ADHD still does not exist. It was created out of lazy parents wanting heir kids to not be kids. They want zombies that sit in front of a TV and make no sound.
There was an epidemic when my kids were in school; kids that I had known from birth or shortly after were diagnosed left and right. Mostly boys, but the point I want to make is every single one that I knew personally seemed perfectly normal to me- and it was not the parents that “discovered” they were ADHD or even had concerns about their kids. The push was from the school!!
It was always the same thing, the teacher would approach the parents that “little Johnny” was having a hard time focusing in school and would benefit from a visit to the doctor. In this area it was a specific doctor in the nearest large town. The doctor would do tests and the child would be diagnosed with ADHD and put on Ritalin. I don’t know of a single child that went and was not diagnosed and medicated.
I have my own idea that schools were getting money for Special Ed. students, and for some reason the money was great for ADHD. I say that because it took off like wildfire, the parents seemed hesitant but the school would push and it would happen in most cases. As it turned out medicated children are easier to handle so it ended up being a win/win...or seemed to be at the time. It became the thing to do, countless stories in women’s magazines and morning shows on TV also promoted it.
I think the school not only profited by all the ADHD diagnosed students, but there were other issues. Often funding is tied to test scores, and if a student was considered Special Ed. their test scores were not counted against the class average. The students that were recommended for treatment were average or below average students. At some point the rules changed and now only a certain percentage of students test scores can be left out of the test results. Amazingly enough the push to diagnose ADHD and drug children tapered off and it no where near as common as it was then.
Fast forward to the beginning of the meth epidemic- I had a long talk with a rehab counselor that told me nearly ALL of the patients he saw in rehab for meth had been diagnosed with ADHD and had been on Ritalin until they graduated from school and they would suddenly be denied new prescriptions. Now meth has been around long enough to have created its own following but in the beginning it was a refuge for former Ritalin drugged children.
Just my experience in my area but would not be surprised to find it was the same across the nation.
ADHD was created by public school teachers who wanted boys to sit down and be nice like little girls.