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22 Adar II 5760 - March 29, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Hyperactivity is Not a Disability
by Dr. Ilan Zamir - Homeopathic Doctor (MD)

Every tenth child in Israel is hyperactive. Experiments prove, however, that there is no solution to this problem within conventional medicine and psychology. The brightest doctors in the medical, psychological, educational, and pharmacologic fields are dealing intensively with the subject, but the solution lies in homeopathic treatment.

According to the data, every tenth child in Israel suffers from hyperactivity, concentration problems, or low threshold depression and sometimes also aggression and violence. This is called "Attention- Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder: "ADHD."

Hyperactive children are thought of as disabled children. In most cases, the parents and the rest of the family don't want to face the fact that the child is hyperactive. Sometimes they prefer to ignore the problem so it doesn't get discovered. In Orthodox families, the problem seems even more acute, mostly because the parents worry about finding a shidduch for the child.

Aggressive and Irritating

Before we get to a detailed discussion of the problem and its solution, we should list the symptoms of ADHD. A child suffering from the ADHD syndrome is unable to concentrate, especially in his studies: he dozes off or daydreams during class. He sometimes seems to lack touch with reality and could get up suddenly when he feels like it and starts strutting around the class. He may touch, turn over or even destroy things: his own or those of others. He is irritating and aggressive, hitting his siblings and other children as well without provocation. He has a tendency to become depressed; he cries a lot and screams.

The ADHD child is never embarrassed because of his actions or the result of his actions, neither in the short- nor long-run. He lacks a basic conscience to be used in order to explain or educate him. Although these kids have great intellectual potential (for example: Winston Churchill), current feeling is that in these cases the brain doesn't function in certain areas. This makes it very hard for those children to adjust to their environment and to get ahead in life.

In the emotional field, quite a few of these children develop fears: for example from the dark and to be alone. They insist on sleeping with their parents. Through tantrums they demand treats and toys. Some of the kids lack basic emotions, cause damage and hurt their siblings. This is exceptional behavior which goes on as long as the disease is not treated.

The anomaly doesn't disappear when the child passes psychological examinations (it is understandable that those examinations are not cures). Medical treatment with Ritalin doesn't cure either; it doesn't help for more than a few hours. The feeling of despair that the teachers, the parents, and the educators feel, keeps growing. Everyone just accepts the situation. The child finally ends up in special education.

It's a vicious circle. The child is treated like a disabled child: against his will. When they grow older, many of those children leave school since they are unable to adjust to any framework, neither studies nor work. A lot of them deteriorate, chas vesholom, and turn to drugs or alcohol, or other escapes.

People treating these children do not relate to their symptoms as a disease. As long as there is no cure it is defined as a disability. If we start believing that there is a way to treat those hyperactive children, just as we treat a throat infection, the whole situation will change. There will be no more despair and fear where those children are concerned. The lack of an accurate treatment is what makes a problem abnormal. Being a doctor who has treated hyperactive kids for some years now (Boruch Hashem, with a lot of success) I blame modern medicine for not finding the appropriate cure.

My method is made up of homeopathy and Bach flowers, both of which are natural and contain no chemicals. This eliminates the side effects accompanying most medications. The homeopathic method is based on the principle that "the similar cures the similar." A substance that would cause damage to a healthy person will cure an unhealthy person. That's what the name is all about:"Homeo" means similar, and "pathy" means disease. Conventional methods address disease with chemical and synthetic substances that merely repress, not cure.

The homeopathic method successfully treats most diseases because it reinforces the immune system. Homeopathy uses natural raw materials that are diluted. They are very effective and have no side effects. Homeopathy treats every patient in a specific way. It should be pointed out that in certain diseases, symptoms will differ from patient to patient. Each doctor has to study the symptoms in order to treat the patent before him. The doctor must treat each symptom in depth in order to discover the connection between all symptoms. Dozens of questions may be asked to achieve an understanding of the child's behavior. After assembling all of this data, the homeopathic doctor uses his training and experience to achieve an accurate diagnosis and cure.

After this study, the homeopathic doctor might reach the conclusion that the child is not hyperactive after all. Perhaps the fact that he is so intelligent makes him bored. His grasp of the material is quicker that other children in his class, so any additional information is just repetition to him. He disturbs the rest of the class and ends up with a stamp of troublemaker. The child is punished, yelled at and turns out to be a problem child.

In such a case, all the child needs is understanding and encouragement, a pat-on-the-back, and to hear that his parents are happy with him.

Dr. Zamir has treated many chareidi patients for a long time. He may be reached at 02-6522235, or 03- 532O870/1.

 

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