Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a very real disorder that when treated with a combination of medication, counseling, behavior modifications, and life-style changes can be accommodated for and even overcome. As there is no quantitative or qualitative laboratory test to either confirm or rule out the condition, the diagnosis is made based upon subjective behavioral interpretation. The gross misuse and abuse of the diagnosis comes in both its subjective criteria and the person who is asserting the diagnosis. Based upon exposure to thousands of children during the course of my lifetime, both personal as well as professional, I have witnessed the misuse and abuse of the diagnosis. Not only does this result in the unnecessary and sometimes potentially dangerous medication of those who are misdiagnosed, but comes with the damage inflicted by the false stigmatization that accompanies it.
The signs and symptoms "normally" associated with ADHD are impulsiveness and inattention, which may or may not have a hyperactive or hyper manic component to it. This criterion is highly subjective and precludes other considerations. There are many in the various scientific communities that would argue that both of these are consistent with age appropriate behavior, and are not an anomaly. Behavior can only be observed and evaluated when you use a contextual perspective. Children's behavior is rarely ever auto-generated. It almost always comes as a response to their environment (home, school, church, etc.). Much of their behavior emulates those examples which they are exposed to. Is it reasonable or even valid to expect calm, patient, reasonable and socially acceptable behavior if the child is exposed to influences that are not?
Ineffective parental coping skills are one of the very cores of misdiagnosing ADHD. With the relative extinction of the extended family, and the rapid dissolution of the nuclear family, more and more young parents have no parenting role models to draw from. Their ability to seek counsel and advice from an older, more experienced family member is rapidly disappearing. When their frustration level with their child reaches saturation, they turn to their physician for help. With the massive amount of media exposure and attention given to the diagnosis, many parents misapply what they are seeing and hearing to their own child, and pressure their physician into prescribing medication for the child. As the doctor cannot be with the child constantly, they rely on the parent's description of the child's behavior, concur with the diagnosis and prescribe "management" medication.
Another core of the misuse and abuse of the ADHD diagnosis has to do with the unrealistic expectations of teachers. As the population continues to grow, and resources become scarcer, teachers are being asked to accommodate class sizes that are larger than ever. They have become surrogate parents, spiritual advisors, counselors, and a myriad of other roles. They are in other words constantly being challenged to do more with less time and other resources. This requires that students fall into a mold, performing in a "lock-step" manner, and leaves no room for individual attention. If a child demonstrates behavior that is inconsistent with expectations, the most expeditious way of managing the child is to refer that child and their parents for evaluation and possible treatment of ADHD.
While ADHD does exist, and can be managed and overcome with a variety of modalities, it is a misused and abused diagnosis. On a larger societal and cultural scale, innocent children are paying the price for societal and cultural "evolution". As we move towards an Orwellian society where the needs and expectations of the masses are paramount to the needs of the individual, the use and manipulation of the diagnosis of ADHD demands to be more critically and widely examined.