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Another highly readable tour-de-force, Robyn, showing that, yet again, Big Pharma has been caught with its finger on the scales. For a behaviour disorder for which there is no "identifiable, measurable differences in the brains of children" with or without ADHD, Big Pharma is making a killing by getting the psychiatric field to prescribe "mind-altering and heart-damaging drugs" for years to come. Still, you must give it to Big Pharma because prescribing a drug for a biological condition which doesn't exist is one hell of a business model (a bit like pumping the profitable Magic Covid Goo into billions of arms which cause all manner of medical mayhem and then double-dipping by prescribing life-long drug treatment for the cardiac and neurological problems the quaxxes cause). A "giant racket", indeed.

Your article brought back grim memories of my early career as a high school teacher, when the problem of hyper-inattentive, disruptive students was up close and personal so the behaviour problems covered by ADHD are quite real but, as you point out, there is a suite of reasons for such dysfunctional behaviour which can be addressed more holistically rather than enrolling the kids in a fruitless pharma regime.

You might be interested that even The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/depression-is-probably-not-caused-by-a-chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain-new-study-186672) has argued along similar lines with regard to depression which a new 'umbrella review' of the actual evidence for the hypothesis that it is caused by a “chemical imbalance” of serotonin in the brain simply doesn't stack up and is, instead, traceable to the pharmaceutical industry's "efforts to market a new range of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs" which received the imprimatur of the American Psychiatric Association (which must be regarded as an 'asset' of the money-splashing pharma giants). And hasn't that been a wild success with one in six of the adult population in England, for example, being doped up with emotion-numbing anti-depressants.

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When I was a kid in the 70's we had a relative who had a baby called Paula. Paula appeared to be an evil baby and then toddler of 2, she screamed and cried and had tantrums, threw things, played-up, was angry all the time and drove everyone nuts and was a nightmare. No-one knew what to do. Then one day they took her to the pediatrician and he diagnosed her as being allergic to MSG which was only a relatively new thing then and not widely known about (it was well-before they did the whole thing about taking it out of Chinese takeaway). I mean people knew it was around, but not many people yet knew it was something people reacted badly to. Well in those days MSG was in loads of mass-produced canned foods and it turned-out they were feeding her and her older sister loads and loads of canned foods packed with MSG. So they cut it all out of her diet and bang, she was suddenly good as gold. She stopped constantly crying, stopped screaming, wasn't angry all the time anymore, she was well-behaved and calm as can be. She became happy and well behaved. It was an allergy to the MSG which had been making her act that way all the time. So all these years later I often wonder if it's just a food allergy making kids act-out or act strangely. After all, we now have even more strange things in our food chain than ever before.

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Jul 23, 2022Liked by Robyn Chuter

Very timely considering the meta study that indicates anti-depressants are a scam.

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Jul 22, 2022·edited Jul 22, 2022Liked by Robyn Chuter

I Loved this article, thanks again. I have agonised for years over how intrusive i should be in sending students, parents, teachers to resources which go against the ADHD narrative. It seems yet another topic now has the Empowered! substack as my preferred reference. Your style and effort at substantiating claims - 'bringing receipts' - truly are a blessing for people like me.

A related issue of interest may be the failing effort to replicate pivotal scientific studies in Psychology, or the links between tech and attention in Johan Hari's 'Stolen Focus'.

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Jul 22, 2022Liked by Robyn Chuter

What is the difference between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist? If I am still correct the Psychiatrist has added by postgraduate studies a certification in a discipline called Psychiatry after completing a Degree in Medicine. This is all based on the Medical Model philosophy of human health which posits that a fault must be the cause of the condition. This may be a bit simplistic but is not far off.

A Psychologist does NOT need to first complete a Medical Degree and may not study Psychiatry but a broader range on Psychology, as well as Scientific Methods and Statistics, and others.

The language of Psychiatry, dominated by the giant of the field Sigmund Freud, is embedded in our language to the degree the DSM, written completely in Psychiatric language, words, terms and meanings, is THE reference that defines ALL conditions. The language and words invade everyday conversations to a point we do not question them. Health management systems, rules of treatment and support, government documentation and legislation, almost all use the DSM as the bible of mental health. We all know what the Ego is - right?

Now we have the Neuroscientists moving in with wonderful research and insights but it is also a field strongly based upon the mental model of 'there must be a fault' which is so much underlining the processes of neurology.

ADHD is a multi-faceted condition nearly impossible to define and not possible to simply define in the language of the DSM. Starting with the DSM to explore the needs of an individual and pinning on a label, especially one of ADHD, as an inherent fault that then structures whatever follows is in my mind bordering on the criminal. It is at the least, non-science, and unethical.

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Jul 22, 2022·edited Jul 22, 2022Liked by Robyn Chuter

Dr. James Davies also exposes the DSM scam, 9 people sitting around making stuff up, it was all total fiction, but used as a Bible for diagnosis and treatment by the entire worldwide mental health and pharma industry, this should be all over the media as one of the biggest cons in modern history. Dr. Davies gives a brilliant summary in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nd40Uy6tbQ

That paracetamol is still being recommended for pregnant women, just unbelievable!

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James Davies' book Cracked is a great read. He really pulled the curtain on the DSM scam.

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At least some ADHD cases seem related to autism and autism has a clear biological basis.

Cow's milk protein contaminated vaccines cause 75% of autism cases

https://vinuarumugham.substack.com/p/cows-milk-protein-contaminated-vaccines

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