Hyper Campers

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  • Posted By: Yellowcar @ 07/14/2008 11:12:15 AM

    Vincent Van Gogh lived to the age of 37----he was born in 1853-----he created one of his best works of
    art in a Mental Ward----Starry Night----in the center of the picture some people say they see a Yin/Yang---
    I believe Vincent realized life was Changing, and he must find a way to deal with all the Changes----

    In the US we have 15% of the population that is considered to be mentally ill-----is the percentage
    going down or up? Do we help to create are own Mental Illness? I feel the answer is YES----
    We are the creators of mental illness-----to reduce the percentage down, we must all change------
    if we don't CHANGE then the percentage will remain the same or increase------Vincent Van Gogh was
    correct, it is the ability to Accept Change and deal with Change----
    Mental illness doctors must spend more time on correcting the chemical imbalance and less time on controlling the chemical imbalance----and therefore the percentage of mental illness in the US will
    decrease, instead of increase.
    chemical imbalance.

  • Posted By: Mystica @ 07/14/2008 11:05:42 AM

    Its not like I don't agree that some kids are just given medicine because their are parents that don't want to deal with them, but I am one of the unlucky people that have had ADHD all my life. I was diagnosed in the 70's and being a female it was really rare, I stopped taking naps at 9mo, would not stay at my desk, zone off while people talk to me and could not focus enough to clean anything. In Kindergarten my school told my mother that if she didn't do something that they would have to take me out of the main-stream class because I was disruptive. All they had was Ritalin and yea, it sucked. But I did finish school because of it, otherwise I would have dropped out and been white-trash, but - I graduated top of my class and I work for a very large software company. I believe in ADHD, I had it, normal kids didn't want to play with me because I was to eratic for them. We didn't have X-box or computers back then. So yea, don't put every kid on the medicine, but there are kids out there that need it.

  • Posted By: mom 2 2 @ 07/14/2008 11:03:53 AM

    I have ADD my dad has ADD and my son has ADD. My son and I are now on Meds and I didn't start taking them untill I was an adult. They help....It is not just the kids need to blow off steam...They can't concentrait. It's like wearing headphones that amplify everything going on around you, directly into your head, ALL DAY!!!! I would like to see you complete your work day in the same manner you do it now with these on. It is not that it cannot be done, althought for some it may not be possible, but a child does not understand why they can not do the things their friends do or why they have so many problems doing what should be simple tasks. Why would you care if other parents gave their children meds that helped them cope and succeed in this society. I would think you would appreciate the fact that these parents are willing to do what it takes to make their children effective members of society so you do not have to pay for them later.........

  • Posted By: MOTOMOM65 @ 07/14/2008 11:02:36 AM

    i HAVE A SON WITH ADHA AND HE TAKES CONCERTA i BELIEVE YES HE NEEDS THIS MEDICATION ALL THE TIME WHEN HE DOESNT TAKE IT HES OUT OF CONTROL .nO I DONT WANT HIM ON THIS BUT WHEN HIS NOT HE'S A MESS. sCHOOL WAS A STRUGGLE UNTIL HE GOT TO 7TH GRADE THEY NOTICED HE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS READING AT A 4TH GRADE READING LEVEL ON IN 7TH GRADE HE 'S BE ON THE HONOR ROLL EVER SINCE ,IM THANKFUL TO BJHE SCHOOL,FOR HELPING MY SON.
    MY SON DEOSNT PLAY VIDEO GAMES OR WATCH TV 24/7 HE RACE'S DIRT BIKE AND IS PRETTY GOOD . THIS BOY OF MINE HAS CAME A LONG WAY.

  • Posted By: sonshinekt3 @ 07/14/2008 11:01:44 AM

    Kids do need meds, I am a young adult who struggles with ADHD and my meds are my best friend on some days. I have hobbies and things that I enjoy doing, but it is a struggle to focus and keep your mind from wandering all the time. Also, the meds do help with moodiness. I agree with camp not being a good time for a break from them...keep in mind who the others that will be dealing with the child!

  • Posted By: Yellowcar @ 07/14/2008 8:31:39 AM

    We label kids ADHD until they become an adult, then we call them bipolar. We have apx. 7 million
    800 hundred thousand bipolar people in the USA-----when the adult bipolar person comes OFF DRUGS, he get GPS on his car by the local Police Department------
    So your article just told all the kids (ADHD---bipolar) it is A-OK to come off your drugs-----is everyone in the
    US crazy?

