A spike in diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other mental disorders has fueled an unprecedented reliance on pharmaceutical medications to treat children, with long-term effects that remain unknown. In a Democracy Now! video Canadian physician and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté argues that these responses are treating surface symptoms as causes while ignoring deeper roots. Dr. Maté says children are in fact reacting to the broader collapse of the nurturing conditions needed for their healthy development. He describes how a stressful early childhood environment (for instance physically or emotionally abesent parents, neglect, abuse etc.) impacts the neuro-circuitry of the developing brain. Dr. Maté descibes a range of behavioral and emotional implications, such as addictions, disease, ADD, chronic stress etc., that are the natural outcomes of these early experiences. Thankfully, all’s not lost: adult brains will re-wire with repetition of healing experiences.
Dr. Gabor Maté is the author of four books, including Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do about It and Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers.