I have a slightly different slant on this problem. Whilst I acknowledge that the facts of overdiagonsis are probably correct, I think that a significant portion of this is not due to evil pharma but because people go to the doctor expecting a 'magic pill'.

We have known for decades that doctors (a) typically prescribe antibiotics for viral infections, and (b) almost never do a culture and sensitivity to determine a causative bacterial organism and what antibiotic it specifically is sensitive to. This is not because Pharma is trying to sell more antibiotics or because the doctor is lazy-bad: It is because the patient genuinely expects to go home(right now!) with a pill that will make everything better. He looks at the doctor with puppydog eyes (and will bitch like hell if not given a prescription). The doctor gives him what the patient wants. This results in antibiotic resistant bacteria, which is not a good thing.

Similarly, the non-ADHD kids who are problem children are probably 'helped' by the prescription. "... clinical trials found that therapeutic doses of amphetamine and methylphenidate result in modest yet unambiguous improvements in cognition, including working memory, episodic memory, and inhibitory control, in normal healthy adults." So, it does the magic it is supposed to do, which encourages doctors to prescribe it and people to take it.

I do not have a problem with adults taking Ritalin if they want to - It is not my job to run their lives. I do think that the psychiatric path of least resistance that results in prescribing drugs to non-ADHD kids is unethical and should be investigated as such.

Jan

It is tragic that the financial interests of big companies so often drive efforts that are counterproductive to a vital society. The collusion between corporate giants and the politicians they can buy amplifies the effect of the damage they can cause.

Because of my family medical history (zero incidence of cancer or heart disease for the three hundred years my research has covered, with long lifespans), and my own health profile (no infectious disease for over 30 years, and still as vital as a 40 year old at 70+), I've been trying to entice numerous medical study centers to do a genetic study of me to determine why I'm so healthy. With genetic engineering becoming a credible form of treatment, my thought is that I could help others live a long, healthy life, free of cancer. Every center I spoke with told me they don't study healthy people. One doctor finally was willing to tell me why I was getting the cold shoulder: big pharmaceutical companies fund most medical research, with the idea they can offer "magic" pallatives or cures to the ill. If genetic engineering created extremely robust immune response among the larger populace, the sales of drugs would plummet. I was disappointed, but intend to continue the search.

The late, great fellow libertarian psychologist who studied and wrote about personality type and temperament wrote about the great ADD hoax decades ago. He posited that ADD was ascribed incorrectly to Artisans (SP in the Myers-Briggs paradigm). I think Ps (perceptives) in general can easily be misdiagnosed as having ADD. It is, quite simply, their personality types: they are easily bored. His article is well worth a read (as is the rest of his work): http://www.keirsey.com/add_hoax.aspx

When our now grown daughter was in Ohio grade school, in the 90s, they wanted to test her for ADHD, a test the school had designed. I knew our daughter had begun allergy testing and was about to begin treatment, but let it go. I also knew that one third grrade class at the school had 30% of the class on Ritalin, when the natl. percentage was 2%! I contacted her allergist, who was furious. After their testing said it was not concslusive she was ADHD, I pulled out a letter from her MD. He had written a scathing letter to the principal, stat the natl. percentage, wsaying onl one of the constant stream of kids sent to his office by them was ADHD, and that he felt the teachers could not teach, and it was easier to medicated the students.
After about a month of allergy treatment, our daughter went from being up all the time running about, to able to sit and read a book. She sat and read "Anthem" one afternoon, all 90 pages, without leaving the book! At the same time, my nephews wife had one daughter diagnosed and given Ritalin, and went back and asked for the same for the other un-diagnosed daughter, because it make them easier to handle. She got the Rx! Upon moving to Texas, the school system was appalled, and said neither should have been on the Rx.
One of our daughter's classmates was about to go on Ritalin, when I ran into his mother. I asked if any of her family had allergies, they had severe one, but this boy had not been tested. End result, he to tested, began treatment, and was given one tablespoon of coffee each morning, instead of Ritalin, and no more issues!
Between the brainwashing, subliminal tapes, group hypnosis, and Maslow group therapy, all on normal grade school children, it is a wonder they ever learned anything. I got so sick of being in those halls, raisng hell, but we mothers knew things were not as they should be.

