More and more children are being diagnosed with disorders such as ADHD and autism. Dr. Gabor Maté of Canada says that the root cause is that the nurturing environment necessary for proper child development has collapsed in America, leading to children who are emotionally detached and have difficulty controlling their impulses. This 60-minute interview is fascinating—be sure to watch it all.
Or, to save time, just scroll down below the video options to read the transcript. (Thanks to Skylar for the suggestion.)
Dr. Gabor Maté on ADHD, bullying and the destruction of American childhood, on DemocracyNow.org.
Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader.
Skylar,
WOW! Another survivior story. Glad you were able to get out of that.
Thanks Oxy, I went to bed early last nite. Drama drains me to the max. I’ll be in and out for the next couple of days, I will email you soon. Thanks again. Seeing Clearly
Seeing,
I hope you can get this straightened out. I agree that there is no excuse for this behavior.. nip it in the bud before it becomes what I have seen here locally.
Soimnotthecrazee1!
Found out a truck load more—need to get all the facts to know how to proceed.
Oxy sent Donna my email address and phone#. hope to hear from you soon.
I need to give you the full story and background. Don’t want to post it here. You’ll understand once you get the full story
Thanks, Seeing Clearly
I caught that show and simultaneously thought it was excellent and deeply flawed.
Gabor Mate: “The bully is just a kid who is emotionally very immature, has a desperate need to belong, and the way he attempts to do so is by exploiting somebody else’s vulnerability. But these are not deliberate behaviors, so they don’t call for punishments. What they call for is the understanding of where bullying arises out of.”
He is totally unaware of or disbelieving in sociopathy (as a genetic, dichotomous form of humanity). He very well lays out how empathy can be destroyed, how faux sociopaths can be created but doesn’t allow for the existence of those born without empathy or the possibility of developing it. True sociopaths lead, set the bar, set the example for the faux sociopaths. Bullying and most morally corrupt/damaged empathy social problems have two aspects — but the sociopathic side is totally ignored.
We need some high profile humanist to publicly recognize the problem of sociopathy. I used to read a lot of Alice Miller, Robert Bradshaw, etc. They neither ever mentioned sociopathy, nor seemed to feel there was some motive, some force in the tragedies of their patients and subjects that they couldn’t account for. Though looking back I definitely see psychopathic individuals described in their writings.
On one hand Gabor Mate is a very deep thinker, on the other hand what he says is common sense. Why has this common sense been so ignored or even smashed in our era? Enlightened, deeply humanistic common sense has lost out to a sociopathic simple-mindedness, greed and ego-driven lack of understanding of others. Yet he can’t see that. Preaching love to the loveless is a losing strategy.
“preaching love to the loveless is a losing strategy”
VERY TRUE! There ARE EVIL PEOPLE in the world and love can’t reach them, much less fix them.
I listened to the video and thought the Doc’s suggestion that parenting somehow causes ADD and ADHD was mainly crap!
Yes, children need to be nurtured and shown love. Yes, children also need good adult roll models. Yes! Bullying needs to be stopped, Yes to America (Canada, etc.), Chevrolet and apple pie! Had the subject been solely about child rearing,
I would likely find merit to many of his observations.
However, to my mind, I was born with ADD. Neither my parents nor his were responsible for anything more than how to help us to manage and function with our altered brain chemistry. Of course, there also is the aspect that neither of us had parents who knew there was a possibility that our brains might not be producing all the substances that are necessary for “normal” brain function.
The thought that more families are in counseling, at least to me, says that parents are trying to help their kids. They want help. Bravo! That’s not a negative…those parents are seeking guidance to manage family behaviors.
A part of growing up is seeking independence and distinguishing each generation from the previous ones. (How hip, cool, or lame is that? (I recall…”never trust anyone over the age of 30″ was my generation’s mantra.) Pier groups do have influence and do contribute to the bullying of “outsiders”…but I seriously doubt this should be attributed to increased population percentages of ADD or ADHD.
