Adhd A Legitimate Defense Essay

The CDC webpage has many details and facts about ADHD, and the focus is pointed towards children with ADHD, but does not tell us or discuss any ways to treat the disorder. The stated facts are credible and accurate as a government service, if those parents that read that information would think there are limited resources available to help treat their children with ADHD, and that is with a combination of behavior therapy, medication, or with the two together(CDC,2016). According to the physician Sir George Frederick ADHD was called a “defect of moral control.” Even to this day doctors still believe this defect to be true; before any child is diagnosed with ADHD or given medication testing needs to be done. The treatment for ADHD should be individualized (overview of

For the most part, ADHD is deemed a faux mental disorder by the majority. If ADHD centers just on common reckless behavior, everybody

Over the past couple of decades there has been a huge increase in the diagnosis and prescriptions given out for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to a news report done by USA Today over the past five years use of ADHD medications have risen 40% totaling 39.5 million individual prescriptions ("New findings," 2009). When statistics like this are seen it is only normal for someone to ask questions. People are becoming curious about the legitimacy of the disorder, and whether or not the treatments being given to individuals are appropriate. The argument seems to be strong on both sides of the fence, but the extensive research done on ADHD leaves it hard for one to believe that it is a made up disorder.

                       The purpose of this paper is to identify the link between ADHD and substance abuse. Substance abuse is a true threat to people who are diagnosed with psychological disorders. Among the questions of precursors to substance abuse, lies the hypothesis that individuals diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may become addicted to drugs or alcohol. Multiple studies have been done to either prove or disprove this hypothesis. This paper will discuss the results of those studies and demonstrate whether this hypothesis stands true

ADHD is usually classified by impulsivity, hyperactivity and inattention. Naturally, these three traits are extremely common in children, leading experts from the DSM-5, (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition used to classify and label people with potential disorders.) to make an incredibly large fundamental attribution error. These errors are made when

These symptoms might represent expressions of internalized conflict or unmet emotional or educational needs that differ from child to child. Each child ideally should have a full medical, educational, and psychologic or psychiatric evaluation, prior to drugs being introduced and giving to the child. There isn’t a neuropsychological test result is that shows someone has ADHD, and no genetic indicator has been steadily recognized, and heritability studies are confounded by household environmental aspects. Furman concluded t after careful review of the evidence obtainable; it is not obvious that ADHD is either a disease or a neurobehavioral condition. ADHD is an assortment of symptoms, namely, inattention, impulsivity, and over activity, that overlay with other major and minor mental health

This research paper will discuss what ADHD is and why it is that there are those who think it was invented instead of discovered. It will also investigate the reasons why social construct theorists believe that the diagnosis of ADHD does more harm than good and actually diverts from the real issues that children face in their development in this day and age. Also explored will be the case against the social construct theory and why some who argue that the social construct theory is viable are ignoring a very real and possibly debilitating mental disorder.

Parents and teachers have given up on these children and they have been the ones who drop out of school or end up in prison. It is thought that by diagnosing ADHD early and treating it properly, children who might not have had a chance to succeed can now be successful. The advocates for diagnosis of ADHD also point out that the treatment of ADHD with prescription drugs is actually very small and only one out of every three children diagnosed with ADHD is actually treated with prescription drugs (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, para. 45).

As I researched this topic of ADHD, I was surprised to find a lot of opposition to calling this a “disorder.” I came across various psychiatrists and psychologists that were passionate about not calling a “behavior”, a disease (Szasz, 2011). Many critics say that we are labeling children and thus enabling a self-fulfilling prophecy. As this research is new to me, I am anxious to get in there and really try to understand it. I came across another researcher, Dr. Barkely, on youtube. He was adamant that we cannot afford to have “successful” people saying that they are gifted because of their ADHD. He believed that there was no way that this was true. People may be gifted for other reasons, but not because they have ADHD. “There is nothing in this disorder that is helpful to a person (Barkely, 2010).” Barkely felt that if we continue to have celebrities saying such things that people will not take it serious and research will not be funded as it should. Finally, Professor Robert Spillanes, a psychologist, reports that ADHD is all just a myth and that we are calling a disorder something that should be considered “childhood.”

