- Fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
- Has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play.
- Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
- Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
- Has difficulty organizing tasks and activities.
- Avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework).
- Loses things necessary for tasks or activities (e.g., toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
- Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
- Forgetful in daily activities.
- Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
- Leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected.
- Runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate (in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness).
- Has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly.
- Appears “on the go” or acts as if “driven by a motor.”
- Talks excessively.
And there you have it. The Answer: Psychiatry plus Big Pharma plus Billions in Marketing = Epidemic of “ADHD” Kids.
THE WEEK
One in 10 U.S. kids has been diagnosed with ADHD, a significant increase. Are “hypochondriac” parents jumping to conclusions — or are other factors at play?
Best Opinion: NPR, Strollerderby, ParentDish…
Almost 10 percent of U.S. kids have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a survey of parents conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a shocking 22 percent jump over 2003 figures — representing an additional 1 million children — and the increase was seen in all races, income levels, and areas of the U.S., with the exception of the West. What’s behind the rise? Here are 5 theories:
1. Doctors are doing a better job of diagnosing ADHD
Improvements in screening programs and greater awareness of the disorder among parents and doctors have helped identify more cases, says CDC epidemiologist Susanna Visser, , the report’s lead author. “We have become much more sensitive to behavioral differences,” agrees Dr. Jeffrey Brosco, an ADHD expert at the University of Miami. But that doesn’t mean doctors can say “whether kids in the 1970s are really different from kids in the ’90s or the 2000s.”
2. Demographics
The increases were more significant in certain demographic groups, note Scott Hensley at NPR. “The biggest jumps were seen in children between 15 and 17 and among Hispanic or multiracial children.” The jump in Hispanic ADHD cases likely reflects “greater cultural acceptance of the disorder.” Mysteriously, increases were particularly significant in 12 states, says Ray Hainer at CNN. North Carolina, for example saw a 63 percent spike in cases, with 15.6 percent of its kids diagnosed with ADHD.
3. Big Pharma is pushing the cure
Of the 5.4 million kids diagnosed with ADHD, the CDC reports, 2.7 million are taking medication for the condition. You have to question “the role of pharmacological companies in all of this,” says University of Kentucky psychiatrist John D. Ranseen. “It is very much in their interest to increase the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.” That alone should “give the mental health field pause.”
4. Blame our lousy diet
Nobody really knows what causes ADHD, says David Knowles in AOL News, but “one recent study suggested a correlation with a diet high in processed and fried foods.” Intriguingly, new research also ties ADHD to obesity in adulthood, says Healther Turgeon in Strollerderby. There’s no proof — yet — that one causes the other, but “the two are correlated.”
5. The real spike is in “paranoid” parents
“Are kids really that messed up?” asks Tom Henderson in ParentDish. “Or are parents becoming a bunch of second-party psychological hypochondriacs?” Remember, these million extra ADHD cases are “parent-reported diagnoses,” and today’s parents have been known to be “all too eager to control normal childhood restlessness and general weirdness by bombing kids with Ritalin.” Because, after all, “children often have the attention spans of, uh, children.”
http://theweek.com/article/index/209282/adhds-rapid-rise-5-theories
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OMG!!!! Both of my children have ADHD! Seriously though, this is no joke. My children fit into almost all of the criteria listed above. My son at age 8 was about to be labelled with ‘learning diffculties,’ and put on an anger management program by his school. What would have followed would have been a diagnoses for ADHD I’m sure. We took him out of that school found another that basically found that he was behind in reading. We got an external tutor for extra help and within a couple of weeks my son’s behaviour changed dramatically! He caught up with the rest of his class and is now flying. Sorted with NO drugs and NO interference from psychologists or psychiatrists! Yes we had other issues to address such as too much TV and his basic nuritional needs (too much sugar)but we dealt with the siutation ourselves and it worked.
I have been diagnosed with ADHD, and I am currently on Concerta. It has done wonders for me! I can confidently say that it is does exist. It is complex, sure, because the human brain is so complicated, but it has to do with a shortage of dopamine in the frontal lobe. (This has also been linked with depression, bipolar disorder, etc.) If not for my diagnosis and the drugs and therapy, I’m sure would have killed myself long ago because of all the negative effects of ADHD.
Biofeedback is great and all, and I’m sure plenty of people are misdiagnosed when there’s nothing wrong, but at the same time people are misdiagnosed or ignored when there is a mental disease or disability present.
I’m also on anti-seizure medication, and there have been nothing but positive effects. Because of these “dangerous” drugs I have been able to live a full and happy life.
Frankly, I find a little insulting that this site claims mental disorders do not exist. While this site campaigns not labeling children and the like as only their mental disorder (which is great) to say that they do not exist is simply an ignorant statement. With all due respect, I don’t think anyone managing this organization has ever had to deal with a mental disorder.
I do not wish to sound hostile, threatening, or in any way berating, this is simply my own opinion based on the evidence I have seen.
Frankly, I find a little insulting that this site claims mental ,says SUZY,
Disorders do not exist.Mental disorder means that there is that there is a “mental order”that exist. Well, someone has to show me that there is a mental order and then we can start talking about a Dis-Order.
AS A FREE DRUG PSYCHIATRIST I AGREE WITH THE FACTS THAT THE CCHR POINTS AGAINST THE PERVERSION OF BIG PHARMA.RITALINA AND ALL THE REST ARE DANGEROUS DRUG THAT SOMETIMES BRING SOME TEMPORARY RELIEVE WITH A VERY HIGH NEGATIVE RETURN.
IF TO CHOOSE,I PREFER THE “MENTAL DRUG” THAT THE CCHR IS SELLING.