the subject, a mentally ill single mother, utilized all kinds of services from a women's shelter to social services to a HUD apartment. Shame on those who want to cut these services. They are vital to creating a fair and just society.
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Mother, overcoming mental illness, yearns for her daughters
By ABBY GRUEN FOR THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: November 24, 2004)

MOUNT VERNON — Lynn MacArthur wants her 6-year-old twin daughters back.

MacArthur, who suffers from bipolar disorder, lost her apartment and custody of her girls four years ago, about the time she was committed to a psychiatric hospital. Now, with the help of a number of social-service agencies, she has been having overnight visits and is getting closer to having the twins, Laura and Lorraine Viruet, move in permanently.

"Getting my family reunited is all I want," MacArthur said. "I've come a long way, and it's been rough. I'm just grateful to all the people and support services that continue to help me with my life now."

Finding an apartment and stabilizing her illness are MacArthur's first steps toward getting her children back. She is fortunate to be one of the 10 mentally ill adults out of 712 qualified referrals this year to be placed in Shelter Plus Care housing in Westchester County.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the program subsidizes housing for the mentally ill, with treatment and support services such as psychiatric visits or therapy and weekly caseworker visits included.

http://www.tinyurl.com/6m9op

The Dena Schlosser Case

Just when you think the post-partum psychosis cases can’t get any worse, along comes the Dena Schlosser case. This one is so horrific that I predict that it will not be a big media circus. The details are just too repugnant to deal with for long. This woman (glup) severed her infant’s arms while listening to hymns, something she freely and calmly admitted to the 911 operator who called her home.

The religious element is there again. It’s spooking me out. Again, the case is in Texas. We know that Deanna Leaney was influenced by the Andrea Yates case – was this case influenced by those cases?

We know that post-partum psychosis only occurs in 1-2% of all new mothers, but is this horrific violence a new trend, or is it just being reported more widely?

Schlosser had apparently had undergone psychiatric treatment (whatever that means) for post-partum depression and her spouse was worried enough to call about her during the work day. The details are still unclear, but Psychosurgery.org will follow them in this blog and in the newsletter.

What Does Vioxx Mean to You?

This month has seen a shocking public indictment not only of the drug Vioxx, but of the entire FDA regulatory system. A firebrand doctor named David Graham, a safety official with the organization, claimed in Senate testimony:

"It is important that this committee and the American people understand that what happened with Vioxx is really a symptom of something far more dangerous to the safety of the American people," David Graham, associate director for science and medicine in the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, told the Finance Committee. "Simply put, FDA and its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research are broken."

Psychosurgery.org tends to stay away from arguments about psychiatric medication these days as there are many groups who work on that front already. This revelation cannot go unnoted, though. These conditions are, in my opinion, similar to those under which lobotomy was allowed to flourish. People with agendas that have little to do with healing are making decisions that adversely affect the lives of untold numbers of victims.

It is true that the Food and Drug Administration would never be involved in regulating a surgery like lobotomy, but what makes it relevant is the nexus of coercion and mental health. If the FDA is as broken as Dr. Graham suggests, then we have no idea what the long-term damage might be to those whom we force to take psychiatric medication. I do not believe that all of these people refuse to take medication simply because of a psychotic syndrome which makes them believe that they are well. Most of them don’t take it because it is very bad for them and makes them sick. Maybe they are telling us something, and our refusal to listen and use of forced medication is slowly killing them.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m no luddite. I’m the first to reach for medicine when I have a twinge of a headache. But my goodness this is getting scary. You really must think for yourself whenever invasive treatments or powerful medications are prescribed. No one will look out for you better than yourself.