I find it difficult to feel anything other than contempt for Fee's parents. It seems to be accepted without question that ADHD is overdiagnosed, but I don't th

I find it difficult to feel anything other than contempt for Fee's parents. It seems to be accepted without question that ADHD is overdiagnosed, but I don't think that's true. I think it's more accurate to say that ADHD is misdiagnosed. That is, ADHD frequently isn't diagnosed when it should be, and is also frequently diagnosed when it shouldn't be. I think it's the primarily-hyperactive variant that's overdiagnosed, and that's so for very adult-serving reasons. Children who are primarily hyperactive are the ones that will tend to "act out". They're constantly causing trouble, disrupting the classroom, and generally creating havoc. Of course, teachers/parents/adults tend to be very quick to want a diagnosis of ADHD for hyperactive kids: they make their jobs tough. Primarily-inattentive ADHD (which Fee was diagnosed with) is different. They tend to lack the motivation to get into any serious trouble. Thus, they tend to be experienced as good, smart children who just need a bit more motivation and focus. The incentives here are a bit more perverse. These children tend to make the adults in their lives not want an ADHD diagnosis, because these children tend to make adults' lives easier. They don't have to discipline their kids for acting out. Of course, that leaves out the question of whether a diagnosis is best for the child. Sure they don't cause trouble, but they're also not really living and having a healthy childhood. This is why I have contempt for Fee's parents. More than likely, Fee needed to be diagnosed with ADHD sooner. Had he been diagnosed sooner, he could have been put on medication by a doctor who could control his dosage. He probably would have started causing some amount of trouble, and that would have been more work for his parents. But he would also have been more capable of succeeding in life. Instead, Fee (like lots of undiagnosed people with ADHD) self-medicated, and got himself addicted.