by butthead

Created on: March 11, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Diagnosing mental illnesses has always posed a challenge to professionals, as it has never been possible to tell what goes on in a person's mind. We can measure brain size and locate abnormalities, but how does one define a disease whose symptoms are

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) has long been a subject of controversy among doctors and the layperson alike. ADD is a solution for parents who are tired or frustrated with an overactive or disobedient child - but this raises far more problems than it solves. Over five million children a year are being treated with psychotropic drugs for what is no more than "being a kid."

Since the 90s, interest in and diagnoses of ADD have increased a remarkable amount. Whether or not the disease is viable, there are millions of people out there who are keen to use it as a crutch, excusing their poor behavior and failing grades as the result of an undefinable brain disorder.

There is no test to diagnose ADD, merely observation of behaviors in different settings. Speculations as to the cause of the disease are abundant, but there has been little scientific evidence to support any of them. Diagnosis criteria being used now are general and vague.

What the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders does is present a list of characteristics that, when checked off, serve to indicate an illness of the brain - in this instance, ADD. This being the case, it could be said that any person with reading and comprehension skills is capable of diagnosing a mental disorder.

Behaviors indicative of ADD are numerous - frustration, distraction, angst, forgetfulness, procrastination and fidgeting, just to name a few. Problems arise when one realizes that these are all characteristics common to most children and teenagers, and when one considers that people of all ages are being more and more frequently prescribed destructive medications for an illness that cannot be quantified.

It has been pointed out that people diagnosed with ADD have no problem concentrating when performing a task that they find interesting, such as playing videogames or watching television, and many appear to grow up and out of the disease, observing a normal life without need for medication or treatment.

In a world and time where children are expected to be quiet and nondistruptive, drug companies are accused of inventing ways to market drugs - in this case, harmful amphetamines - that appear to solve some sort of problem. The effect of these drugs is clear and often positive in the short term, but often does far more harm than good.

Whether or not ADD is a real disease remains to be seen - the world may, in fact, never know. Regardless, it's clear that there are insufficient tests and a lack of real data to make diagnosis as safe, accurate or fast as it ought to be.

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