In addition to the physical exercise, the swimming life is marked by schedules, routine, a coach all the time, food – he ate lots of food, lots of calories, and many low-nutrient items, a strict schedule from morning to night and required sleep. Who among us hasn’t a need for that?

Young people also can manage to get through their days without doing laundry – especially if your wardrobe consists mainly of swimming trunks. And, who cooked all that food for him? Made sure he got where he needed to go, on time?

I am not criticizing Michael Phelps, but I am pointing out that swimming prowess such as his equips him for regular life no better than the activities of other young people, and potentially less, if they have the time to practice their daily living skills.

It has been illuminating that the AD/HD world, celebrating him as their own personal hero just after he won those medals, has been virtually silent since he was photographed smoking marijuana. Some claimed his AD/HD was a factor in his success at swimming. My favorite 16 year old said that was unfortunate, since it fails to attribute that success to him. While some said Phelps used his AD/HD to win, this same 16 year old cautioned that maybe he swims that well not because of AD/HD, but in spite of it.

And, now that the golden boy of AD/HD organizations has publicly done something decidedly un-golden, it isn’t a stretch to suggest his pot smoking is attributable to his AD/HD, too. And to say he’s like everyone else who smokes dope is to ignore that he had much more at stake than the average 23 tear old, and seems to imply that he smokes it in spite of his AD/HD. Pretty illogical.

But I take the DUI (and most people caught driving drunk have done so about ten times and not gotten caught), the outrageous behavior in Vegas (not everyone who goes to Vegas acts like that), at the parties he attended at the school where the now famous picture was taken, and now the bong, and say, “The young man is at the mercy of his unsupervised brain, and, “Where are his celebrants, now?”

The 16-year-old wise person said, as soon as she saw the news about the incident, “Hey mom. Michael Phelps is self medicating.” She herself has taken medication for AD/HD for the last nine years.

She has had a few conversations with her mother about drugs and alcohol and such. Asked her own thoughts about it, she has said she didn’t take to the idea much since it was hard enough to get her brain to work and do her bidding; that adding an unregulated, unpredictable chemical to her brain didn’t seem smart.

She went on to say that with all of that, she is interested, in a curious sort of way, but not hell-bent to try anything. To that her mother said, “Well, I imagine you will try it out sometime and though I think the illegality of it is as worrisome as anything, if you decide to do it, I’d like for you to let me know so I can be on duty if you need me for anything.”

So far, so good. She has also said if it weren’t for medication, she would have no friends, and called this not-a-gift condition, The Scourge. Frankly, I think a youngster who is knowledgeable and serious about a serious disorder is miles ahead of a lot of people who haven’t a clue, AD/HD or not.

Two additional thoughts:
1. The pressure of Mom’s denial regarding the usefulness of proper use of medications remains pandemic, as even professional ADHD shooters aim at imprecise targets with less than specific objectives. Common practice has simply not caught up with the new findings in brain and body science, with the terrible result that side effects and unpredictable outcomes are far too common. These vagaries feed the fire of denial with further imprecision – and encourage many to forgo proper treatment.

2. A further point from my ongoing notes: ADHD presents as a ‘Disorder of Context.’ I have written several pieces on the context of ‘Those Wrecked by Success’ over at CorePsychBlog – using the foundation of a ‘character’ paper [same title] by Freud as the foundation for that post – commenting on the change in reality, the change in context, that occurs with success.

With ADHD, especially untreated ADHD, the brain’s executive function can be simply overwhelmed by the new variables, and the decreased structure in that new, successful context of reality. The frontal lobes short circuit, and primary drives just take over.

When his context of reality changed from practice structure and predictability to much less structure and multiple variables – then within the context of ‘when you are successful’ you are ‘OK’ – this is often a setup for a precipitous unhappy fall.

Now he needs to grow up and think for himself to escape the family denial.
Tx for the comments,
Chuck

Your commitment to doing what is best for your children – each as an individual – is evident in your every word. I identify with that nagging feeling of hoping you have done the right thing. But don’t you think that we all feel like this – no matter what we do?

Perhaps only those of us on the front lines, dealing with worried parents’ queries after hearing that Mrs. Phelps’ philosophy was to avoid medication and help her child “find his passsion,” understand how dangerous a message this was for many who were confused and uncertain. After all, he won gold medals; she must be right, right?

Sure, we can’t attribute one incident to untreated ADHD, but first there was the DUI (which does occur at a higher rate with untreated ADHD), then the photos of him groping nalf-naked girls in Vegas post-Olympics, then not only smoking from the bong but allowing himself to be photographed doing so and thus risking the millions of dollars in endorsements he worked so hard to gain? If it walks like ADHD, talks like ADHD, etc.

My point is that he and his mom had promoted the idea of “avoiding medication, finding your passion.” Little kids with ADHD looked up to him. They thought he knew what he was talking about. Now they seem him sucking on a bong — not only illegal but, given the outrageously high levels of THC in today’s marijuana, pretty darn stupid, especially when one already has a neurocognitive disorder that impairs working memory and all the rest.

If they’d never advocated for this kind of “ADHD treatment,” you’re right; it’d be nobody’s business. But they did, and it is, IMHO.

Gina

I hope those of us who work with people affected by ADHD know better than to attribute his current transgression to a simple diagnosis, or whether or not he takes medication.

Susan Giurleo, PhD
http://www.childdevelopmentpartners.com

I hate to say “I told ya so” in regards to this Phelps bong fiasco, but really, anyone who knows ADHD and could get a feel for Michael’s personal version of it could pretty much see it coming. Once all the mothering, coaching, training, and keeping on track let up, it was back on the ADHD Roller Coaster. Photos of him grabbing half-nude girls in Vegas, sucking a bong. What next.

I just think of all these kids with ADHD who were so inspired by him — and by parents who were well, sorta, shamed by his mother’s claims that rather than medication, channeling the child’s passion was the key. Maybe, but what about when his passions run amok, and momma can keep throwing him in the pool?

Dopamine flows on the anticipation of reward — not the actual reward. And what could be more rewarding to a kid who’s been made fun of for his ADHD — “I’ll show them!” (his words, paraphrasing). And what could be more rewarding for a mom whose been told her precious son has a disorder — “I’ll show them” (her words). Revenge. It’s a powerful motivator for the limbic system.

Moreover, the weaker a one’s prefrontal cortex function, the weaker one’s sense of self. The PFC is where our sense of self develops. Not just our self-esteem, but our very sense of self.

So, it seems that Phelps’ motivation might have involved a double-whammy of needing to constantly chase reward (dopamine) and receive constant and significant validation as a person (outer rewards to make up for lack of inner contentedness). Plus there’s the “revenge.”

It’s hard to say how I would feel as a mother to someone like Michael Phelps. But I would hope I’d do all I could to give him a chance to create happiness and fulfillment in life based on a strong inner sense of self and an ability to be happy with less than several million bucks and lots of fame.

And from what I’ve seen, for kids with ADHD, that often means getting solid treatment for them, so they can build their lives on a more solid foundation and clearer choices.

Even John Ratey, in his book Spark, says that while exercise can certainly help the brain function of people with ADHD (and everyone else!), in most cases it won’t mean the person can completely eliminate medication but reduce it.

If any of that makes sense.
tx
Gina Pera, author
Is it You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.?