Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a house hold name when it comes to “diseases” among children and adults. Kids with ADHD have trouble focusing, are hyperactive, and most of the time act without thinking. If you ever seen a young child who just cant sit still or focus for more then a few seconds then you’ve most likely seen someone with ADHD. Its not that children with ADHD don’t understand information, the problem is they have trouble following through with the information because they cant sit still and focus.
Statistically speaking, in the United States the percentages of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD continues to grow at a rapid rate. In 2003 7.8% of children between the ages of 4-17 were diagnosed with ADHD. In 2007 that percentage jumped to 9.5% and in 2011 the percentage was just over 11%. Boys are almost 3 times as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls. Seeing this I began to wonder why more kids every year are being diagnosed with this so called disease.
As it turns out there is not DNA test to prove whether or not someone actually has ADHD. Testing for ADHD usually entails a one on one interview between the doctor and the patient. A number of academic exams and test, and finally a behavioral rating scale for ADHD that the doctor has to evaluate. That’s it. Theres no blood test, MRI scans, or basically anything that can scientifically prove that someone has ADHD.
Once I found this out the answer became simple to me. Drugs to help people manage there ADHD include Adderall, Concerta, and Ritalin. These drugs force the brain to become less hyperactive and more focused. It’s no wonder why thousands of high school and college students feel the need to take these drugs to focus more, it’s because they work. So whats to stop a teenager from walking into a physicians office, taking the ADHD exam and purposely doing poorly on it in order to be prescribed these drugs. The answer is nothing, and I’m willing to bet this is why the numbers of diagnoses for ADHD have jumped the past few years.
If you really think about it doesn’t everyone have a little bit of ADHD? Theres no doubt that there has been times that everyone has had trouble focusing or sitting still through a lecture, so my question is what separates people who have been diagnosed with ADHD from pretty much every other human being.
One of the world’s best pediatric neuroscientists, Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D, recently stated that ADHD is not ‘a real disease. He also warned about the dangers of giving psycho-stimulant medications to children. Dr perry went on to say ” It is best though of as a description. If you look how you end up with that label, it’s remarkable because any of us at any given time would fit at least a couple of the criteria for ADHD.”
There’s no doubt that some people have a harder time concentrating than other people. But to be fair everyone has trouble concentrating at some points in their life. With no clear cut test to actually prove if someone has ADHD I cant really agree that ADHD is a disease at all. Sure psychologist and doctors have labeled it as a disease, but if everyone has some form of it, and you cant test for it, does it even exist. 
I actually take some offense to this because everyone says that ADHD isn’t real. It is real. If it wasn’t people like me would be able to focus and not get distracted by any little thing at all. ADHD is real. It’s not a myth or an excuse that people use. It is a real disability.
Nice post. There is a common rumor that the “Godfather of ADHD,” Leon Eisenberg admitted on his deathbed that the disorder was a complete hoax, and that it was just a way to sell medication. Here is an article that partially disproves this myth, but does admit that Dr. Eisenberg thought that ADHD was highly over diagnosed.
When i came across this post I was immediately caught by the title. I have always had trouble concentrating, but I have never actually went to a doctor about it. A bunch of my friends take medicine for their ADHD, get extra time on exams, and it is not fair in some cases. I believe some people have extreme circumstances where they deserve extra time and should be on ADHD medication, but others take advantage of the fact they are unable to concentrate. Thanks for the post!