Attention Deficient Hyperactive Disorder Essay

In recent years, the number of cases diagnosed with ADHD skyrocketed from 4 million per year to 10.4 million in children (King, 2013).

Attention Deficit hyperactive disorder is a prevalent and ever rising affliction in modern societies. “According to the American Psychiatric Association (2009), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in school-aged children(Saemi 179)”.While the initial response to handling the syndrome is to medicate it and continually medicate to stem the Simpsons. This is not a temporary instance to cure the disease just a never ending cycle. It is my belief that not only is the medication over prescribed, but the alternative methods are to quickly overlooked. To clarify, I do not argue that the medication is uncalled for and should be removed. Only that everyone who has the condition should be

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is classified as a syndrome that is comprised of a variety of behaviors that often arises in early childhood and is characterized by extremely high levels of motor activity, difficulties with attention span and concentrating, and/or impulsive behaviors (Cook & Cash, 2011). It has been estimated in the United States that approximately 20% of children and adolescents display signs of a psychological or behavioral disorder according to Luthy, David, Macintosh, Eden, and Beckstrand (2015). ADHD is considered one of the more prevalent psychological disorders in children, with approximately 3-7% of school-age children with an ADHD diagnosis as mentioned by Luthy et al. (2015).

The expansion of hyperactive diagnosis is not the result of new scientific discoveries about the biomedical nature of the disorder. It is the result of studies done by numerous teachers, doctors, psychologists, and researchers. While a number of studies indicated that symptoms in children are usually society based, studies show that society affects the ADHD child positively and negatively. In a positive way society wants to help the child; this is a common treatment of any person with a disorder. In a negative way society treats the child as a defect or as bad material because society is scared of something it knows very little about. The lay promotions of ADHD and the predominance of self-diagnosis contradict some of the

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.

According to the research conducted by Erinn L. Rigney, among the key factors for there being more people who do not actually have the disorder but still have access to ADHD medication is the vague procedures for diagnosing ADHD. It is noted in the excerpt from the DSM-IV-TR, the criteria used for ADHD diagnosis, that, “In a child six to twelve years old who presents inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, academic underachievement, or behavior problems, primary care clinicians should initiate an evaluation for ADHD. (Rigney, 2012, p.1038)”

This overdiagnosis is mainly in elementary aged children. Parents will bring in their kids that are only acting out and being hyper because of lack of discipline. According to Dr. Daniel F. Conner, who is a psychiatry professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, says that while there is scientific information out there about ADHD, many of us really don’t understand it (Reynolds 2). This is why there is such an over diagnosis, or misdiagnosis of ADHD, especially in children. Many parents think that it is mostly a behavioral thing and as soon as their kids start acting out, they rush them to the doctor. The doctor then just prescribes ADHD medicine to make it quick and the parents leave happy. This is not always the case with ADHD. It is much more than just a behavior thing, there are many things that ADHD actually is and that lies in the

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD), the most common of the psychiatric disorders that appear in childhood, are often the subject of great concern on the

Attention Deficit Disorder otherwise known as ADD is a condition that refers to an individual’s inability to control their own behavior or impulse(McEwan 70). This can begin in early childhood and interfere with children’s ability to do well in school and social situations. These patients also have troubles blocking out noise or other stimuli in order to focus on a task or what is being said. ADD is a chronic problem that can be seen as early as infancy and can extend to adulthood. There are two types of Attention Deficit Disorder. The most common form is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The characteristic of this type is hyperactivity, which is seen before the child enters

In today's society, it is common for many students that have been diagnosed with having ADHD to take medication as a treatment option. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder also known as ADHD is defined by kidshealth.org as being a medical condition that affects how well someone can sit still, focus, and pay attention. As of a study that was conducted in 2011, approximately 11% of children ages 4-17 (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD according to the Centers for Disease Control. Although treating ADHD with medication may appear to help the student, over medicating students with ADHD can affect the student mentally, academically, and socially.

ADHD is a condition which affects multiple areas of functioning. Because of the widespread diagnosis this disease keeps doctors, pharmaceutical businesses, and teachers employed. According to Diller (2008), the use of drugs like Ritalin is at rates never seen before in this country or anywhere else. Diller also states that “we medicate our children with psychiatric drugs ten or twenty times more than countries of Western Europe (pg50).” Many children are said to be made unhappy, often alienating themselves from parents and others. They are also much more unmotivated which is directly related to the use of ADHD medication. Parents lean on medication as an excuse to control their children; when most children do not even

Here is the report you requested in November on why Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is often misdiagnosed. It has come to our attention that if we reanalyze

The DSM 5 criterion for ADHD is “ a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.” It was at first thought to be a type of mental retardation, until it became clear that those effected by symptoms where not stupid but in fact highly intelligent. However they stubbornly refused to conform to societal rules not due to lack of comprehension but due to what seemed to be a lack of self-control and general disregard for rules. George F. Still did a great amount of work in coming to understand the connection between these behaviors and neurological impulse in the early 19th century. Massive amounts of research was done in an effort for the medical community to explain the bizarre and socially inappropriate behaviors of different individuals.“ the history of compiling these symptoms into a formal diagnose represents an increasing drive to medicalize unconvential childhood behaviors” (Rafalovich) Understanding of ADHD has developed a great deal in the pass 100 years from being thought of as “imbecility”, to “minimal brain damage” to the present diagnosable psychological condition it is today. In fact it was not called Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder until 1980, in DSM-III (a diagnostic reference book for physicians). This is shocking considering the number of people that are diagnosed every year with a disorder that is

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most extensive studied peditric mental disorder. With the controversey and public debat surrounding the diagnosis and medical treatment use many parents of children dignosis have raised many questions and concerns with the over use of over prescribing stimulant medication.

In recent years, there are more people receiving treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder than ever before. In 2005, it was estimated that about 3 to 7% of the country’s school aged children had a diagnosis of ADHD (Hall, Irwin, Bowman, Frankenberg, Jewett, 2005). Many researchers agree that this increase was caused by changes in special education laws that occurred in 1991 with the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which increased services to students with ADHD and consequently led to an increase in diagnoses (Chau, 2007). In the years following this new legislation, there was a 9- fold increase in the amount of ADHD stimulant medication prescriptions written (Carroll, McLaughlin & Blake, 2006). With