The Stir – December 16, 2013
By Jacqueline Burt
Here’s a “shock” for all you parents out there: Turns out ADHD is wildly, rampantly overdiagnosed. Over the past 20 years, thanks mostly to drug marketing campaigns, diagnoses have “soared” — but why? According to Dr. Keith Connors, who spent 50 years fighting to legitimize the disorder, “The numbers make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous … This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.”
Sounds about right to me. Because the internet, in its infinite, Big Brother-esque wisdom, seems to know that I have two children, I see an alarming number of ads for ADHD medications on a daily basis.
None of these carefully construed commercial spots mention much of anything about ADHD itself; instead, they focus on photos of happy, shiny, attractive children willingly doing all sorts of things they presumably wouldn’t be able to do without their ADHD meds: Homework, chores, experiencing everyday joy. What parent wouldn’t be sold on these magical medications?? No wonder ADHD is now the second most common long-term diagnosis made in children (asthma is the first). Sales of stimulant meds have more than QUINTUPLED since 2002.
So what’s the downside? Well, these drugs are … DRUGS. Highly addictive, often abused drugs with serious side effecs: Insomnia, appetite suppression, mood swings — and in cases of overdose, severe heart problems and psychotic behavior. Read the rest of the article here: http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/165571/dont_believe_your_doctor_when