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There's a big difference between the rigor of the question of whether ADHD is a real thing or that of ADHD diagnoses being reliable in practice. There are huge

There's a big difference between the rigor of the question of whether ADHD is a real thing or that of ADHD diagnoses being reliable in practice. There are huge regional variations to rates of ADHD diagnosis. For example, it's 3.5x higher in North Carolina vs. Nevada. There doesn't seem to be any reason why this would be given that ADHD is believed to be almost entirely genetic. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19648195 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19648195 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473855/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473855/

Throwaway23412 11y ago
I had to take a long questionaire, a computer program testing focus/reactions, and a comprehensive IQ test before I was diagnosed with severe impairment from ADHD a year ago. In fact, I was originally diagnosed with ADHD after taking a comprehension IQ test to get accepted to kindergarten at a magnet school, but my parents figured it was just a phase and never did anything about it. It's frustrating to think about the lack of consistency in ADHD diagnosises and treatment. In /r/ADHD (ADHD subreddit), some people get diagnosed after a few minutes of talking with a psych. Others live in countries where ADHD isn't even considered a thing. Many went through the same rounds of tests that I did. Even after diagnosis, I had the same problem as several /r/ADHD members in that the first psychiatrist I went to looked at my psychologist's diagnosis and was like "Meh, you got decent grades in high school anyway. You're just stressed/tired/depressed/etc." Wasted my time with four months on four different depression medications before I got a second opinion.
- jwdunne 11y ago
  My (UK) diagnosis was an endurance test. It took 2 years of consultations, appointments and referrals to get a diagnosis. Of course, this is the NHS so everything non-life threatening takes longer but if there was no impact day to day there would be no motivation for the many hoops and consultations. Due to the nature of the beast, many who do suffer could drop out of such a marathon because, for example, their referral form had fallen underneath a filing cabinet due to a chaotic office and thus forgotten about by both sides (happened to me - called up because after 3 months after prodding by my mrs. She was going insane). Overdiagnosis is almost a cliché. This might happen in some places. There are just as many that the diagnosis is painful and thorough.
ap22213 11y ago
Genetic predisposition doesn't mean a guarantee. There are often environmental factors. Also, you're assuming two things: 1) that genes are evenly distributed among the population, which they're not. And, 2) that diagnosis and treatment options are the same everywhere, which they're not.
madaxe_again 11y ago
I'd argue that adhd isn't the disease, rather our culture that cannot deal with inquisitive minds.

Throwaway23412 11y ago

I had to take a long questionaire, a computer program testing focus/reactions, and a comprehensive IQ test before I was diagnosed with severe impairment from ADHD a year ago. In fact, I was originally diagnosed with ADHD after taking a comprehension IQ test to get accepted to kindergarten at a magnet school, but my parents figured it was just a phase and never did anything about it. It's frustrating to think about the lack of consistency in ADHD diagnosises and treatment. In /r/ADHD (ADHD subreddit), some people get diagnosed after a few minutes of talking with a psych. Others live in countries where ADHD isn't even considered a thing. Many went through the same rounds of tests that I did. Even after diagnosis, I had the same problem as several /r/ADHD members in that the first psychiatrist I went to looked at my psychologist's diagnosis and was like "Meh, you got decent grades in high school anyway. You're just stressed/tired/depressed/etc." Wasted my time with four months on four different depression medications before I got a second opinion.

jwdunne 11y ago
My (UK) diagnosis was an endurance test. It took 2 years of consultations, appointments and referrals to get a diagnosis. Of course, this is the NHS so everything non-life threatening takes longer but if there was no impact day to day there would be no motivation for the many hoops and consultations. Due to the nature of the beast, many who do suffer could drop out of such a marathon because, for example, their referral form had fallen underneath a filing cabinet due to a chaotic office and thus forgotten about by both sides (happened to me - called up because after 3 months after prodding by my mrs. She was going insane). Overdiagnosis is almost a cliché. This might happen in some places. There are just as many that the diagnosis is painful and thorough.

ap22213 11y ago

Genetic predisposition doesn't mean a guarantee. There are often environmental factors. Also, you're assuming two things: 1) that genes are evenly distributed among the population, which they're not. And, 2) that diagnosis and treatment options are the same everywhere, which they're not.

madaxe_again 11y ago

I'd argue that adhd isn't the disease, rather our culture that cannot deal with inquisitive minds.