Comment Re:What is it then? (Score 1) 246
So ADHD is certainly over diagnosed, but certainly not YOUR sons.
Well... yes. In my reading on the subject at the time, it was clear that some pediatricians and parents were reaching a diagnosis and proceeding to medication on anecdotal observations and not by thorough evaluation; even advocates of ADHD treatment cautioned against jumping to conclusions. By contrast, as I noted, we did not initially embrace the diagnosis or treatment, and were relatively conservative in applying it. The markedly higher diagnosis rates today make me think that this is more or a problem today, especially since acceptance of the diagnosis and medication is way more mainstream now. Up to a point, it's possible that acceptance has caused fewer people to resist the diagnosis, but the numbers are too overwhelming.
Curiously, I can't tell if you're doubting my son's diagnosis, or doubting my doubts of the number of diagnoses today. In conversations about ADHD, I encounter people that assume all diagnoses are fake (i.e., there's no such disorder), and those who think all the cases are real and caused by environment, diet, video games, etc., without any evidence. I tend to think the answer is somewhere in the middle; some cases are real, some are mis-diagnosed.