Except that for every statistical outlier like the one you cite, there are hundreds who are legitimately helped by medication.
I’m one. I was diagnosed late, at the end of my Sophomore year in high school. I was put on Ritalin, after extensive testing and observation. It made an incredible difference. I went from C and D grades to all A. I was way more attentive in class and much more able to plan and schedule myself. I took 10mg of Ritalin in the morning and 10 at lunch. I am now a successful, well-adjusted senior IT executive.
Oh, and did I mention this was back in the 1980s, long before ADD became “trendy”? It may be overdiagnosed now, but there are still legitimate cases, and the drugs work. I was never “tweaking” when I took it; I reacted to the drug very differently than someone who doesn’t have the condition would.
I’m glad you escaped with a whole skin & life. But that doesn’t justify allowing a pack of lying, they call it Non-Disclosing, pill peddlers to addict Millions of kids to ADHD drugs simply because a top to bottom culture of corruption pervades our medical system and CMS will reimburse them for their pencil twirlings.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html/
“Parents report that approximately 9.5% or 5.4 million children 4-17 years of age have ever been diagnosed with ADHD, as of 2007.
The percentage of children with a parent-reported ADHD diagnosis increased by 22% between 2003 and 2007.
Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 [Read article ] and an average of 5.5% per year from 2003 to 2007. “
SNIP
“As of 2007, parents of 2.7 million youth ages 4-17 years (66.3% of those with a current diagnosis) report that their child was receiving medication treatment for the disorder.”
9.5%? How did we Ever survive the 9.5% before the APA discovered they could make a ton of money discovering that almost 1 in 10 kids are incurable for life with a Non Medical ADHD?
Check what FDA’s Medwatch has had reported to them about Adderal, Ritalin, Concerta.
http://bonkersinstitute.org/adderalleffex.html
http://bonkersinstitute.org/ritalineffex.html
Check Prof Frederick Crews for a takedown of the Grand Fraudster of Diagnosing himself, Freud.
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Crews/crews-con3.html
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=96726§ioncode=26
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Crews/crews-con3.html
Sorry, but No Sale.
ADHD is Not a medical condition and Diagnosing it and Drugging it Should be understood and prosecuted as a crime.