ADHD is a very different beast, to be perfectly frank. You may have heard whispers and statements on how it leads to ‘hyperactivity’ and ‘impulsiveness,’ but it goes a little bit beyond an overzealous person. Sometimes, you say words you don’t exactly mean, words that come out of your mouth that you instantly wish to take back and erase. This innate fear is justified, as I have come to fear incarceration for saying the wrong thing. Now you may be well aware of the dos and don’ts of a human’s sentence memory, but for kids with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, the lines can be a bit more blurred. In fact, you could be arrested for “hate speech,” intentional or not; according to Doctor Barbara and Fletcher, it’s a good 22.5% chance that you could be arrested if you have ADHD. That scary… but even then, there’s a chance. There’s a chance that you don’t even have to worry about it, provided you know what to say. There is a chance, and there always will, that you could rise above your disabilities and become something greater; something I strive to do, now that I saw the gravity of my decisions. And before I go onto this long discussion about ADHD, it’s tears, it’s troubles, and it’s triumphs, I’d like to state something. If your name is Mary Scimone, Tony Scimone or Megan Crowley, if you are a

Four percent of all children in the United States Of America are diagnosed with ADHD (“When Will America Just Say No”). From 2008-2012 the rate of children diagnosed with ADHD went up 30 percent ( While there are this many diagnoses’ not all of them are correctly given. Some people pretend to have ADHD so that they can abuse the medicine with it. This is one of the reasons people are divided at giving their child the medication and not. Although some people think their diagnoses is correct, a lot of times it’s not and it could be solved by making the test more complex because we don’t want children on medication they don’t need, it can have harsh side effects, and pretty much anyone who wants it can get it for their own reasons.

(Adler, 2006). Many individuals tend to have risky behavior; therefore they get in trouble with the law more than an individual without ADHD. Often many of them acquire several speeding tickets throughout their lifetime and get their license suspended, in more severe cases they have been known to cause more accidents, people between the age of 16-30 years of age are already a huge percent of accidents, the addition of ADHD has given this statistic even worse results. (Weisler & Goodman, 2008).

The researchers say that most of the people who have ADHD end up under society in prison. The people who end up under the prison are the ones who were influenced by their friends or either made a dumb decision. I totally agree with Fletcher when he stated “Many people with ADHD do not commit crime, so it is not deterministic.” Now there are some that may have a disorder that leads them to a criminal act but all of them do not have ADHD. I do not understand this whole medication thing because medication for conditions like this really make thing worse. For example, I have a brother that was diagnosed with ADHD about five years ago, and at the time I could believe it because he was so bad and could not stay seated in class or home and also he could not maintain focus. The doctor prescribed him Focalin for his disorder. Every morning he would take the medication but it was like he would stare into space and while you are talking he would concentrate on your mouth. To me I think it made matters worse and he was not acting normal. I think this article is misrepresenting what ADHD really is and how they really

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is quite easily the most common and over-diagnosed problem for youth in the United States. With symptoms that include fidgeting, talking too much, and impulsiveness how can it not be? Of course, according to the American Psychiatric Association, the child needs to display at least six or more of the 16 different symptoms attributed to this disorder for at least six months before a diagnosis should be made. However, there is a little known fact that brings the increasing amount of youth diagnosed with ADHD into question; schools get federal money for each child that is diagnosed with a mental or learning disorder, including ADHD. This can lead to teachers, or other school officials, taking advantage to get more money for the school. The father of a boy, who was being unfairly targeted by his school, decided to create a website to inform other parents about the scam surrounding school officials telling parents their children may have ADHD and need to be put on medication to control the symptoms.

al., 2008). In the juvenile justice system, an estimated 45% to 75% of inhabitants are diagnosed with some sort of a mental disability (Shelton & Pearson, 2005). This staggering statistic goes unnoticed by most of the general population. An estimated 40% of untreated ADHD juveniles will be arrested by their sixteenth birthday. This is not a statistic to ignore. Many youth with this disorder are finding themselves incarcerated or arrested in early stages of life. There is research to conclude that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder could lead to higher rates of offending (Unnever et al., 2003). However, the effect that ADHD has on delinquency is not direct. This may lead to some confusion. Being diagnosed with ADHD is not an excuse for offending, but the symptoms and behaviors of a juvenile with this psychiatric disorder could lead to higher rates of offending if the juvenile is not receiving proper therapy and/or treatment. For example, having attention deficit/hyper activity disorder could lead to a hyperactive conduct disorder, a disorder that easily overlaps with ADHD in the Classification of Disorders (Von Polier, Vloet, & Herpertz-Dahlmann, 2012). A conduct disorder is a stronger predictor of juvenile delinquency, along with continued crime into adulthood (Byrd, Loeber, & Pardini, 2011). A juvenile with ADHD is