As an adult who was diagnosed with ADD, I think that this Dr. is way off in his assessment that a lack of parental involvement is somehow related to why people are diagnosed as ADD or ADHD. Brain chemical production (or lack of production) is responsible…just like diabetes, hormone production, and perhaps Alzheimer disease.
PBS has a film titled “Having ADD and Loving it(?)” Per that program, an ADD person is born with a brain chemistry that can be controlled, but not cured. We’re born with a brain malfunction that will be with us until death. Actors also state that ADD adults are loving and very giving towards others (not likely bullies…rather they are bullied by others). We’re also forgetful and have difficulty completing tasks and remembering appointments.
I think that environment might play a major role in creating and aggravating ADD/ADHD symptoms…like when young, growing children drink massive amounts of pasteurized milk that came from cows that were feed hormones, etc. and contain additional additives and preservatives. How about considering the effect of a pregnant mother’s past exposure to hormones, poisons and various toxic substances like lead? Young children who are exposed to those substances might also experience altered brain chemistry after birth.
Empathy…I’m sure that a child learns a lot from adult clues, but what if altered brain chemistry exists at birth? What then?
Oh, that’s right, those NPDs seek out vulnerable victims who will likely feel empathy for their woes, believe their narcissistic, habitual lying, and then possibly even give them everything they have in the name of love. Those gullible victims might never been taught to be aware of “obvious” clues to watch out for. So, in the Dr’s defense,that could be considered to be a parenting failure.
What if all PDs are born with brain chemistry issues that will cause them to focus solely upon satisfying themselves at a total disregard (maybe even contempt) towards others. Perhaps they were born with a brain chemistry malfunction that isn’t curable…and, perhaps unlike ADD, just might never be considered manageable… even with drugs!
I think this Dr. blew it!
Imconfused
I think that what the doctor is saying is that an environment which does not provide consistent rules, is not predictable, doesn’t set boundaries which can be considered fair or just doesn’t establish a sense of order for the child, can lead to ADD.
A parent who punishes a child when they are angry rather than punishing in order to provide boundaries is creating un unpredictable environment.
Children are like alien visitors to our planet. Without instruction and examples that are consistent, they cannot figure out what is acceptable and what is not. At any moment they can be punished or suffer consequences for their actions.
if I was such a visitor to an alien planet I would be on constant high alert. I would be unable to focus. my mind would be constantly scanning the environment for cues on how to behave and what is beneficial to me.
A child’s mind is developing so that environment would imprint as normal. Just one narcissistic parent would be enough to imprint capriciousness as standard behavior.
I’ve always been a little scattered and good at multitasking. but since all the evil happened and I discovered sociopaths exist everywhere, I can barely pay my bills on time or clean the house. my brain feels like it’s working at about 5 percent.
I am like a little visitor to an alien planet, always on the lookout for more sociopaths and red flags. 95 percent of my brain is focused on that. it may appear to others to be ADD but in fact it is PTSD.
The world is not what my naive Brain perceived. Now I feel as if I’m learning to live on this planet all over again
Skylar,
The world is not what my naive Brain perceived. Now I feel as if I’m learning to live on this planet all over again
After dealing with a spath friend, this is what I feel like too. I don’t trust anyone and am suspicious and really listen now to what people say and do. I almost feel paranoid and I don’t want anymore new friends.
Looking back I feel like I was a sitting duck for this woman. I was definately naive and had a head full of “yoga knowledge” and she just ran right over me. She stole several thousand dollars, lied to me & the police & the landlord, created such chaos. She lies, cheats and steals then tells the cops she wants me brought up on charges of “filing a false police report” Well, the cops believed me and they did not bring me up on charges…ugh! It’s been eight months and I still feel stuck sometimes. I want to know where she is living/working. I feel like I’ll feel better if I know where she is! Is that normal?