branxmad – Rowan Counterintuitive

White Paper- branxmad

Working Hypothesis 1

The overdiagnosis of Attention Deficit-hyperactivity Disorder is becoming more prevalent causing patients to be mistreated for the disorder

1A. Working Hypothesis 2

Greater clinical evaluations can help determine the accuracy of the given diagnosis

Topics for Smaller Papers

Definition/Classification Argument

Attention Deficit- Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disease that affects one’s ability to sustain attention and involves excessive activity and deficiencies in impulse control. ADHD is diagnosed during early childhood and can follow an individual into adulthood, and for the rest of their life.

Cause/Effect Argument

Although there is no specific cause of ADHD, there are many factors that can possibly contribute to a child developing the disorder. First, there are many pregnancy complications a mother can have while carrying her child. The health and dietary habits of a mother who is carrying a baby also has a potential impact on the baby’s mental and physical health. For example, mothers who drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes during their pregnancy could result in birth defects to the baby. More causes could include environmental factors and high educational expectations placed on very young children.

Rebuttal Argument

While there is an apparent rise in the diagnosis of ADHD, some argue that the disorder is underdiagnosed. The belief that ADHD is underdiagnosed comes from the fact that other disorders, such as bipolar disorder, dyslexia, anxiety and autism, all have very similar symptoms to Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. Overlapping disorders and the comorbidity of the symptoms sometimes only get identified as one disorder, as opposed to another. Thus, leaving ADHD to get ignored and the disorder to be mistreated.

Current State of Research Paper

As of right now, my research is coming along well and I am confident that I’ll be able to organize my ideas into a well formatted paper. I still have a lot of work to do and changes to make. The research I’ve been finding is very interesting, some of which I didn’t know prior and would like to include it into my paper. However, the knowledge that I already had on the topic came from things I’ve studied in my Psychology classes and from taking care of my younger brother who was diagnosed with the disorder.

Purposeful Summary- branxmad

Men Defining Rape: A History

It seems counterintuitive that men are defining rape against women. Throughout time, rape had different meanings and act of rape itself was not always seen as an assault. The laws provide against rape greatly relate to the era in which the laws were placed. Because of the different historical periods, laws on rape were constantly changing. In January of 2012, the most current definition of rape was updated by the FBI and includes different forms of sexual assault and assault on other genders.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/men-defining-rape-history/

How the Mind Really Works

It seems counterintuitive that an individual is unaware of what goes on in their own mind. Beliefs that one many have about their thoughts has been confirmed as inaccurate according to the Psychological studies conducted throughout the years. Becoming familiar with the content of these studies provides insight on how you live your everyday life, including how you make decisions, perceive authority figures, planning out the day and performing tasks.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/02/how-the-mind-really-works-10-counterintuitive-psychology-studies.php

Serious Psychological Disorders in College Students

It seems counterintuitive that college-aged students suffer many different psychological disorders during their time in college. Disorder such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and ADHD are becoming more prevalent in students. The cause of these rising disorders could be due to the economy, making it harder for students and their families to pay for a college education. In addition, due to the increase of students facing these disorders, finding, providing and maintaining treatment is becoming more difficult. Making alternative resources available is greatly encouraged to students who may not be able to find help on their own.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-campus/201111/serious-psychological-disorders-in-college-students

Stone Money- branxmad

If you were to ask a group of people what is money according to them, they would all probably give similar answers. One might say it is a measure of wealth, or a method of payment. But the concept of money is more abstract than just that. Money is only paper, but so is a birth certificate, or a high school or college diploma. Why is a piece of paper so important? What gives it it’s value and power?

Growing up, I remember receiving money in birthday and holiday cards, sometimes I would even be given a gift card with a limited balance on it that could be spent at a particular store. Being so young and not even really needing money, I never knew what to do with it so I would put it away in a piggy bank. I knew the money was important enough to save but I didn’t really know why. However, I understood the purpose of a gift card well enough to know to put it in my wallet and carry it with me next time I went shopping. As I got older, I began to realize that money takes on many forms, other than just a green, rectangular piece of paper.

