Is the Diagnosis of ADHD Putting Our Children's Health at Risk?

Would you believe that today, millions of American children maintain their social performance with psychoactive drugs? According to neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman, between 5 and 7 million children are diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) in a whopping comparison to 500,000 in 1985. (www.adhdreport.com) Overly medicating children with these disorders is a problem in our society. Parents fear the effect of these powerful drugs, such as Ritalin and Dexamphetamine, and their concerns are justified. However, medications like Methylphenidate are being used everyday to "fix" a child or calm them down.

Overdiagnosis is a major problem with ADHD. Anxious children are likely to be hyperactive and to have short attention spans. Sometimes, children who have become anxious after being traumatized are even misdiagnosed with the disorder. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, previously known as attention deficit disorder, is defined as "a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by pervasive inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity that often results in substantial functional impairment". Prevalence estimates of ADHD have ranged from 2% to 18%. Understanding this growing number of children who have had ADHD diagnosed and are currently taking medication for the disorder is an important step toward realizing the difficult issue of ADHD in the United States. Before, population-based estimates of medication treatment for ADHD were not available or were limited. the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) estimated rates of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and medication treatment for ADHD. It describes the results which indicated that, in 2003 approximately 4.4 million children aged 4-17 years were reported to have a history of ADHD diagnosis; of these, 2.5 million (56%) were reported to be taking medications. (Visser)