The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

SHOCKER: Doctors Say Lindsay Lohan Doesn’t Actually Have Mental Disorder

Posted on | August 19, 2010 | 20 Comments

She’s not technically crazy, she’s just a part-time lesbian who sometimes makes bad decisions like driving drunk and bleaching her red hair blonde:

[T]he doctors who have evaluated Lindsay Lohan at UCLA have concluded she does not suffer from the drug or psychiatric problems that were previously diagnosed. . . .
We’re told Lindsay has been “weaned off” all of her meds — Dilaudid, Ambien, Adderall, Zoloft, Trazodone and Nexium — and has had no adverse reaction. Likewise, she has had no withdrawal issues in the alcohol department. . . .
And, we’re told Lindsay was misdiagnosed in the past with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) — which is why she started taking Adderall. The UCLA docs say LiLo does not have ADHD.
And finally, as for having psychiatric problems — again the doctors say it’s just not the case. Morningside Recovery — the rehab facility Judge Revel initially chose for Lindsay — determined she was bipolar, but the docs at UCLA say she is not.

OK, let’s take this point by point:

  • Dilaudid? — Dude, that’s a heavy-duty opium-like pain killer. Exactly what illness or infirmity was Lindsay suffering that a doctor prescribed her Dilaudid?
  • Zoloft? — This is an SSRI anti-depressant that can cause all sorts of funky side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, insomnia and increased risk of suicide. Zoloft is also “associated with sexual side effects, including arousal disorder and difficulty achieving orgasm.” Given the downside potential of SSRI treatment, no psychiatrist should prescribe this stuff unless the person is experiencing serious mood disorders that don’t respond to milder treatments.
  • ADHD and/or bipolar disorder? — Here’s your postmodern rush-to-diagnosis problem in a nutshell: People who in a less medicalized society might be described as “high strung” or “moody” are nowadays quickly diagnosed as being afflicted with a psychiatric malady requiring treatment.

God knows what would have become of me if the ADHD diagnosis had been commonplace when I was a talkative, over-energetic child. Back then, they called it “acting up” or “ants in the pants,” and teachers treated it by administering a few swift swats with a paddle.

Andrew Breitbart says he’s been diagnosed with ADHD, but it’s not a debilitating “disorder” so much as it is a personality trait that happens to fit perfectly with the rapid-fire information-processing involved in operating an Internet empire. 

If not every ADHD sufferer is a helpless basket case, neither can everyone whose moods are volatile be classified as clinically afflicted with bipolar disorder. But our medicalized culture pretends that there is a pill for every ill, so when someone like Lindsay Lohan starts experiencing stress — her parents are divorced, her Dad’s a scary wacko, she’s partied herself out of a job or two — doctors are quick to make a diagnosis and give her prescriptions.

So, it’s good news/bad news for Lindsay: The good news is, you’re not psycho. The bad news is, that bleach-blonde look is atrocious.

Category: Celebrities, Health Care, Science

Comments

20 Responses to “SHOCKER: Doctors Say Lindsay Lohan Doesn’t Actually Have Mental Disorder”

  1. Adobe Walls
    August 20th, 2010 @ 1:59 am

    If you were prescribed Dilaudid or delota you’d have much trouble filling the script as most pharmacies stopped carrying it in the seventies. The stick up men were making it impossible to keep in stock.

  2. Adobe Walls
    August 19th, 2010 @ 9:59 pm

    If you were prescribed Dilaudid or delota you’d have much trouble filling the script as most pharmacies stopped carrying it in the seventies. The stick up men were making it impossible to keep in stock.

  3. Cindy
    August 20th, 2010 @ 2:18 am

    I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. It’s not a disorder. It’s a personality type. An annoying one, maybe. 🙂 This world doesn’t appreciate people who don’t go so well with the herd.

  4. Cindy
    August 19th, 2010 @ 10:18 pm

    I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD. It’s not a disorder. It’s a personality type. An annoying one, maybe. 🙂 This world doesn’t appreciate people who don’t go so well with the herd.