While reading, “The Island of Stone Money”, by Milton Friedman, I was introduced to a new idea of currency. Yap currency consisted of large pieces of limestone, that was also known as fei, and were sometimes too large to even move. I initially thought it was strange because limestone isn’t something that an individual can keep safe at a bank or to even carry in their wallet. The people of Yap would make purchases with the stone, however the stone did not have to be physically exchanged or even present in order for the new owner to accept the possession. Before passing judgement too quickly, I began to think about the society we live in today. Funds can be transferred or exchanged without physically changing hands. For example, going into a grocery store and swiping a credit card, resulting in the purchase of your grocery items. No money was present or even visible, but the transaction was still able to be completed. Despite the similarities we may have to the people of Yap, it is almost assumed that today, if you do not have physical money in your possession, then you are not as wealthy as someone who does. A fei at the bottom of the ocean near the Yap islands still has value and can still be used as an exchange, but if you were to drop a dollar in the street, that dollar is no longer yours and has no value to you.

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” Diss. Hoover Institution, Stanford University , 1991.

Visual Rhetoric- branxmad

0:00-0:01- The Ad starts off showing a family SUV parked in the driveway of a suburban home and all the doors on the car close simultaneously.

0:02-0:04- The scene switches to the inside of the car. There are two young boys, possibly brothers, sitting next to each other in the second row of the family’s truck and fighting over a bag of chips. The visual goes into slow motion then switches over to an older girl in the third row of the car, who is assumed to be the older sister, listening to music through her headphones while banging on the seats with her two drumsticks and blowing a bubble with the gum in her mouth. She appears to be in her own world, not paying attention to the fight her brothers are in just one row ahead of her.

0:05- Now, the father, who is also the driver, is being focused on. He appears to have an impatient look on his face as his children are in the background making a lot of noise and playing around.

0:06- 0:09- With the film still in slow motion, the scene first goes back to the daughter in the third row looking out the window with a fully blown bubble of gum coming out of her mouth. Next shows the two brothers again in the middle row still yelling at each other over the single back of chips. Then, to the mother in the passenger seat as she opens her mouth to scold her children. At these three seconds, you can hear the sounds in the background quickly growing more intense, indicating that this scene is leading up to the climax of the advertisement.

0:10-0:13- The rearview mirror is now in focus and the father’s eye looking into the back seat. Here, the daughter is shown yet again. The big wad of gum that she blew into a perfect sized bubble bursts back onto her lips causing a dramatic popping sound. The big bag of chips that the brothers were fighting over rips apart and the contents of the bag go flying all around the car.

0:14-0:16- Back up to the driver’s seat, the father looks into the camera, gripping the steering wheel and takes a long, deep breath. He is patiently waiting for the kids to settle down.

0:17- The two boys in the middle row are now in each other’s faces over the ruined bag and the sister is suddenly taken out of her daydream with a surprised look on her face. They all freeze and together, quickly their attention goes to the front of the car. The two boys, with guilty faces.

0:18- In the passenger seat, the mother is turned around looking back with wide eyes and tight lips, she mouths the word “Now!”

0:19-0:22- Frightened, all three of the kids quickly stop what they’re doing and turn to grab their seat belts and fasten themselves in.

0:23- With the scene now back in regular motion, the focus goes back to the father who looks and smiles at his wife, a look of relief.

0:24-0:26- Now the camera is zoomed out and focusing on both parents, with a view of the kids in the back. The mother brushes a chip from the bursted bag off her shoulder and turns back to face front. The father’s smile turns into a sign of relief as he adjusts his hands onto the steering wheel. All the children in the back are now finally behaving, buckled in and ready for the ride.

0:27- The SUV is now pulling out of the driveway in which it was parked.

0:28-0:30- The family SUV is now driving off down the street as the words appear on the screen and a man’s voice reads, “Don’t give up until they buckle up”

Definition Argument- branxmad

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disease that affects one’s ability to sustain attention and involves excessive activity and deficiencies in impulse control. Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder is a lifetime disorder that is often found in the early childhood years and affects the individual throughout their lifetime. For children who are diagnosed with the disorder, it makes it difficult for them to focus in school causing them to receive poor grades, they tend to be more awkward in social settings, and performing simple everyday tasks becomes a challenge. While they are able to learn how to cope as they get older, the problem will always exist. For adults who were diagnosed with ADHD during their childhood and still experience symptoms might end up being forgetful, disorganized and overwhelmed when it comes to their daily lives and jobs. The symptoms being experienced are more frustrating as an adult because of the impact it can have on work and an individual’s personal relationships. Proper maintenance of their medication and simply learning more about their own disorder can potentially provide great help to adults diagnosed with ADHD.