    • Posted By: mindofmyown @ 07/14/2008 11:00:02 AM

      I am 45 years old and am bipolar, my son has recently been diagnosed with ADHD. It absolutely infuriates me that people like you, Yellowcar, with your infinite wisdom has the right to play God. Do you have the same views on cancer, diabetes, lupas, any of the other millions of illnesses out there? Just because you don't jack**** about it, does not give you the right to condemn those of us who DO know about it and/or have the disorder. Mental disorders have been around for years, they were just labeled crazy because research had not reached the level it has today and we have a long way to go. If you are not bipolar or ADHD or suffer from any other mental disorder then you have absolutely no right to put your ignorant opinion in on this subject. I'm sure you wouldn't tell a cancer victim how to treat their illness would you? As for coming off the meds, it is sometimes impossible to even find the right meds for each individual, THAT'S HOW COMPLEX THE HUMAN BRAIN IS. I don't blame myself for my son's ADHD because of my bipolar, I thank my Christ and Savior that he has that instead of bipolar. And a bit more information, ADHD does not "turn into" bipolar when we become adults, they are two completely separate disorders. If you want to run your mouth and throw your opinions around, at least make sure you know what the he** you are talking about it. It is people like you that will keep out society ignorant about brain disorders. Do you even know how many very famous people were/are bipolar? Thought not. Read up, we're not crazy, but maybe a glance deep inside yourself may surprise you.

  • Posted By: zedthehead @ 07/14/2008 10:02:58 AM

    From the reaction of most people you would wonder how how people survived for tens of thousands(six thousand if you are a Cristian) of years without it . Sure would hate for the almighty drug companys to lose all that money, better tell people it's not a good idea for kids to be kids!!!

    • Posted By: njw456 @ 07/14/2008 10:41:07 AM

      well it might not of been thousands of years ago but some people went to physicwards cause there wasn't any meds to keep them under control some people need medication to keep their brain blanced out so they don't seriously injure people and i also believe that these same people should have the rights we have if all it takes is for them to take a pill everyday.

  • Posted By: Yellowcar @ 07/14/2008 10:32:11 AM

    We all see that 15% of the US population are considered to be mentally ill. Why? Has anyone
    ever wondered WHY?
    It all revolves around You and Me-----the ability to create a Major Chemical Imbalance, and how fast we
    can create a Major Chemical Imbalance------this can take place in apx. 6 days----so WE create are own
    chemical imbalances. Some will Fall sooner then others, however everyone can Fall over a period of Time.

    So the question is Why? What causes the Major Chemical Imbalance, how do we create the chemical
    imbalance, and HOW can I Correct the chemical imbalance.

    For the past 100 years the best we can do is CONTROL the major chemical imbalance, we don't really
    know how to Correct the chemical imbalance.

    Is it possible to CORRECT the Major Chemical Imbalance-----I say Yes----others will say NO-----however
    I believe it can be possible to Correct the Major Chemical Imbalance------
    The drugs today only CONTROL the chemical imbalance, either way, we must not DO Nothing----because
    Nothing is Nothing----

  • Posted By: mmiller641 @ 07/14/2008 9:41:28 AM

    I take my child off adderall every weekend and all summer. The only reason he is even on it is because the need for conformity in schools. He is not hyperactive, but unable to focus. He doesn't have dicipline problems but can't seem to stay tuned in school. Our family is comfortable not having him on it full time and we have learned to "deal with it" when he is not on meds. Other than the school pressuring us to put him on meds, I would never had put him on them. He is "non-conforming", and schools can't seem to handle that I guess. But there are times during the summer and on weekends that we do give him a small dose, just to keep him more level headed, and not get into problems. The main reason I take him off is so that he can eat properly. The pills make them not hungry, and he is slim anyway. I was afraid that it might cause he some development problems, especially during times of growth spurts when he would normally eat like crazy. Taking him off the meds is a good thing, you just have to keep an eye on them and make them aware of what they are doing, if it is unacceptable behavior, and help them be more self diciplined. It isn't easy, but I feel it is worth it. I will only going along with conforming when it is neccessary for learning or social settings. . Other than that, let their amazing spirits fly free! They are amazing, brilliant, and truely special kids!

    • Posted By: lftnjfornc @ 07/14/2008 10:06:32 AM

      I would not take the kids off the meds for the summer. It consitency that they need!!!!!!!!!!! IT HELPS

      • Posted By: jojobinks70 @ 07/14/2008 10:30:27 AM

        For your child, its your decesion. Don't judge, if their doctor is ok with this, who are you to tell someone else what they should do with their kid. There are NO ABSOLUTES, when it comes to this stuff, each child is different.

