Is ADHD/ADD overdiagnosed in America?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, five percent of American children have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, prompting thousands of children to take medications like Ritalin and Adderall. Some parents and health professionals worry that we’re too quickly diagnosing our youngest patients, but for others a diagnosis has provided much needed help for their struggling children. Has the boom in ADD/ADHD awareness and medication made children healthier, or is it just resulting in kids being over-medicated?

I do think it's overdiagnosed. It seems like an excuse to drug kids into being robots.

Forgiveness Man wrote:I do think it's overdiagnosed. It seems like an excuse to drug kids into being robots.

Everybody's looking for an excuse that a pill can be the answer. People are even diagnosing 2 year olds as having disorders, HOW in the HELL can you diagnose a 2 year old for anything that isn't physical?

I used to think it was overdiagnosed, but that was before I learned more about ADHD in psychology class. At this point in time I no longer think it is generally overdiagnosed at all and I think it just seems that way now because it was underdiagnosed in the past. In fact, before relatively recently it was never diagnosed at all, even for children that have been pshycologically evaluated (which many who suffer symptoms of ADD/ADHD are not). People who are "old school" in mentality tend to think that children come out of a standard mold, that one form of "discipline" should work for all of them and that anything classified or diagnosed as a mental disorder is simply a behavioral problem that the parents should be able to correct themselves. This is an ignorant way of thinking considering what we now know about medicine and psychology.

People who know little about those conditions are quick to criticize their diagnosis and treatment regimens, however they are very REAL conditions that are common and characterized by noticeable, measurable changes in brain chemistry. The brain of a child that has ADHD is literally different from a "normal" brain and chemicals and hormones in that brain cause the child to behave differently. Most of the drug treatments are designed to reduce the production of certain brain chemicals and counteract the effects of them, thereby turning a hyperactive child with difficulties focusing into a "normal" child who can focus. Don't get me wrong, there are some children who are misdiagnosed and overmedicated (which as a result turns them into zombies). But the intent of ADD/ADHD treatment isn't to turn every hyperactive child in to a zombie. And the more people understand these mental disorders, what causes them and how they are medically treated, the less likely they are to criticize them.

BTW, I happen to know two 9 year old boys (twins) who both suffer from ADHD. When they are not on their meds, they are absolute HELLIONS! But when they are on their meds, they are angels! They aren't zombies or disconnected either, they simply have the ability to sit down, act normal, concentrate and do their homework. The fact that identical twins (genetically identical) have similar brain chemestry isn't surprising and I don't view their condition as a result of upbringing. Their younger brother (6 years old) is also a hellion sometimes, but only in the "normal" 6 year old way. He behaves for the most part and has not been medically diagnosed with ADHD like the twins.

captainbryce wrote:I used to think it was overdiagnosed, but that was before I learned more about ADHD in psychology class. At this point in time I no longer think it is generally overdiagnosed at all and I think it just seems that way now because it was underdiagnosed in the past. In fact, before relatively recently it was never diagnosed at all, even for children that have been pshycologically evaluated (which many who suffer symptoms of ADD/ADHD are not). People who are "old school" in mentality tend to think that children come out of a standard mold, that one form of "discipline" should work for all of them and that anything classified or diagnosed as a mental disorder is simply a behavioral problem that the parents should be able to correct themselves. This is an ignorant way of thinking considering what we now know about medicine and psychology.

People who know little about those conditions are quick to criticize their diagnosis and treatment regimens, however they are very REAL conditions that are common and characterized by noticeable, measurable changes in brain chemistry. The brain of a child that has ADHD is literally different from a "normal" brain and chemicals and hormones in that brain cause the child to behave differently. Most of the drug treatments are designed to reduce the production of certain brain chemicals and counteract the effects of them, thereby turning a hyperactive child with difficulties focusing into a "normal" child who can focus. Don't get me wrong, there are some children who are misdiagnosed and overmedicated (which as a result turns them into zombies). But the intent of ADD/ADHD treatment isn't to turn every hyperactive child in to a zombie. And the more people understand these mental disorders, what causes them and how they are medically treated, the less likely they are to criticize them.

BTW, I happen to know two 9 year old boys (twins) who both suffer from ADHD. When they are not on their meds, they are absolute HELLIONS! But when they are on their meds, they are angels! They aren't zombies or disconnected either, they simply have the ability to sit down, act normal, concentrate and do their homework. The fact that identical twins (genetically identical) have similar brain chemestry isn't surprising and I don't view their condition as a result of upbringing. Their younger brother (6 years old) is also a hellion sometimes, but only in the "normal" 6 year old way. He behaves for the most part and has not been medically diagnosed with ADHD like the twins.

