I do see the possibility that modern changes in diet and "advances" in food science (GM food, hormones, etc) may increase the percentage of people having certain disabilities, but largely this is just medical professionals over-diagnosing people and creating larger marketplaces for their services.
Depression is another. It's real. It exists. Medicine can help some people. But a lot of the people on the medicine could get better help without the medicine. But Zoloft is easy, and it's profitable. So there you go.
And the Prozac generic is $4.00 at Wal*Mart.
CC
There have always been people trying to diagnose kids who don’t fit in.
A classmate of mine would have been classic Asperger’s syndrome. It was really because he was uniquely brilliant. He didn’t have a lot of social skills because he was teaching himself college level science when he was in second and third grade.
Our teacher tried to have him sent out to a “special” school but failed.
Now, he’s a college professor doing cutting edge research. I’m sure the meds would have made him more normal in grade school, but what would they have done with the rest of his life?
Oh it’s not just the medical field to blame here. Parents want a quick chemical fix. I can’t tell you how often the kids I see on these drugs have no daddy and and a mom with zero parenting skills. Parents have also learned that to get their kid labeled can mean a check (SSI), and even middle class parents learn it can be an advantage, special tutors and classes, ability to get special perks on standardized tests, and Precious Snowflake is immune to discipline in the school. And the schools push for as many kids as possible to be on the drugs because it means more money, special ed teachers psychologists, learning labs etc etc. Lots of people profit and share the blame here.