  5. Adrienne
    August 20th, 2010 @ 3:51 am

    I’m a proud “sufferer” with adult ADD. I love it! I don’t find it the least bit annoying!

  6. Adrienne
    August 19th, 2010 @ 11:51 pm

    I’m a proud “sufferer” with adult ADD. I love it! I don’t find it the least bit annoying!

  7. Mike in Watertown
    August 20th, 2010 @ 5:17 am

    Dilaudid… that’s good stuff. Last fall I was literally screaming in pain with a kidney stone and within five minutes of getting a Dilaudid IV I was cracking jokes with the nurse.

    I wish we lived in a society where people were held responsible for their actions. Then I could fill a script for Dilaudid and keep some in the medicine cabinet, just to save me the writhing in pain waiting to get to the ER and be seen if I ever, God forbid, get another stone.

    Between the druggies and the nanny state, though, I just have to keep well hydrated.

  8. Mike in Watertown
    August 20th, 2010 @ 1:17 am

    Dilaudid… that’s good stuff. Last fall I was literally screaming in pain with a kidney stone and within five minutes of getting a Dilaudid IV I was cracking jokes with the nurse.

    I wish we lived in a society where people were held responsible for their actions. Then I could fill a script for Dilaudid and keep some in the medicine cabinet, just to save me the writhing in pain waiting to get to the ER and be seen if I ever, God forbid, get another stone.

    Between the druggies and the nanny state, though, I just have to keep well hydrated.

  9. RES
    August 20th, 2010 @ 5:36 am

    My daughter is ADHD and the best perspective we ever got on the “condition” came from a book titled (IIRC) “A Hunter In A Farmer’s World” which argued the problem was indeed a disorder, but of the system, not the individual.

    A “Hunter” (ADHD personality) was evolved to a high level of situational awareness, alert to any minor changes which might indicate presence of prey or those which prey upon humans. A “Hunter” was also the perfect type of person to assign as village lookout because they were highly likely to note “something amiss” and raise an alarum at the earliest moment.

    A “Farmer” essentially evolved with the ability to stare at a horse’s arse from dawn to dusk. This is also why “Farmer”s are often model students in public schools; they merge, as Cindy implies above, with the herd.

  10. RES
    August 20th, 2010 @ 1:36 am

    My daughter is ADHD and the best perspective we ever got on the “condition” came from a book titled (IIRC) “A Hunter In A Farmer’s World” which argued the problem was indeed a disorder, but of the system, not the individual.

    A “Hunter” (ADHD personality) was evolved to a high level of situational awareness, alert to any minor changes which might indicate presence of prey or those which prey upon humans. A “Hunter” was also the perfect type of person to assign as village lookout because they were highly likely to note “something amiss” and raise an alarum at the earliest moment.

    A “Farmer” essentially evolved with the ability to stare at a horse’s arse from dawn to dusk. This is also why “Farmer”s are often model students in public schools; they merge, as Cindy implies above, with the herd.

  11. Pat
    August 20th, 2010 @ 6:55 am

    Guys,

    I have A.D.H.D. and Yes, I take meds for it. I would say that a good 90% of you do not have it actually. There is a rush to judge people, that is correct. My A.D.H.D. affects my ability to concentrate on one thing for any length of time. THAT is what A.D.D. actually is. The A.D.H.D. Is short for Attention deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder. Whereas the A.D.D. is simply Attention Deficit Disorder.

    What sickens me to my fucking core, and I will apologize to you upfront for the language — but it sickens me to see that something; that has been my damned private hell for the last 38 years if my god damned life —- turned into some sort of fucking base line for a morbid joke. Just like god damned Alzheimer’s. Every time I hear someone shallow minded fucking buffoon use Alzheimer’s in some sort of joking manner; honestly, I just want to punch them in the god damned nuts.

