AD/HD Awareness Week

Just the day before AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) Week, Owen Robinson puts up a post complaining about a kid, who allegedly has ADD, using it as an excuse for hitting another kid. In the comments, Dad29, aka Mr. Sensitive, among other cavemen, puts up another example of his cluelessness to mental health issues.

AD/HD is a very real disease that affects not only children, but adults as well:

Many adults don't realize that they have ADHD until their children are diagnosed. Then they begin to notice their own symptoms. Adults with ADHD may find it hard to focus, organize, and finish tasks. They often forget things. But they also often are very creative and curious. They love to ask questions and keep learning. Some adults with ADHD learn to manage their lives and find careers that let them use those strengths.

But many adults have trouble at home and work. As a group, adults with ADHD have higher divorce rates. They also are more likely to smoke and have more substance abuse problems than adults without ADHD. Fewer adults with ADHD enter college, and fewer graduate. Treatment with medicine, counseling, and behavior therapy can help adults with ADHD.

For Owen, dad, or anyone else to be so dismissive of people with a mental health issue just ticks me off to no end. I don't know if it's a sign of their ignorance of the issues these people face on a day to day basis, or if it is a sign of their callousness and lack of insight. I hope it is the former, since that is easier to counter. If it is that they just don't give a damn, well, that says something about them.

For more information about AD/HD, I would refer the gentle reader to the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Attention Deficit Disorder Association, or WebMD.