  • Posted By: njw456 @ 07/14/2008 10:25:25 AM

    I am an adult (19) with ADHD and I have been taking it since i can remember now in school i never got teased for taking meds, although i know it can be a problem for some, not for this one. Most comments from teachers or other people were, "I couldn't even tell you were on meds or you have ADHD." I needed my meds not in a way like i abused them. when I was younger if i didn't take them my parents knew it, it was obvious that i didn't listen or pay any attention to what anyone had to say. "I was", as my parents put it, "In my own little world." Which was true when i was off my meds. I never got taken off for the summer or on weekends, I was in boyscouts and I went to summer camps. I did everything any other kid would do. Taking meds didn't seem to have any effects on my social life at all. I know go off them everyonce in a while just to see if I can control my attention. I tend to get sleepy but after being off for a couple days i can really control myself. I do still see that even know i am off my meds I do have trouble paying attention. I'm just trying to say that having ADHD is nothing to be ashamed of. So parents if you want to help your kids who have ADHD, start by making sure everyone knows that your kid has it and i'm sure your child will find out some of their freinds have it to and the teasing will stop. Remember if you are ashamed of what your kid has then your kid will more than likely feel the same way!!! This is coming from a kid that knows what its like to grow up with ADHD.

  • Posted By: lftnjfornc @ 07/14/2008 10:10:38 AM

    No I would not take my son off meds for the whole summer. They need consitency and the meds HELP so much. My son went to camp the 4 weeks this summer away from us. He learned so much and if he was off the meds he would not have learned all that he did. He is on VYVANSE 70mg. Its wonderful!!! NO meltdowns, no angry episodes , its good for 12 hours. If he cant sleep once in a while, I give him a MELITONIN 2mg I get it al the GNC store. ITS ALL NATURAL , it relaxes him and he sleeps through the nignt.

  • Posted By: WhyNotV2 @ 07/14/2008 10:07:21 AM

    I admit that I didn't read all the comments, but as an adult user of Aderall XR for the past 3 months, I actually look forward to my weekends 'off'. My Doctor prescribed my medication to help with my focus issues after 35 years of being called "Mentally and Physically Hyperactive". The mini-holidays each week allow me to blow off steam more easily and entertain myself. I do take them when I have a project that needs to be worked on that requires concentration and focus or if I'm working that weekend. Getting back to the point of the article and to echo what a few folk were saying...everyone is different, child and adult alike. Do what works best for that individual whether it's summers off or summers medicated as long as the person in question is healthy, safe and full of life, so be it.

  • Posted By: IMagicSchool @ 07/14/2008 7:05:11 AM

    ADHD is a simple manifestation of the harried life western society has created. Children need good parenting, nutrition and sleep. In my practice over the past 20 years I have never once met a parent who was medicating their child who had also looked at and put adequate (substantial) energy toward all of the true, hard issues of good parenting, sound nutrition through providing foods that are of the earth, or one step above the earth and lot of fresh, clean water, and 10 - 12 sleep per night on a consistent basis from birth, especially through puberty. ADHD is a pharmaceutical dream, a child's nightmare and the effects of these drugs won't truly be known for another 50 - 100 years, when we see the real results in the youth of the youth of these drugged children. The human body works perfectly when it is not abused through lifestyle or deprivation of nutrition or sleep. ADHD is a manifestation of the lack of silence, lack of good parenting and low-energy media consumption and overstimulated, harried lifestyles that so many in our society call normal. My lifework gets kids off meds by learning how to do what they need to do to be successful--and that is different for every child, every person. Yet, it is much more easily attainable than one might think. I encourage any parent who is medicating their child to go inside themselves and listen--we make mistakes as parents when we go against our instincts. Any parent who self-reflects in this way will know ADHD or ADD drugs are yet another modern quick fix that carries a heavy price. I have helped hundreds of parents create the life of their dreams after they had seen many stressed, dark times as families. There are substantial, real resources available and the answers are in you and your family, not drugs. Cara Day-McKellar www.Day-McKellar.com

    • Posted By: lauramartin1970 @ 07/14/2008 9:36:18 AM

      Unfortunately that is not true for all children. My son Alex, now six, has slept 10 good hours per night since he was 2 months old. He drinks only water and milk. He eats mostly fruit and whole grains. However, he is on the autistic spectrum with sensory perception disorder and his doctor put him on a patch called Daytrana. Within 2 months he went from the "special" classroom to the mainstream kindergarten. When not on the patch he can get aggressive and I promise you it is not from his diet or bad parenting. I had to say something because what you have said is just not true for every child on medication. Your method make work for some children, but certainly not all.

  • Posted By: jojobinks70 @ 07/14/2008 9:19:38 AM

    As a Child and Family Therapist, I have seen the benefits from medication vacations (for ADHD only), especially in regards to kids having growth spurts while off. If the child and family can handle the increase in symptoms, of course you need to discuss it with your psychiatrist or primary care.

  • Posted By: firemedic258 @ 07/09/2008 5:28:57 PM

    If parents want to give the kids a break from the meds, the parents need to supervise the children. The parents who take the kids of the meds and then ship them off to camp are being selfish. They know that this will likely be a time when the child will be difficult to handle, so they arrange for someone else to handle the child. They then assume they can use the reports from the camp to determine if the meds are still necessary. Way to be a good parent! If the kid is going to camp, leave the kid on meds. If my kid was hurt by a child who was off the meds, I would be talking to a lawyer about my options. This would not be an "accident" and I would hold the parents responsible for their irresponsible decision.

