Opinions on Dr. Charles Parker

[Verile]

Some of the conclusions he's reached are contestable and shaky. I feel he pushes certain drugs, SPECT imaging, and his book just a bit too hard to the point where I can't completely trust his motives. Nearly all of his evidence is anecdotal, however, it is the anecdotal evidence of a doctor who runs a clinic that sees many, many ADHD individuals. He's partners with Dr. Amen, someone I'm not entirely sure of either.

I see value in his opinions, he's got a mountain of clinical experience (presumably), and seems to know what he's talking about in most cases.

Thoughts? Is he a legit ADHD pro we should listen to? Or is he a loon or greedy opportunist? 50/50? 80/20?

[ana futura]

I think he's 75% worth listening to, 25% worth ignoring. I think the med advice on proper dosing is excellent, and jives with everything I've read and experienced.

I think the dietary advice is sound, although perhaps a little over the top. A lot of people in psychiatry don't want to accept the dietary impact on the brain, and I think that is part of the reason Parker's considered "fringe". I think this position is foolish, and as brain science evolves there will be more and more discussion of the dietary impact on the brain. The same used to be true for other fields as well, like oncology. Nutrition is a much bigger part of conventional cancer treatment than it used to be.

I think he's really onto something with the ADHD "types". However, I think If you followed his definition of the types too closely, you'd wind up with over-diagnosis. I prefer to think of the types as a way to "frame" my behaviors, to help me understand myself better. He actually says something similar- "you are not a label, you are more than a label", and I'm inclined to agree. I think the way one frames their relationship to ADHD is as important as how they treat it. I do think it's important to look beyond labels when discussing psychiatric diagnosis. I find more worth in his ADHD types than Amen's. Amen takes it too far.

The SPECT stuff I ignore. I do think there's some merit there, but I don't think the scans are easy to interpret as he believes. I've also caught him saying some incorrect things- Like some of the stuff he says about personality is incorrect according psychological literature.

His manner of speech is frustrating, but he comes up with some zingers that are worth waiting for.

I know Gina Pera is a fan/ friend. She is a member here, a respected author, and is responsible for this excellent blog
-http://adhdrollercoaster.org/

You can't go wrong with following his advice on the "med window". It's spot on. Ignore the spect stuff and whatever else you're sceptical of.

In my experience, most people have something to offer and something you need to look past. I have to ignore a small chunk of what Barkley says as well, I personally think he emphasizes the disordered aspect too much, and I don't think that's entirely healthy for my own self esteem. However, the great majority of what he has to say is outstanding. Same goes for Hallowell, although most of his books are just filler, which annoys me to no end.

[ana futura]

There was another thread about him here-

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113851

[ana futura]

Here are some more opinions on Dr. Parker's work that I think are worth reading-

http://adhdrollercoaster.org/the-bas...-oh-adhd-meds/

http://jeffsaddmind.com/customized-p...ntifier_4_6753

[Conman]

didnt even know there was another doctor who was well known in the AD/HD world besides Dr. Barkley until now.

this guy seems pretty legit. he raises some pretty good points, although one thing i do disagree on is how common he says it is for the misdiagnoses in terms of doctors messing up how they do their prescriptions with AD/HD patients where a particular medicine or dosage appears to 'not work'. to me he kind of made the impression that this is what happens with doctors prescribing to AD/HD patients 90% of the time, and i doubt it's that prevalent. im sure it happens and may be fairly common, but not almost all the time.

he's right on the funny thing that AD/HD is "one of the most common psychiatric conditions" (which i had no clue of being that common) is so "pervasively misidentified and mismatched". im not that shocked of it being over/under-diagnosed considering how people are these days (ive noticed kids get worse each generation) it's easy to assume they're just acting like kids (kids) or that theyre all AD/HD (for kids to teens to adults in that statement).

after reading it in his ebook preview i got curious about it, so i googled it i found a thread here from 4 years ago about Antidepressants and AD/HD. well now i learn that they tend to be very counter-productive with AD/HD (moreso when on AD/HD medications). this explains why i was depressed on Strattera, but more depressed and suicidal at one point when on Strattera and Fluoxetine.

also as a kid i was told i had either an Anxiety Disorder or some Anxiety problems alongside with my ADHD-C. i forget when i stopped hearing that but i stopped hearing it before i went to highschool. i wonder if that was misdiagnosis or it wasnt severe enough that i dont notice anything about it anymore. the most anxious i get is when i know i ****** up real bad and a scary authority figure's about to chew me out, or i get exceedingly paranoid about some things.

im curious of the part about AD/HD nto being everything you just see or know about it, but i cant get the whole book since it's not in paperback yet and im not buying an ebook.

[ana futura]

Almost everything in the book can be found online, but you have to wade through a lot of promotion for the book to get to it

Sometimes he is a bit too self promoting for my tastes, but then again, everyone is.

I just found this site today (how many websites does he have?!?)
there is tons of info here-

http://docparker.typepad.com/corepsychpodcast/

.
Also, his youtube channel-
http://www.youtube.com/user/DrCharlesParker

and his ezine articles-
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dr_Charles_Parker

[HappyCoffeeLady]

I have found Dr. Parker at drcharlesparker .com and at his blog site corepsych .com. As I mentioned, a mom of a kiddo with ADHD, and he makes sense to me!!! I am a fan of Barkley as well, and these are my "go to" resources when I am looking for answers. Just my opinion !

[mctavish23]

Cool. This is nice to know. I've always thought "great jazz musician" at the

mention of this name. Like who knew ?

u r welcome

[fracturedstory]

Is that Superman's dad?

Sorry. I take my Ritalin soon.