There will likely be a Canadian federal election called tomorrow. I’m a political science major whose hobby is politics. I had to get a separate politics twitter account @pqpolitics because I was putting so much politics on my ADHD twitter...
There will likely be a Canadian federal election called tomorrow.
I’m a political science major whose hobby is politics. I had to get a separate politics twitter account @pqpolitics because I was putting so much politics on my ADHD twitter account @petequily.
So being the curious type, I did site search in Google for ADHD on each of the websites of Canada’s 4 main federal parties, Liberals, NDP, Conservatives and Greens to see how often they mentioned the word ADHD in their websites.
Anyone can do #PretendingToCare about Mental Health, but what matters is policy.
What are their actual policies on the biggest mental health condition in kids, ADHD?
8-10% of kids, 5% of adults have ADHD.
Generic mental health policies, resources, money or statements are good for other people but they don’t help people with ADHD
Why?
Many doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and therapist are not properly trained on ADHD especially in Canada and so they often underdiagnosis us, misdiagnose us with depression or anxiety/both ( Undetected ADHD was present in 34% of Treatment Resistant Depression patients ), or the smallest amount, but the most media attention, overdiagnose us.
Thats why to help people with ADHD, governments need to create specific ADHD policies with people properly trained on ADHD or we’ll get more malpractice, underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis, and more shaming stigmatizing ignorant comments by medical and therapeutic professionals harming us.
ALL 3 problems require Mandatory CME Courses On ADHD for doctors and psychiatrists & CE ones for psychologists by provincial governments.
And federal standards on ADHD and a federal ADHD strategy like all 4 main federal parties committed to for Autism.
More money, resources & policies on mental health are good.
But if it’s not specifically requiring people to be properly trained on ADHD it won’t help us.
Because those who are delivering it are often not properly trained on ADHD.
Liberal Party.
11,000 results in a Google site search.
How many results for mental health?
site:https://liberal.ca mental health About 342 results.
Liberals are always claiming they care about mental health, surely they must have mentioned the biggest mental health condition in kids, 8-10% and 5% of adults, ADHD, right?
Wrong. Not a single mention. Not a page on ADHD. Not a policy on ADHD.
Not even mentioning the word in passing a single time. None.
Your search – site:https://liberal.ca ADHD – did not match any documents.
Conservative Party.
2,370 results in a Google site search.
How many results for mental health?
site:https://www.conservative.ca mental health About 1,060 results. The most mentions of all four parties. But the most mentions does not mean the most policies.
Conservatives like the Liberals, claim they care about mental health, surely they will do what the virtue signalling Liberals won’t, do actual virtue?
Have some policies on ADHD, as special section on ADHD even some words on ADHD, right?
Wrong. Not a single mention. Not a page on ADHD. Not a policy on ADHD.
Not even mentioning the word in passing a single time. None.
NDP. New Democratic Party
At least it was new in 1961:)
4,410 results in a Google site search.
How many results for mental health?
site:https://www.ndp.ca mental health About 99 results. The least mentions of all four parties. But the least mentions does not mean the least policies.
No one does virtue signalling and shaming other for not having virtue than Jagmeet Singh’s NDP.
In his NDP leadership campaign Singh had several useful practical detailed policies on addiction vs usual pretending we care fluff most have. 20-40%+ of addicts have ADHD.
They even talk about mental health even more than the Liberals. Surely they care about one of the most stigmatized mental health conditions, ADHD, right?
Wrong. Not a single mention. Not a page on ADHD. Not a policy on ADHD.
Not even mentioning the word in passing a single time. None.
Green Party.
Team policy wonks has the most content of all four major #cdnpoli political parties.
12,900 results in a Google site search.
How many results for mental health?
site:https://www.greenparty.ca mental health About 293 results.
They are often talking about mental health too, surely they must have some content on ADHD, right?
Wrong. Not a single mention. Not a page on ADHD. Not a policy on ADHD.
Not even mentioning the word in passing a single time. None.
It’s obvious all four major federal political parties don’t care at all about ADHD.
Not even bothering to do fake pretending they care.
Not one word on ADHD. Not a single policy on ADHD
And it would likely be the same for provincial parties too. Especially in ADHD hostile BC no matter which party is in power.
If you have ADHD please explain to your MP’s and MLA’s and reporters why they should care about ADHD and what you want them to do
If you don’t have ADHD see the economic and social costs YOU are paying because governments discrimination against our human rights.
By not properly training doctors and others on how to diagnose and treat ADHD.
ADHD adults and kids who were not treated with ADHD meds had 50% higher rates of Covid19 study of 11,022 showed.
Separate study of 5-20 year olds with Covid19 showed almost a third had ADHD 28.14%
But IF we were treated with ADHD medications we had lower rates of Covid19 than non ADDers.
But many of us are not diagnosed because medical and psychological discrimination. No diagnosis or misdiagnosed, no ADHD meds.
20-40%+ of addicts and alcoholics have ADHD studies show. Only 5% of adults have ADHD.
21-45% of prisoners have ADHD 15 studies show.
And there are strengths of ADHD too. My blog is named Adult ADD Strengths for a reason.
Even if you don’t care about as human beings, we’re very expensive to ignore.
I’ve been sending out a list of people who can diagnose and treat ADHD in Metro Vancouver for 18 years. Thousands of times. If I wrote all the horror stories I’ve heard on ADHD diagnosis and treatment I’d have a book. Maybe two.
Stress is like gasoline on ADHD symptoms. And Covid19 is gasoline exponential.
Past 2 days.
And few on the list beside expensive psychologists ($2,000 + even if you have extended coverage do you have that much coverage?) and many have long wait lists.
I hope if you have family or friends with ADHD you consider asking some of the federal politicians trying to win your vote some questions about ADHD during the campaign.
Ideally video them or if asking online make sure to screen shot their responses. They’re politicians. They may delete them.
Possible Questions To Ask Federal Politicians on ADHD.
The Liberals, NDP, Conservatives, and Greens have promised to develop a federal Autism strategy; will you develop a federal ADHD strategy for ADHD adults and kids?
Many adults and kids with ADHD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with depression and anxiety because many doctors are not trained on ADHD. Will you stop the discrimination and make health transfers contingent on all family doctors having mandatory CME (Continuing Medical Eductation) Courses on ADHD to reduce the malpractice?
Would set clear national standards for mental health services on ADHD?
Would you enforce the Canada Health Act on ADHD specifically Accessibility? Given people with ADHD across Canada often can not find competently trained professionals on ADHD to give us a competent diagnosis many of us do not have access.
Given 21-45% of prisoners have ADHD 15 studies show, Will you screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD?
I asked several politicians that in 2011 and 2015 elections. Everyone that promised they would? Lied. I asked online post election. Often.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. He lied.
LPC Defence Minister Harjit Sajaan promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. He lied.
LPC MP Sukh Dhaliwal promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. He lied.
LPC MP Hedy Fry promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. She lied.
Greens Ex leader Elizabeth May promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. She lied.
Then LPC leader Michael Ignatieff promised me he’d screen prisoners in federal prisons for ADHD. He lied.
What other questions do you think people with ADHD should ask politicians on the campaign trail?
The post How Much Do Federal Liberals, NDP, Conservatives And Greens Care About ADHD? appeared first on Adult ADD Strengths.
