OCD is in the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum, along with Autism, Aspergers, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and a whole slew of others. Basically, what this group of Psychiatrists/Psychologists called the DSM IV group (I can't remember what DSM stands for, but they meet every so often) is they took a whole bunch of diseases/disorders that they suspected were related to the brain and lumped them all together in a group called pervasive developmental disorders. They had/have no idea what causes them, how to cure them, how they were/are related, what makes them brain related. All the did know was that they were psychologists and had to have something to do. So, they VOTED these diseases into official existence.

Why do I say that? Because when I was a kid, and on Ritalin, there was no such thing as ADD or ADHD. I was just a hyperactive kid (break down the word. It means overly active. I was being penalized for being what a kid was supposed to be.). ADHD did not come into "official existence until the DSM IV meeting in 1988. Let me explain one of the reasons I'm so upset.

My sons and wife had to go to the Philippines for 2 years for my eldest son's educational progress. First, let me say, I don't really blame the education system or the teachers. However, my son was in pre-preschool for children with disabilities at age 4 and 5 in the school system here. We knew Josh was ADHD. Almost EVERY DAY, we got a call from either the teacher or the principal telling us that we should put Josh on Ritalin. How much better he would do on it. These were TEACHERS! Not medical professionals. I told them "When you show me your medical degree, that's when he'll go on Ritalin! Oh, don't have one? Well, I guess today won't be the day I put him on Ritalin then.". What they wanted was a child who would sit and stare dumbly at the blackboard.

Teachers are underpaid and overworked for what they are expected to do (at least the good ones are). Anything we can do to make their job easier or better, we should seriously consider. However, I draw the line at handing my kid a line of speed and saying "do this!". That's right, speed! Ritalin, according to the US FDA, is a class 3 narcotic, as is Aderall. What else are class 3 narcotics? Speed, Crank, Ice, Cocaine, Crack. And this is supposed to HELP our kids?

So, we refused the request/demand. when they tried to put too much pressure on us, they went to the Philippines for two years. He absolutely flourished over there. He still had his problems, but he GREATLY improved. The differences were several. Over there he had a lot of older kids to try and be like (cousins). Role models are good. Over there we discovered his allergies to eggs, chicken, cheese, peanuts, milk, chocolate, some seafoods, and a few other things (trigger for behavior problems). Most importantly, he was allowed to be a kid. Over here they see an active kid in school and they say put him on Ritalin. He's a distraction. What are we, Robots? Over there they say he's just being a kid. Guide him when he screws up, but let him enjoy his childhood. Big attitude shift. Big results. I know it was everything together, but people seriously need to be careful about medical diagnoses. Especially when they don't come from doctors. It's too easy these days to say "Oh, you don't feel well? Take a pill." or "You don't fit into my definition of what's normal. Take a pill."

I've been Bipolar (manic depressive) my whole life. It is what has given me my creative side. Without it, I'm just a number crunching coder. With it, I write songs, I play guitar, I woodwork my own designs, I Architect Computer Systems, I create Graphical User Interfaces. I'm not going to destroy the one thing that has allowed me to earn a living. Some of the brightest minds were along the PDD spectrum. Kurt Cobain (song writer for Nirvana) was manic depressive. Albert Einstein was ADHD. There are a bunch of others I could name.

Walter Mitty is a character in a book "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty". He can live an entire lifetime in his head in the time it takes his wife to go in to the hairdresser's and get a haircut. It's really a neat book.

Private Reply to Russ Howard (new win)