Psychobabble is an interesting although sporadic blog by a “resident in psychiatry at an academic medical center”. This one of the rare instances when I would agree that anonymity is justified. The “psychiatrist in training” writes abut disciplinary medication:
Further reading:“I found most intriguing the bit where Phelps’ mother says that, although he was incapable of sitting still for five minutes in school, he was able to sit patiently at poolside for hours awaiting his chance to swim.
I’ve heard many stories like this about ADD/ADHD/CD/ODD children: unmanageable under the stringent circumstances of formal schooling (sit still, don’t move, don’t talk, pay attention), they blossom under circumstances that channel and challenge their natural energy. In fact, one research team has come up with interesting results suggesting that children with ADHD benefit from exposure to natural settings (Kuo and Taylor).
All this leads me to suspect that this entity which we treat as a disease may actually be a personality trait that lies on the normal spectrum, but that happens to be incompatible with the demands of our technological society. Human beings evolved to forage, track game, and avoid becoming prey. Those are the tasks for which we were optimally designed. Sitting quietly in school for six to ten hours a day is not in that job description. Humans are amazingly flexible, so most of us can handle it to a greater or lesser degree; but it’s not surprising that those out on the high-energy end of the personality spectrum are having some trouble.”