Adult ADHD - The Canadian Alliance Symptoms

It's not often that a top selling newspaper offers so much print space to fantasy. The Canadian Globe and Mail have excelled themselves with a recent article about Adult ADHD.

It's got the usual anecdotal story of a person who say's it's real...adding that it is "a legitimate diagnosis included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and recognized as a disability by government bodies such as Revenue Canada."

Well, if it's in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders then it must be real, right?

The article, which I cannot even be arsed to research deeply, contains a link to CADDRA [The Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance] who list the following symptoms as possible signs of Adult ADHD.

**Please note, these have not been made up as some sort of joke.


Adults may not recognize lifelong problems as symptoms of ADHD. Those who can relate to several of the following red flags may have the disorder:


• A history of impulsive behaviour and difficulty regulating attention.

• Problems with time management (keeping appointments, completing projects).

• Checkered work history and low productivity compared with potential.

• Anger issues (argumentative with authority figures, episodes of rage).

• Marital problems (spouse complains that he/she does not listen, forgets important events).

• Being over-talkative, interrupting frequently, speaking too loudly.

• Parenting problems (inadequate household routines, inconsistent or over-controlling as a parent).

• Money problems (impulsive purchases, bankruptcy, failing to pay bills or do taxes).

• Substance abuse (especially alcohol or marijuana) or excessive caffeine use.

• Addictions (collecting, compulsive shopping, sexual addiction, overeating, gambling).

• Unsafe driving (speeding tickets, serious accidents or being over-cautious to compensate for attention problems).

• Being the parent of a child with ADHD.

Yup, it appears CADDRA have pretty much cornered the market. Incidentally, CADDRA will be holding a two day conference at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre on October 14, 15 and 16. I wish they would have held it a few moths ago when I was out in Toronto, I would have loved to have gone...then again, chances are I would have fallen asleep during the talks of the white coated posse. Falling asleep doesn't mean you are tired or bored any more, it means you have ADHD...because the buffoons in white coats said so.

Fid


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Retired Hockey Star Wade Belak Hangs Self

Wade Belak “He had referred to having been on ‘happy pills’ for four years,”

News filtering through the National Post [Canada] suggests that former NHL star Wade Belak, was on antidepressants for four years.

Belak was found dead last week in a downtown luxury hotel in Toronto. He had hanged himself.

Wade Belak's mother, Lorraine, told CBC that her son didn't talk about his depression a lot.

The National Post's Sean Fitz-Gerald writes:

Lorraine Belak said she last spoke with her son on Sunday, before he left his family home in Nashville for a flight to Toronto, where he was preparing for his role on the CBC show Battle of the Blades. On Thursday, Lionel Aadland, Belak’s father, said the family had been told Belak had taken his own life.

“Of course, I couldn’t believe it,” his mother told the CBC. “I was stunned, shocked, but most of all, I just could not believe that this happened to him.”

Belak’s funeral will be held Sunday in Nashville, where he had settled with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children.

“The lesson we’ve learned from Wade will haunt many of us for a long time — you never know what’s going on in someone’s head,” TSN host Michael Landsberg told TSN Radio on Friday afternoon. “Wade Belak apparently had an external ability that was mind-blowing, how good he could sell his mental well-being. Always smiling.”

Landsberg, who copes with depression, told the station he and Belak had been discussing the condition and its treatments on and off for at least four years. He told the station they had talked about it as recently as a week ago.

“He had referred to having been on ‘happy pills’ for four years,” Landsberg said on the air. “And I said to him, ‘They’re not happy pills, as you know. At best, they return you to being the way you were beforehand.’ ”

It's interesting to note that Belak had been taking medication for his depression for four years, medication that was supposed to help him. It's unknown if Belak had abrubtly stopped taking his medication, if he had, then suicidal thoughts, that are an adverse event of this type of medication, could have been the reason why he did what he did.

A proper death investigation by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, should include a review of his medical records and postmortem toxicology of any psychiatric drugs he was prescribed at the time of his death. They should be especially looking for changes in dose and /or the addition or deletion of any psychiatric medications, since these are high risk times for drug-induced, violent completed suicide

Belak was just 35 years old.

