Adhd

Adhd

ADHD:   A Controversial Disorder
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnoses have been on a dramatic rise since the first years they were discovered.   According to neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman “500,000 children [in the USA] were diagnosed ADHD in 1985 and between 5 and 7 million were today” (Collier).   Because of the incredible number of new cases, a pair of drugs named Ritalin and Adderall has had a significant increase in production.   Baughman states that in Australia, a country of only 19 million people, “Ritalin prescriptions rose from 1.5 million tablets to 19.3 million” between 1984 and 2001 (Collier).   The diagnosis of ADHD in children or even adults is questionable, especially by extremists who do not believe in the disorder at all.   To fully understand ADHD, we must consider information on ADHD as well as the drugs used to treat it, the cause/effect of the disorder and the impact medication has on children and adults, and the debate for and against ADHD and what is prescribed for it.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as an official disorder, was accepted by the American Psychiatric Association in 1987 (Smith).   ADHD is known to be “a condition characterized by an inability to focus attention or to inhibit impulsive, hyperactive behavior” (Irons-Georges 107).   It is also prone to cause anxiety to the child diagnosed with it, as well as the parents and teachers to the particular child.   ADHD is persistent, whether it is obvious in children, which is more common, or adults, which can tragically lead to loss of college enrollment, career, or jobs.   Especially in children, ADHD interferes with social and academic functioning, distracting the child’s mind from more important developmental issues, such as identity and confidence (Kahn 51).
Children with the disorder are known to “make careless mistakes at school” and to “not pay close attention to details in play or work.”   One of the most well-known symptoms of ADHD is a...