I've been around long enough to see the outcome of what kids diagnosed with ADHD have become. I personally knew children, one of whom was one of my sons who was so diagnosed. One became a filmmaker and professor, the second became an opthamologist, (SP?) and the 3rd became a successful publisher. In 2 cases the kids were never given drugs. In the3rd case the drugs were quit at an early age. I knew of only one case where the boy was put on drugs, a horror called Ritalin. He didn't get off of drugs - ever. He is now dead. O.D.'d . I'm not knowledgeable and my experience is certainly anecdotal. Take it for what it is.

My son was misdiagnosed with ADHD.
He has bipolar disorder.
Lithium is shit.
Those who prescribed it for him are shit.
The educators who applauded my son's Lithium medication are shit.
He had a terrible time getting off Lithium while we were still wondering what the heck was wrong with him.
Fortunately he got safely past a suddenly suicidal phase and got correctly diagnosed.
It still took a couple of years for my son and a couple of doctors to get right the right balance of meds for him to cope from day to day..
He is getting along fine now.

We Americans are sooooooooooooooo over medicated and always looking for another pill to makes us feel better rather than doing the hard work of proper diet, exercise, weight management and avoidance of self-destructive behavior. We are truly a SICK society and getting sicker by the day. I despair for our future and especially with Hussein/Hillary leadership.

the 5% number is probably to high.
we have a world of people who have reproduced more people without any knowledge of how to raise their own little people so these little people do as they please and if corrected they react violently. just look all arund the country or world.

both of my sons were diagnosed with ADHD...the school wanted to put them on drugs...they were both august birthdays and just needed another year to mature...i keep them off the drugs and held them back in 2nd grade for another year...they went on to be class leaders...straight As...full scholarship and college graduates...

The educational systems in the states are also in bed with big Pharma in regards to ADHD. Elementary and High Schools are not equipped to handle children who are just different than from the norm. Teachers aren't trained for children who require different method in learning. They have been trained that all young children to be cookie cutter trained. That's why our educational system is failing these children.
I have written on the Gulch about my own experiences with my son and the school system here in Sedona Az. The situation here was constant irritant for both of us. When he got to high school I was meeting with his teachers or an administrator once a week. They made seem that my wife and I were at fault for his behavior. They forced us to medicate him for years so he could attend public school. This was before charter schools. We had no other choices available for him. He took himself off the meds around his senior year because the med were making him sick all the time. Now, in his thirties he is a sucessful in-house insurance customer service rep for a Fortune 500 insurance company.

Very interesting. +1

Been there...knew that. But is that admission a bit too late...the sheeple are way too drugged up now to get it.
Funny, it was said their would come a time of "revelation"...all the coercion and fraud are being exposed.
Heads won't roll on this one either...the kakistocracy protects it's own.

Thanks for posting, AJA. I know some parents who will feel vindicated for their independence and resistance to their doctors' mistaken diagnoses.

Sometimes the reason that the student doesn't want to pay attention is that the teacher is boring. One should not drug them into a stupor because of this, but challenge them instead.

I remember when we went to a parent-teacher conference when my son was in first grade. We noted he had poor scores in reading. We asked for an explanation and was told that he didn't color inside the lines. "Color inside the lines?" we asked. Yes, the teacher explained they are coloring apples red and talking about r for red.

But he can read, we protested, he reads all the time. Well, we're still in reading readiness, so we are doing the coloring exercises. She suggested that maybe he needed help concentrating, started to raise the ADHD issue.

We removed him from her class and put him in one where he read in reading. That held his attention better.