by Melinda Clayton

Created on: March 06, 2008   Last Updated: March 08, 2008

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.6 million elementary school children are now diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This is a frightening statistic, particularly when one realizes that the vast majority of these children are treated with powerful psychiatric drugs whose longterm effects have not been thoroughly studied.

Dr. Fred A. Baughman, author of The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" Out of Normal Children (2006) is perhaps the most vocal critic of the diagnosis of ADHD. Dr. Baughman pointed out that not only is there no specific test for ADHD, there is also no physical or neurological proof of such a disorder. In addition to this, Dr. Baughman cited cases in which the medication given to children to treat ADHD has resulted in psychosis, stroke, and even death.

As a psychotherapist who has worked with children in all aspects of the mental health system, this writer has long had concerns regarding the ease with which clinicians bestow the diagnosis of ADHD. While there are in fact some cases in which children need, and benefit from, a proper diagnosis of ADHD, there are, in this writer's opinion, many more cases in which the diagnosis was given too quickly, without the proper research.

As Baughman (2006) pointed out, there is no specific test for ADHD. Clinicians rely on a checklist of symptoms from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), which includes criteria such as "Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities," or "Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly." If the child meets a specific number of symptoms, the child qualifies for the diagnosis of ADHD.

The concern this writer has is that many, many factors influence behaviors of this sort. A child who has grown up in a chaotic environment or who has experienced trauma can easily exhibit some of these symptoms. In addition to this, many creative, imaginative, and gifted children exhibit these symptoms simply because they are in essence a round peg being forced by our current educational system to fit into a square hole. Too often, this writer has conducted clinical interviews with children who were referred by a teacher because they were often off-task or disruptive to the class. Instead of accepting that child as spirited, or gifted, or creative, the immediate reaction is to obtain a diagnosis and medicate.

Advocates of the quick diagnosis of ADHD often argue that children who are medicated for ADHD do indeed calm down and focus more clearly than they did prior to treatment. This writer's response to that is simply that if you give virtually any child this type of medication, he or she will calm down, whether he or she needed to or not.

In conclusion, while the diagnosis of ADHD is needed for some children, in many cases the diagnosis is given too quickly and easily. By not taking the time to do a thorough review of the child's emotional, familial, and intellectual history, we may inadvertently be treating the wrong diagnosis.

In many cases, we may better meet the needs of the child by focusing on treatment for depression, or anxiety, or anger. In other cases, we may better meet the needs of the child by advocating for educational programs designed to meet the needs of children who are intellectually gifted or who have learning disabilities. In still other cases, we may see a significant reduction in symptoms by working with the family as a whole to improve parenting and communication skills. Formulating a quick diagnosis of ADHD without first exploring all of these factors is reckless and irresponsible.

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