I agree with you for the most part. I do think that non drug treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy and nutritional therapy like adding fish oil and removing red dye, checking for food allergies and intolerances should be tried first.

However, I tend to think that if you give someone a stimulant, and it CALMS them down, that should be a big clue to the fact that they are wired a little differently than most people!

Forgiveness Man wrote:I do think it's overdiagnosed. It seems like an excuse to drug kids into being robots.

I completey disagree with this, and it's pretty paranoid, quite frankly. Why would a doctor give a child drugs unless it was needed? I can assure you it's not to turn them to robots (believe me, doctors have better things to do with their time.) And what would you rather have the doctors do, let the child suffer? As Chris mentioned, diagnoses and treatment can provide much relief and believe it or not ADD/ADHD is real and can be treated even with, *gasp*, medications. As if it's over-diagnosed, I doubt it - maybe there are that many children with this disorder, anybody ever think of that?

Supernova wrote:HOW in the HELL can you diagnose a 2 year old for anything that isn't physical?

Ever hear of autism?

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:

Forgiveness Man wrote:I do think it's overdiagnosed. It seems like an excuse to drug kids into being robots.

I completey disagree with this, and it's pretty paranoid, quite frankly. Why would a doctor give a child drugs unless it was needed? I can assure you it's not to turn them to robots (believe me, doctors have better things to do with their time.) And what would you rather have the doctors do, let the child suffer? As Chris mentioned, diagnoses and treatment can provide much relief and believe it or not ADD/ADHD is real and can be treated even with, *gasp*, medications. As if it's over-diagnosed, I doubt it - maybe there are that many children with this disorder, anybody ever think of that?

My question is WHY? Why is it that there are so many children with these sorts of disorders now?

I suspect it's a combination of factors:

Chemicals in our food supply and environment leading to an increase in neurological conditions, also electro magnetic fields and radiation that we are all constantly bombarded with. Even ultrasounds which are thought to be "safe" for a fetus, in spite of no long term testing and the super heating of fetal tissue when they are performed, especially in the first trimester. ( I worry about the ultrasounds, because I had them weekly with the twins to look for TTTS)

A need for children to all behave the same way/learn the same way in order to facilitate a calm classroom.

Lack of exercise and too much screen time at a young age which leads to changes in the way information is processed by children's brain.

Aside from chemicals, poor nutrition.

Less tolerance for boys and their antics. I think that there probably were kids with the same symptoms in the past but people would say "boys will be boys..." and there were so much more physical things for boys to do that it probably wasn't as much of a problem for them.

thepossiblepolice wrote:

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:

I completey disagree with this, and it's pretty paranoid, quite frankly. Why would a doctor give a child drugs unless it was needed? I can assure you it's not to turn them to robots (believe me, doctors have better things to do with their time.) And what would you rather have the doctors do, let the child suffer? As Chris mentioned, diagnoses and treatment can provide much relief and believe it or not ADD/ADHD is real and can be treated even with, *gasp*, medications. As if it's over-diagnosed, I doubt it - maybe there are that many children with this disorder, anybody ever think of that?

My question is WHY? Why is it that there are so many children with these sorts of disorders now?

I'm not so sure that this is anything new. They're just using "medical" terms now insted of, "Johnny has too much energy." The population of this country alone has pretty much doubled in a generation so statistically there's just more people to have these "disorders".

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:

Forgiveness Man wrote:I do think it's overdiagnosed. It seems like an excuse to drug kids into being robots.

I completey disagree with this, and it's pretty paranoid, quite frankly. Why would a doctor give a child drugs unless it was needed? I can assure you it's not to turn them to robots (believe me, doctors have better things to do with their time.) And what would you rather have the doctors do, let the child suffer? As Chris mentioned, diagnoses and treatment can provide much relief and believe it or not ADD/ADHD is real and can be treated even with, *gasp*, medications. As if it's over-diagnosed, I doubt it - maybe there are that many children with this disorder, anybody ever think of that?

Why give them drugs if not needed? Cause we're a drug happy nation who like a pill for everything. It's not paranoid. It's just observation.

I didn't say the doctors were the ones who wanted them to be robots. The point is that we are labeling ADHD on stuff that is pretty much just being a KID. Parents DO drug their kids up for no reasons. Maybe that DOES happen, anybody ever think of that?

Suffer? lol Who says the kids are actually suffering? The cases I mostly see of ADHD doesn't seem to have a dang thing to do with making the KID suffer less. And having known somebody drugged up with something like this, I'm even less a believe in their benefit for the child.