I believe that in today’s times, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder is one that is overdiagnosed and often misdiagnosed. When I was 8 years old, my baby brother was diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. He showed very apparent symptoms and because I lived with him, I saw the diagnosis to be an accurate one. At that age, it seemed as if the discussion of mental disorders was taboo and my family was in denial, but of course my brother’s diagnosis appeared to be the truth because the symptoms the disorder seemed to accurately match what I saw in my brother’s behavior. When high school came around, a lot of my classmates suddenly began to claim to have been diagnosed with ADHD, as if it were a trend. When those classmates were asked why they believed they had such a life altering biological mental condition, their answers would be something like, “I can never focus in class” and “I get distracted so easily” like they were making it out to be a joke. We all get distracted and sitting through a 50 minute history class might cause one to gaze out the window and day dream or play on their phone, so I never took their claims seriously. However, the frequency at which the topic was brought up sparked curiosity in me. It is true that more and more young children are receiving a diagnosis of ADHD and my classmates’ claims are exactly the type of claims and beliefs that lead pediatricians to make those diagnoses. While my high school classmates may have been making up stories for attention, there is no true way to know the accuracy of the growing epidemic.

The sudden increase of children being diagnosed with ADHD is growing at an alarming rate. While looking through statistical articles regarding the rise of diagnosis, I found that 6.4 million children between the ages of 4 through 17 years old have been diagnosed with the disorder in the years 2011 and 2012 alone. The prevalence rate of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity disorder between the years 2003 and 2011 went up by 35%. At the rate of which ADHD diagnosis is increasing, this disorder is now the second most diagnosed child disease, right next to childhood obesity. A study conducted in September of 2010 by the Journal of Health Economics has determined that a child’s birth month has a great impact on their likelihood of being diagnosed with ADHD and their treatments. According to the study, kindergarten aged children who were born in August, otherwise known as before the kindergarten cutoff date, were said to be more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than those children who were born in September, after the kindergarten cutoff date. Those children born in August were also believed to be twice as likely to be treated with medications for their diagnosis. It was later found that the study could have possibly resulted in 900,000 cases of the misdiagnosis of ADHD.

Rebuttal Argument- branxmad

Over the course of 10 years, the prevalence rates of Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder diagnoses have increased by approximately 40%. The cause of the sudden increase is relatively unknown. There are possibilities that it could be due to genetics, diet or environment.

While there is an apparent up rise of patients being diagnosed with ADHD, some argue that there is a significant problem with under-diagnosis. In the article, Underdiagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adult Patients, it states that adults with ADHD tend to show more symptoms of co morbid disorders, such as alcoholism or anxiety, rather than the symptoms of their ADHD. When adults go to a physicist for a clinical evaluation, they usually go for their co morbid symptoms and the ADHD goes undiagnosed. This can result in poor outcomes, whether or not the co morbid disorders are the ones being treated [8].

Prior to the extensive research of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, it was believed that the disorder was only present in young children and they often grew out of it as they got older and began to mature. However, that belief was incorrect and ADHD is a disorder that is carried into adulthood. Adults who have ADHD will seek help for disorders other than that of ADHD because they are unaware.

Another believed case of underdiagnosis and undertreatment of ADHD could be related to an individual’s cultural and ethnic backgrounds [5]. Due to the symptoms of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity disorder being very similar to the symptoms of another disorder such as Fetal Alcohol syndrome or problems that result from poor perinatal care, the prevalence of ADHD among different ethnic groups is unclear. African-american youth who have ADHD tend to go untreated, as well as other nonwhites. Beliefs of illness and care differ upon various ethnic groups and religions, often leaving many children to go undiagnosed or untreated. I find this the be an accurate account and very interesting. Mental illness among people of color; African-Americans, Hispanics, Indians, etc. is a very rare topic to discuss. Families that come from minority backgrounds usually don’t believe mental illness is a true and sometimes severe, disorder. Parents will often see their kids who have ADHD, and show symptoms of the disorder, as misbehaved and deserving punishment, instead of taking them to see a physiatrist for clinical help.

Although the prevalence rates of ADHD have made a dramatic increase, there are still those who disagree. My belief is that Attention Deficit- Hyperactivity disorder is overdiagnosed to young children today caused them to be mistreated. To put an end to the rising epidemic, clinicians must first, be able to accurately evaluate their young patients. Diagnosing a child with the disorder because of behavioral problems in school or at home is not always the most adequate diagnosis. The disorder needs to be further looked into over a period of time, as opposed to just a single doctor’s appointment. Secondly, finding new ways to treat a child who does have Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity disorder might decrease the risk of substance abuse in the child’s future. Changing our perspectives and treating children with apparent behavioral or mood disorders could greatly affect how we diagnose and care for our children.

Visual Rhetoric rewrite- branxmad