Posted on 12/17/2013 12:08:46 PM PST by neverdem
The overdiagnosis of ADHD is "national disaster of dangerous proportions," says one M.D.
If at any time while reading this article your attention wanders, you may have ADHD. If you pause to check your e-mail sometime during the next three paragraphs, you should consult a doctor. If you fail to read this article all the way to the end, you should get on Adderall, Ritalin, or some other drug to treat your condition as soon as possible.
This isn’t quite the standard for diagnosing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but it’s close. The New York Times ran a long exposé on how the drug industry has stoked the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. The exposé contained a revelatory quote from Keith Conners, a doctor who has long advocated for the recognition of the disorder.
Conners called the overdiagnosis of ADHD “a national disaster of dangerous proportions,” telling the Times that the rising number of cases “is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.” This isn’t bomb-throwing from an outsider, but a critique from the namesake of the Conners ratings scale widely used to evaluate kids for ADHD.
There is no doubt that ADHD is a legitimate neurological condition that makes kids (and those around them) miserable, that blights their potential, and that can be alleviated by prescription stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin. There also is no doubt that diagnosis and treatment of the disorder has run wildly out of control on the promise of an easy pharmaceutical fix to the natural rambunctiousness of childhood.
The six-year-old boy notoriously suspended from a Colorado elementary school on charges of sexual harassment for the offense of kissing a girl’s hand summarized the matter nicely: “I just have a lot of energy! I mean six-year-olds — they have a lot of energy!” No kidding. Our increasing unwillingness to distinguish between run-of-the-mill childishness — which, by definition, is heedless and frustrating at times — and a condition requiring pharmaceutical treatment is at the root of the ADHD epidemic.
According to the forthcoming book The ADHD Explosion, 19 percent of high-school-aged males have received a diagnosis. The numbers differ from state to state. In North Carolina, an astounding 30 percent of boys over age nine are supposedly suffering from ADHD. Overall, 6 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are on drugs to treat ADHD.
It’s a wonder more kids aren’t diagnosed with it, given the overlap between the description of the disorder and failings to which we are all prone. The New York Times points out that the American Psychiatric Association criteria for ADHD include “often has difficulty waiting his or her turn” and “makes careless mistakes,” hardly rare childhood behaviors. Lowering the bar further, drug companies sponsor online quizzes telling people they may have ADHD if they have trouble with things like “remembering appointments” or “getting things in order.”
The drug companies — for whom ADHD is a $9 billion-a-year business — target mothers with alluring ads suggesting their children will become little angels through the wonders of risk-free stimulants. Their kids will get better grades, spend more quality time with the family, remember to take out the trash, and shower everyone around them with good cheer. Who wouldn’t want their child thus magically transformed? According to the Times report, the Food and Drug Administration has constantly rebuked the companies for going beyond the evidence in selling visions of childhood Valhalla secured through the right drug.
Undertrained primary-care physicians and worried parents default much too often to the diagnosis of ADHD and to the answer of a prescription. The next frontier is adult ADHD, with the promise of a vast new pharmaceutical market made up of people deprived of ADHD diagnoses when they were children. Some of these diagnoses will be warranted and life-changing, but others will be overreach prompted by vague and dubious symptoms, like inattentive op-ed reading.
Sure, you got to the end of this article. But how about the next one?
— Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. He can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com. © 2013 King Features Syndicate
When the same story hits National Review AND Democracy Now! on the same day, you know we have a problem.
Isn’t it interesting that ADHD doesn’t exist in other countries?
Not only ADHD, but autism and vaccination protocols. We’ve gone far past the time when we could take medical science at its word.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject, I’m with Duesberg on HIV.
Mark my words. I have said this before. ANY prior indication a person has been prescribed Ritalin or the equivalent will be an automatic denial to receive a clear NCIS check when purchasing a gun. Likewise with visits to a psychologist or psychiatrist, any treatment for depression, sleep disorders, or anxiety.
You don’t think these ObamaCare felons (Navigators) are asking you those kinds of questions for nothing, do you?
Medical records are being digitized; not for medical expediency, but rather for government identification and adjudication.
On the tour of Thomas Edison's boyhood home, the guide states that troublesome TE as a youngster would've been diagnosed with ADHD. That's just one example. What is happening today is that often the most creative, artistically and intellectually, are having that creativity and potential for excellence destroyed by pharmaceuticals.
Why don't we ever see statistics about how many of these shooters have at some point been poisoned with Ritalin, Addrerol, or some other mind inhibitor?
This guy says most kids have sleep problems that look like adhd…kid require 10 to 12 hours sleep a night…even in high school
These childhood diagnoses will also affect these kids' ability to join the military, obtain a pilot license, obtain a federal CDL, obtain any security clearance required to work in private industry that works government contracts, etc.
Parents, doctors and school administrators seemingly don't have a clue as to the impact these diagnoses have
Without exception, they worked out a pattern for themselves. Often, it was a short nap. This held for all age levels.
Most all (the teachers and doctors) don't really care. They are more interested in a controllable child who causes no problems so they can graduate him/her up to the next grade where they become somebody else's problem.
Kids raised on an early, steady diet of TV and gaming are bound to get bored quickly in a classroom environment
the NY times just had a big piece too...I sent it to my son and his wife...their son is a bit hyper and has a lot of “classic” symptoms...but not all....he can quiet himself down in a NY minute if you let him watch a dvd or use your Ipad....
“Parents, doctors and school administrators seemingly don’t have a clue as to the impact these diagnoses have.”
But more often than not, these diagnoses come with federal money. Parents are whoring their kids out to the government and pharmaceutical companies. And, as you point out, these parents have no idea what they are really signing up for.
They aren’t being herded into the collective farm. They are being baited.
You are EXACTLY on point!! I have been saying ADD and ADHD have been a fraud on America for years.
Thanks for that information. It’s astounding that these poisons are still being prescribed, considering this strong connection.
I have a nephew who was put on Ritalin. He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack but he did graduate high school, and the girls seemed to like him.
But I can assure you, those drugs did him no good. My only solace is that he turned out conservative, a 2A adherent, and a good husband and father.
Surprisingly, much of the classroom has been reduced to staring at technology, predesigned worksheets and other programmed activity. That bores them
I'd go back to textbooks, the basics, and lots more art, music, phys ed, drama, other creative outlets. Too much now, the classroom is group pre-programmed activities and not individual accomplishment. It's often a less glitzy form of the technology they're absorbed in at home, so they often zone out and go through the motions...or misbehave and get diagnosed with ADHD.
We are learning new things everyday from our son. I find his view on life fascinating, but we do sometimes have our very frustrating moments.The nuns have no problem with our dietary and therapeutic treatments, but our pediatrician keeps pushing drugs. Luckily we only take our son to the doc once a year for his school checkup.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.