    • Posted By: motherhen @ 07/14/2008 9:07:56 AM

      I totally agree that parents who take their children off medication and send them away to camp should be held responsible for damages to other people or the property. My son has ADHD, functions on the higher end of the Autism spectrum, with Pervasive Developmental Delay (PDD), which means he does not function on the same level as his same aged peers in most peers. If I allow him on field trips at school his father chaperones. I would not dream of turning him loose in setting that is new, with new people, and expect the people to deal with him. That would be a parent setting the child up for failure! Does the child deserve some time away from parent, or more strenous outside activity than what is normally done? I would say yes, but with parental supervision. I took my son cracking his head open at school when he was 6yrs old for me to accept his diagnosis and put him on meds. I thought, "if he is such a hazard to himself, how dangerous could he be to others?" I do not like that he is on meds, but without them any school time or social function is VERY difficult for him.

  • Posted By: Yellowcar @ 07/14/2008 8:40:08 AM

    Who am I?
    You stated:
    Who are this idots, with the stupid comments?

    Name calling is not the answer-----you are the one that does not understand------
    You see you never experienced the problem----you are not ADHD, you are not bipolar----all you say, is what
    you see with your brother. YOU DON"T HAVE THE PROBLEM----you never experienced the problem.
    So please----be quiet------and go away-----
    I know, because-----I've lived in hell with the problem----you and others, don't even understand------

    The idiot is you----

  • Posted By: bunkeygrl1 @ 07/14/2008 8:36:53 AM

    I have a 17 year old son who has ADHD and we have been dealing with this for over ten years since it was diagonsed. I do not believe children who take medication should be taken off of it. This disorder is not a part time event. It needs to be treated as any other illness. If I were to take my mother off BP medication because she was going on vacation and something happened to her I would be responsible. Same thing with ADHD. The treatment is given for a reason and should be consistant so our children have the best possible quality of life. They deserve that chance.

  • Posted By: rl1mom2 @ 07/14/2008 8:34:55 AM


    Who are these idots, with the stupid comments? Do they have children with ADD or ADHD? You really don't know how these children react with or without the drug. I have dealt with the disease all my life. My brother has it and so does my son. I knew at the age of 4 that my son needed some extra help. The disease is a chemical inbalance of the brain. If my son did not need it He would not be on it. He takes the minimal amount to focus during school and then has the summer break. There is a great difference in his behavier off the drug but it is tolerable. I love him and would do anything I could to make things easier for him to do better in life. If anyone say that parents are to blame for the children on these drugs really don't know how much we do love them and put them on the drugs so they are not labled as disobedient and troublesome individuals. We had tired the diets and the extra sleep but everyone is different. Everyone has an opinion but do they have the facts? Sometimes one thing that works for one does not work for another.

  • Posted By: rl1mom2 @ 07/14/2008 8:27:21 AM


    Who are this idots, with the stupid comments? Do they have children with ADD or ADHD? You really don't know how these children react with or without the drug. I have dealt with the disease all my life. My brother has it and so does my son. I knew at the age of 4 that my son needed some extra help. The disease is a chemicla inbalance of the brain. If my son did not need it He would not be on it. He takes the minimal amount to focus during school and then has the summer break. There is a great difference in his behavier off the drug but it is tolerable. I love him and would do anything I could to make things easier for him to do better in life. If anyone say that parents are to blame for the children on these drugs really don't know how much we do love them and put them on the drugs so they are not labled as disobedient and troublesome individuals. We had tired the diets and the extra sleep but everyone is different. Sometimes one thing that works for one does not work for another.

  • Posted By: Yellowcar @ 07/14/2008 8:23:46 AM

    Your article make it look OK for a kid that is ADHD to come off their DRUGS during the summer.
    You and others Don't Even Understand------this is not a GAME----this is Real Life-----
    An ADHD kid suffers from a MAJOR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE, that chemical imbalance can cost him/her
    their life----the suicide rate is extremely high for people that are ADHD-----on drugs and off drugs-----
    Your article makes it look OK to stop the DRUGS-----it can kill many children in the USA----
    To correct a Major Chemical Imbalance, I feel can be possible, however it will require much time and many
    changes------religion is not the answer, a summer camp is not the answer------
    The Major Chemical Imbalance must be controlled by drugs or you must find the way to CORRECT the
    chemical imbalance. To do NOTHING is NOTHING-----to say it will go away during the summer-----
    NO WAY------chemistry is chemistry-------life is life------
    Everyone better start understand the REAL TRUTH ----ADHD is nothing to PLAY WITH----it is real hell.

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