Is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) a legitimate behavior description/diagnosis or is it a reflection of what modern society deems appropriate and normal behavior?

 

No one will argue that ADHD is a long time subject of controversy. But some question whether it is really a disorder or just a collection of personality traits that may be undesirable. A few conservatives even see ADHD as being an attack on traditional masculine traits.

 

The online magazine, Slate, recently published The ADHD-ventures of Tom Sawyer, suggesting that today, Tom would have been diagnosed as having not only ADHD, but also Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). When Mark Twain wrote his books about Tom Sawyer, the boy’s behaviors were described quite differently than they would be today. Tom had a wandering mind, his heart ached to be free, he had to sit far away from the seductive outside summer scenes, he was unable to take responsibility for his own actions, he aggressively provoked his peers, he ignored rules, defied adults, he was dishonest, and skipped school. No one described him as having ADHD.

 

For some critics, the label ADHD is merely an excuse for frustrated parents and teachers and overzealous doctors to medicate away a child's annoying behaviors. Other critics concede that ADHD exists, but believe it is vastly over diagnosed. ADHD and Education, on the University of Michigan Web site, states one “controversy is that of teachers and schools wanting students to be on medication so that they are not a disruption in class.”

 

Does ADHD Exist?, from the archives of Frontline, offers six different viewpoints about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Some opinions are from active opponents of ADHD and some are from true believers of the disorder. Reading these will give you a broader perspective.

 

An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently recommended that some of the drugs used to treat ADHD should display on their packaging a “black box” warning—the strongest possible warning for adverse side-effects, so medicating these young people should not be taken lightly.

 

In some circles, it is felt that ADHD may be a misdiagnosis. Instead of suffering from ADHD the child (especially a gifted child) may be expressing overexcitabilities as described by Polish psychiatrist and psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski. You can read more about overexciteabilities in Overexcitability and the Gifted at the SENG Web site.

 

It is important for parents and teachers to understand that there is not a consensus about ADHD. Before jumping to any conclusions, those who work with young people should educate themselves thoroughly about the topic.