I'm sure it is real but the question was NOT if it was real. The question was whether it was overdiagnosed. And I say it IS overdiagnosed. I highly doubt every kid diagnosed with it actually has a problem. It's just becoming a quick fix for being hyper.

alan smithee wrote:

thepossiblepolice wrote:

My question is WHY? Why is it that there are so many children with these sorts of disorders now?

I'm not so sure that this is anything new. They're just using "medical" terms now insted of, "Johnny has too much energy." The population of this country alone has pretty much doubled in a generation so statistically there's just more people to have these "disorders".

I agree. It's just like with the "older" generation of folks where alzheimer's and dementia are legitimate concerns for many people as the aging process goes on. Back in the day when you got old, you just got "senile". You forgot stuff or didn't recognize anyone because you were "old". It wasn't until those conditions started to be seen in younger people (who've suffered stroke or brain injuries) that we actually began to realize that it's not just senility. Now we actually know that these are specific types of brain damage as well as what causes them and try to develop treatments for it. It's not that more old people suffer from Alzheimer's and dementia nowadays, it's just that we call it something different now and actually treat it like an illness and not just part of "getting old".

Forgiveness Man wrote:
Why give them drugs if not needed? Cause we're a drug happy nation who like a pill for everything. It's not paranoid. It's just observation.

Because in many cases drugs DO in fact help. An argument could be made that spankings are not necessary either, but many people generally still believe that it should be done to their child because it's in the best interests of the child. I personally don't agree with that, but that is what these parents believe, just as other parents and doctors believe that drugs to counteract the effects of ADHD is in the best interests of the child.

Forgiveness Man wrote:
I didn't say the doctors were the ones who wanted them to be robots. The point is that we are labeling ADHD on stuff that is pretty much just being a KID. Parents DO drug their kids up for no reasons. Maybe that DOES happen, anybody ever think of that?

No. The reason most people don't think of that is because that doesn't make any sense. Sure, there may be some crazy or inattentive parents out there that would prefer their kids to be robots or zombies, but most parents are not like that. The average parent doesn't wake up one day and say "hey, what kind of drugs can we find for our kids so that they won't bother us anymore?". The average parent genuinely wants to do what's in their child's best interest. And neither doctors nor most parents are labeling ADHD on just being a KID. That is what YOU are doing because you don't really know what ADHD is. Doctors are doing the opposite of that. They are saying that it's NOT nomral for a kid to have ADHD and if he/she does, then they should have the appropriate drugs.

Forgiveness Man wrote:
Who says the kids are actually suffering? The cases I mostly see of ADHD doesn't seem to have a dang thing to do with making the KID suffer less.

How many kids do you know who've actually been diagnosed with ADHD and not been given meds? I'm guessing ZERO (to make a comment like that). The suffering is usually evident in the form of their social behavior, school grades and family relationships. When a kid has to be held back a grade because he can't focus on his assignments or has problems with conduct, that is a form of suffering.

Forgiveness Man wrote:
I'm sure it is real but the question was NOT if it was real. The question was whether it was overdiagnosed. And I say it IS overdiagnosed. I highly doubt every kid diagnosed with it actually has a problem. It's just becoming a quick fix for being hyper.

Well if that's the way you want to look at it then EVERYTHING is overdiagnosed from "alcoholism" to "eating disorders". The point I'm making is that in MOST cases, when one of these things is recognized or diagnosed, it's TRUE and when it is misdiagnosed that is the exception rather than the rule. In other words, MOST kids diagnosed with ADHD actually have it and only a few do not.

First of all, it seems to me that a system that requires patients, or their insurers, to pay individually the full cost of all treatment is likely to over diagnose a great many conditions. So by that measure, yes…I do think that ADHD is over diagnosed. However, this does not mean that ADHD is not a real problem.

Most assumptions/diagnosis of children as ADHD isn't because of a real biological problem. It's the inherent nature of children. Parent's need to understand this and not only learn to deal with it, but give children appropriate avenues to deal with it as well.

Children are not adults, behaviorally speaking. But many people apply adult behavioral patterns to kids, which they will then fail to meet.

The problem is at least two-fold:

1. Diagnosis is highly subjective. (Ironically, it's subjective nature is noted under the "NO" opinion.)

2. Some people look for an easy way to deal with the issue, thus pursuing medical treatments to make life easier.

Again, this is not to say that there is no ADHD problem. Just that, in my opinion, many diagnosis of ADHD aren't really warranted. Before shoving pills down your childs throat, consider the following method…