Condition Spotlight: ADHD
Obetrol was a pharmaceutical drug marketed in the 60s and 70s to make people skinny. Obetrol is a contraction of the words “Obesity Control”, literally. Clever marketing. The drug itself was an amphetamine, structurally identical to Meth. Yep. Meth. The same street drug in Breaking Bad. No wonder it helps you lose weight.
Have you ever seen somebody addicted to Meth? The “legal” Obetrol is pretty darn similar. Think about the bored housewife manically vacuuming the house. Obetrol! Helps you lose weight, and keeps your house clean.
In the 1990s, the exact same formulation of Obetrol was rebranded into a new drug, “Adderall”. Obetrol and Adderall are the exact same drugs, just different names.
Adderall was created from the words “ADD For All”. Words have power. The spell cast with this word certainly increased the amount of folks diagnosed with ADD. For All.
Essentially, we started giving energetic young kids a drug that 30 years before was given to overweight office workers. Let’s start them off young! Kids on Adderall become adults on Adderall = customers for life!
As a naturopathic doctor who specializes in the treatment of severe mental health conditions, I see a lot of people on pharmaceutical drugs. Most of my patients come to me either wanting to reduce their medications, or to avoid taking them altogether.
Cue ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. You’ve probably heard of it. If you’re a guy, there’s a 1 in 7 chance you were prescribed Ritalin or Adderall for it. 1 in 7. That’s the average in the US. It’s even higher if you attend an urban school. And it’s highest if you attend a wealthy boarding school.
Let’s break that last paragraph down, one part at a time. First, what is ADHD. Its diagnostic criteria include things that everybody has experienced at one time or another. Inattention: Difficulty paying attention at school. Doesn’t finish schoolwork. Loses things like eyeglasses. Or Hyperactivity: Fidgety. Squirmy. Unable to be quiet. Talks excessively and blurts out answers. Sound familiar? The interesting part is that most of the kids diagnosed with ADHD probably aren’t being challenged enough by their school.
So what happens when a teacher is overwhelmed with too many young adolescent boys in the room? She tells parents they need to put Johnny on ADHD drugs to help Johnny pay attention in school, and to help make her life easier.
As a doctor in the mental health field, I work with a book called the DSM. The DSM is basically the bible for psychiatrists. Inside, it outlines how to diagnose ADHD, and what to look for. It also spells out the exact number of people with ADHD: 5%. However, the average classroom has 20% of its children on drugs for ADHD. Why the difference? Overdiagnosis. It is easier to put kids on drugs, than it is to modify the curriculum for individuals.
Circle back to the drugs. Yes, even today, methamphetamine salts are prescribed for ADHD. Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Vyvanse. They’re all in the same class as the street drug, Meth. Scary, right?
In fact, if you look at Meth and Adderall next to each other, they’re shockingly similar. It would take an experienced chemist to tell the difference.
So what happens when a 10 year old gets put on the pharmaceutical equivalent to Meth? One thing is for certain, they don’t like coming off of it. Call it addiction. Call it an ability to get all your work done quickly. Call it a gateway drug to Coke. Whatever the case, young kids on Ritalin often become young adults on Ritalin.
So are there any options outside of drugs? Absolutely! I always remind my patients that my training focuses on the root cause. Find the root cause of the problem, and then cure will follow. Is the root cause of your ADHD symptoms that you don’t have enough Meth in your brain? No! So would placing Meth in your brain enact a cure? Nope. Spoiler alert: there is no natural Meth in your brain.
My approach is to target specific areas of the brain and provide a gentle stimulus to heal. Essentially, through utilizing natural medicines, I can help your brain to heal itself. It’s a profound concept. The idea that your braIn can heal itself. It’s a matter of figuring out where and how. That is the bulk of what I do.
Besides the stimulus from natural medicines, I also look at what is going on in the body that might prevent a cure. So-called obstacles to cure. Perhaps your brain is overwhelmed by heavy metals exposure. Perhaps you have a leaky blood brain barrier that is allowing things into the brain space that don’t belong there. Whatever the case, I like to think of myself as a Sherlock Holmes, leaving no stone unturned. It’s a journey, but the results are worth it.
