Miscellaneous
ADHD in Elementary School Children in North Carolina – (02-18-02)
ADHD in Elementary School Children in North Carolina
If this article does not scare the daylights out of you, nothing in the realm of pharmaceuticals will. 10% of children were given the diagnosis of ADHD and 7% of all children are medicated. This is an incredibly high prevalence of a childhood “disorder” and raises huge issues. First, do these children really have a diagnosable condition? If they do, than is it a result of some abnormality during fetal development or is it a current deficiency (or exposure)? Big, big questions. Next, what of the impact on the 7% of kids who have been taught that drugs are okay? Do we really want to fool ourselves that these kids will be able to “just say no” to illicit drugs later in life? Will they (and can we) justify/rationalize the difference between prescription drugs and illicit drugs? I firmly believe that, while the ADD/ADHD diagnosis does exist, it is currently overdiagnosed at a tremendous rate by doctors who do not have the training and experience to properly label these children.
AJPH — Abstracts: Rowland et al. 92 (2): 231
