Ty Pennington's got your back

The 'Accent'(?) section of The Palm Beach Post featured this article today: The Chaos of The Distracted Mind. Much of the info is material we've seen before, as yet another reporter has decided to write about the Adult ADHD craze. There were some items I hadn't encountered, though:

First off, I didn't know Ty Pennington (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) had spoken out publicly about his ADHD. Nor, for that matter, was I aware of the show: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Also:

"ADD/ADHD is a popular diagnosis (since) the 1990s because it serves as a neat way to explain away the complexities of turn-of-the-millennium life in America," commented author Thomas Armstrong. "Ritalin use is up 500 percent over the past six years, yet it does not cure the problem."

Opponents also point out that 80 percent of the world's ADHD medications are sold in the United States.

In a public letter to then-Attorney General Janet Reno, pediatric neurologist Fred A. Baughman wrote: "The single, biggest health-care fraud in U.S. history is the representation of attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder to be an actual disease, and the drugging of millions of entirely normal American children."

Finally, food for thought for those of you holding off on filling those prescriptions:

"Some researchers estimate that 90 percent of the U.S. prison population has ADD," says W. Gardner Morgan, Palm Beach Gardens psychologist, author and ADHD coach.

"Just ask the police department, prosecuting attorneys and parole officers," confirms Judge Cynthia Cox of St. Lucie County. "Judges, especially in family court, see ADD offenders before them all the time."

I imagine being in jail would make most individuals pretty bored and irritable.

Here's further info on the study finding chromosome abnormalities in children taking Ritalin, from the Kansas City Star: Small study links Ritalin, cancer risk.