RIP

Full story HERE




Fid 


ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING 


AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

CCHR Canada - Another Emotional Journey

Toronto - 27th Aug 2011

I've not long got back from Toronto. CCHR Canada invited me out to give a talk about my advocacy work.

It's extremely difficult to get up in front of people and talk about the reasons why I do what I do, CCHR, wherever they are based, have a unique ability to make one feel at ease. The Canadian ball busting branch of CCHR are no different.

Once again, I was made to feel very special by this kick-ass movement. Landing in Toronto on Thursday, being taken for dinner, of the sticky rib variety then off out with one of the sisterhood, Lori Farquhar-Bryenton, to sup on a few Canadian samples of light ale. We discussed many things and I just felt so 'right'. Lori is now officially my Canadian drinking buddy.

Canada holds a very special place in my heart. Regular readers of this blog will know the story of Oakville teen, Sara Carlin, who hanged herself whilst on Paxil. Sara's story really reached out to me, it was a bond that I just cannot explain but I knew one day I would get to finally pay my respects to her. That's a private moment and one that I won't share on this blog. Sufficed to say, I did what I needed to do and now feel much better for it.

The CCHR gala, an annual event, was held at Lakeshore, a former psychiatric unit, only CCHR could muster up such a genius location. The whole event was kicked off by the new Chill EB video made in collaboration with CCHR International. It was the first time this had been aired to a live audience and I have to say it gave me goose bumps and was greeted enthusiastically by the sell out audience.

Guest speakers for the night was myself and Anthony Stephan of Truehope. Anthony gave a passionate talk to the audience about his life and his work which resulted in a standing ovation. He's an accomplished speaker and much of his work has tried to be shot down by the Canadian health regulator, Health Canada - they failed.

My talk was pretty much off the cuff [no script]. I really enjoyed speaking and felt only a slight twinge of nervousness but that was soon washed away. It's surreal for me to be given such a standing, I'm just a council tenant from Birmingham who decided to write a blog back in 2006, to be plummeted into a world of folk that are pretty much all on the same page as I gives me such an adrenaline rush. To be treated like someone special is kind of difficult for me to accept too but it is accepted graciously because it means people are reading my work, more importantly they are listening to the voices of Sara Carlin, Matthew Steubing, Candice Downing, Sharise Gatchell, Toran Henry, Shane Clancy. That is the most important thing for me. These beautiful children should not have been taken from their family and friends and it is only with the great courage of their parents, family and friends that myself, and others like me, will give them what they deserve - a voice. CCHR also give the lost a voice, they also take preventative action so that loved ones are made aware of the dangers of these bullets in a pack. I am in no doubt that medication caused the aforementioned to take their own lives, no doubt at all. I wish I had never met the parents of the children above. The only reason I have is because of their loss. I would sacrifice my friendship with all of them just so they could have their babies back.

Other children are taking these meds, many are falling by the wayside and I will, along with CCHR, do my utmost to continue spreading awareness about the dangers of these drugs, the greedy bastards who make them and the limp-wristed cowards that grant them a licence. I've not changed in my stance against using psych meds on kids. I used to bang the drum loudly about Seroxat [Paxil] - hooking up with CCHR opened my eyes, they kind of fine-tuned me, if you will.

I have met so many great people in Canada, hooking up with the Carlin family was sad...yet uplifting. Paying a visit to the offices of Oakville MP, Terence Young, was also a great highlight for me.

I'm not going to let Sara Carlin's memory be forgotten. Those responsible for her death know exactly who they are, it is they that will have to live with that - I may just remind them occasionally.

Same goes for other children lost to this wanton abuse and denial of those responsible for the safety of prescribing medication to the vulnerable.

I'm in my sixth year of blogging now, my archives are full of sad stories, full of devastation...yet it is voices that are reaching out, warning others about the dangers.

I'm just a small voice...but I've hooked up with an even bigger one in CCHR.

I stand united by their side.

Here's to the next 6 years of psychopharmaceutical monopoly ass kicking!