    Neither of these two things are a damned joking manner okay? I’ve lived through it, I have been denied a normal successful life because of it. My math skills basically fucking suck. I can add and subtract, but my Times tables ability, just ain’t there… why? Because I have; a form of, I am told of dyslexia and I also do, in fact, have the A.D.H.D. It runs on my Father’s side. Thanks Dad — you bastard.

    Anyhow, I hate to yammer on about it. But I get incredibly pissed off, when I hear misinformed, and quite egotistical jackwads yammer on about shit that they have zero fucking clue about. Yes, McCain, I am referring to you sir. You’re welcome. 😡

    You wouldn’t mock a fucking kid in a wheel chair, so why the fuck mock me?

    If you’re pissed now, think of how I, and millions of people, WHO ACTUALLY HAVE THE GOD DAMNED DISORDER feel.

    That is all

    -Pat

    owner

    political byline dot com

  12. Pat
    August 20th, 2010 @ 2:55 am

    Guys,

    I have A.D.H.D. and Yes, I take meds for it. I would say that a good 90% of you do not have it actually. There is a rush to judge people, that is correct. My A.D.H.D. affects my ability to concentrate on one thing for any length of time. THAT is what A.D.D. actually is. The A.D.H.D. Is short for Attention deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder. Whereas the A.D.D. is simply Attention Deficit Disorder.

    What sickens me to my fucking core, and I will apologize to you upfront for the language — but it sickens me to see that something; that has been my damned private hell for the last 38 years if my god damned life —- turned into some sort of fucking base line for a morbid joke. Just like god damned Alzheimer’s. Every time I hear someone shallow minded fucking buffoon use Alzheimer’s in some sort of joking manner; honestly, I just want to punch them in the god damned nuts.

    Neither of these two things are a damned joking manner okay? I’ve lived through it, I have been denied a normal successful life because of it. My math skills basically fucking suck. I can add and subtract, but my Times tables ability, just ain’t there… why? Because I have; a form of, I am told of dyslexia and I also do, in fact, have the A.D.H.D. It runs on my Father’s side. Thanks Dad — you bastard.

    Anyhow, I hate to yammer on about it. But I get incredibly pissed off, when I hear misinformed, and quite egotistical jackwads yammer on about shit that they have zero fucking clue about. Yes, McCain, I am referring to you sir. You’re welcome. 😡

    You wouldn’t mock a fucking kid in a wheel chair, so why the fuck mock me?

    If you’re pissed now, think of how I, and millions of people, WHO ACTUALLY HAVE THE GOD DAMNED DISORDER feel.

    That is all

    -Pat

    owner

    political byline dot com

  13. Estragon
    August 20th, 2010 @ 8:05 am

    I think it is fair to say that Lindsay has received and followed quite a bit of bad advice in recent years.

  14. Estragon
    August 20th, 2010 @ 4:05 am

    I think it is fair to say that Lindsay has received and followed quite a bit of bad advice in recent years.

  15. billhedrick
    August 20th, 2010 @ 1:49 pm

    I know people with ADD, and I know people that have “ADD” the second batch frankly just need to grow up

  16. billhedrick
    August 20th, 2010 @ 9:49 am

    I know people with ADD, and I know people that have “ADD” the second batch frankly just need to grow up

  17. dad29
    August 20th, 2010 @ 4:51 pm

    God knows what would have become of me if the ADHD diagnosis had been commonplace when I was a talkative, over-energetic child…

    So. Aside from “child”, what, exactly, has changed?

  18. dad29
    August 20th, 2010 @ 12:51 pm

    God knows what would have become of me if the ADHD diagnosis had been commonplace when I was a talkative, over-energetic child…

    So. Aside from “child”, what, exactly, has changed?

  19. Kojocaro
    August 20th, 2010 @ 7:00 pm

    sorry for the triple post in the poll thread

    btw lindsay lohan has a mental disorder it’s called being lindsay lohan

  20. Kojocaro
    August 20th, 2010 @ 3:00 pm

    sorry for the triple post in the poll thread

    btw lindsay lohan has a mental disorder it’s called being lindsay lohan