I Think I Can Give You a Diagnosis......

***Warning - This post may offend any of you diagnosed with or acquainted with anyone who has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, ADD, ADHD, panic attacks, or anxiety.***

If I have to sit through ONE MORE INTERVIEW with a teenager who wants to come to our school because he or she cannot deal with the "stress" of high school or experiences "panic attacks" in the lunchroom or needs to be away from the distractions of the traditional high school because he or she has ADD or ADHD or some other combination of those letters, I may. just. go. ballistic.

But I'll call it a panic attack, so it will be okay.

Please don't get me wrong. It's not that I am trivializing any of these disorders, nor do I think they don't exist. This rant post is aimed at those who want to put a label on their own poor behavior that somehow (in their minds) excuses that behavior. The ones who really get me are the ones who say they have been diagnosed with ADD, they have medication for it, but they don't really like taking the medicine. Oh, so you CHOOSE to be this way.

And the parents?

They buy into it, because it's much easier to blame a disorder than it is to do the hard work called parenting.

I sat and listened to a parent today who said her son needed to come to our school with its smaller environment because, "I had to go pick him up at school one day because he had a panic attack."

I tried to picture that happening when I was in school. I can just imagine them calling my mother AT WORK to come get me at school because I was having a PANIC ATTACK. When she got to the school, there would definitely be a panic attack going on. I would be in a panic to see just how fast I could get my ass back in that school rather than let Mama get her hands on me.

I take issue with teenagers being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, because the symptoms of bipolar disorder are "shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior."

What a big old bag of duh. Those are the exact same symptoms of being a TEENAGER. I will again apologize in the event I am offending anyone who suffers from one of these disorders. It's teenagers and their parents' use of these labels to EXCUSE them that gets my goat.

What ever happened to "suck it up and go to school"?

My mother's favorite expression? "I'll give you something to be depressed ABOUT." (She doesn't believe in depression as an adult disorder, either.) I'm sensitive to people who suffer from depression, but I also realize that most of them find a way to be productive. Sitting in a corner and sucking their thumbs isn't an option, but a lot of the teens we deal with haven't been told that.

ADD? In my youth, Mama had a very effective way of making SURE we could devote our attention to tasks like chores and schoolwork. It was called a backhand, and she was ambidextrous when it came to employing it.

Hyperactive? By the time you get through scrubbing that floor, you won't have the energy to be hyper anymore. And if you do, I've got a long list of OTHER things you can do.

Anxiety? Try not having that house cleaned when I get home from work, and you will get to experience an entirely new level of anxiety.

I think I'll stop now before I offend every single person who stops by here. I apologize for my negative attitude. It was a long day in the School of Misfit Toys today.