Of mind and matter…

I also have a second and more serious goal in mind for this address: Imagine –if you will - a child with a developmental disorder, a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, for example. He – because ADHD is more prevalent in boys - has symptoms that make his life difficult. He may not be very good at paying attention; he may have trouble sitting still in class; he might not let others complete their sentences before blurting out his own thoughts. It is not that he does not want to sit still; or that he does not want to listen to what others are saying. He simply can’t. His teachers may well get angry with him. His classmates will find him difficult to get along with; he may have trouble making friends. The point I am making is that children with developmental disorders have a hard time. In this day and age, there is an increase in the number of stimulants and other psychotropic medications being prescribed to children. This has led to suggestions that we as a society are ‘over-medicalising’ our young people. It has led to the public - and politicians in their wake - calling into question whether disorders such as ADHD even exist. It even led to political decisions where financial support to help these children– ‘het rugzakje’ in Dutch – was cancelled.