relax roost - thats just lj bein lj

O.k. for now.
I am very sensitive when it comes to children, because they are born innocent, and we make them what they are.
So I have a hard time with some of these remarks here about children.

We try to anyway. When my youngest lived with hiws mother he was excessively violent. Punching holes oin the walls arguing all the time - fighting braking things... He's an honor roll student now. Trust me, I think I understand.

That is the potential...
 

Hundreds of kids in the foster system, because this behavior is not the "norm."
most of them are so smart though, they need more work in social skills, because thier brain focuses on other development.
Congrats for your son.

Well Impulse Control Disorder is really an umbrella term covering many different disorders. Kleptomania, pyromania, and Intermittent Explosive Disorder would all be considered impulse disorders, but the term itself is too vague by itself to really mean much.
Most are abnormal extensions of what we might normally experience playing a sport for example. There is a buildup of intensity and energy which is released as pleasure after the touchdown or goal is scored. The difference between the person acting like a dick, and the person acting under these impulses is that between actions the person may feel ashamed or frightened of their actions, only to be irresistibly drawn to them as the tension builds again.

Identifying the root cause, if possible, is the beginning of the solution. In my sons case, it was his mother - sux but true. He yearned for discipline and structure. Two things she was/is incapable of providing.

Excellent points 9th - you continue to amaze me with your broad range of insight.

Here, I'll rethink it for him ...

A great deal of harm is done by pathologizing people, especially children, by deciding that bad behavior is part of a disorder or disease over which they have no control.

Yes, there are such people in existence.

But not at the rate at which they are currently identified and excused for criminal actions.

C'mon wolf, every kid born since 1990 has ADD or ADHD - right????
{dripping with sarcasm}

My own personal theory is that Sesame Street causes ADD. Poor parenting plus Sesame Street causes ADHD.

Can it be video games and doing lines of jell-o?

LOL - if it wasn't so sad - My wife had my son so medicated he was a walking zombie - all under the careful watch of three different "doctors."
Now he takes nothing, but an occassional phone call to me so he can vent. Geez, amazing what a little caring and communication can do - eh?

No.

Well, I'm not sure about the Jello (nice Savage Steve Holland reference there, boy), but video games tend to extend attention spans rather than shorten them.

Thank god someone said it. I would have, but I have a short attention span... I mean ADD. Best bet is to try raising your children before excusing them. I don't mean 'punish them sternly for their mistakes' but for god sakes, if you're the kind of parent who asks your kid for permission for things, you're not allowed to wonder why he's a dick... I mean, :ahem: has a Disorder.

But, same caveat as wolf: there ARE people who have these disorders, they're just over diagnosed to the extent that it's pretty commonly a big joke.

I know.

ICD
 

Actually it includes multiples of the disorders that fall under the category.
Several phsychologist believe it could be linked to the serotonin level in the brain. Serotonin from foods can not get to this area. A serotonin reuptake inhibitor is available, but it may disturb the rest of a childs development, so we will wait till he is 12 to take the neurotransmittor test, which I hear can be inconclusive.
There are also several non related disorders which have similiar symptoms, which makes it very important for these children to be constantly monitored.