More than 1 in 7 American children get diagnosed with ADHD - three times what experts have said is appropriate - meaning that millions of kids are misdiagnosed and taking medications such as Adderall or Concerta for a psychiatric condition they probably do not have. The numbers rise every year. And still, many experts and drug companies deny any cause for concern. In fact, they say that adults and the rest of the world should embrace ADHD and that its medications will transform their lives. -- Provided by publisher.
In this illuminating investigation of the epidemic of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and Ritalin, psychologist DeGrandpre sounds the warning that we may be failing our children by treating symptoms and not causes with a quick fix and ultimately unsatisfactory solution.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will soon be the most frequently diagnosed chronic condition among children, surpassing asthma. Yet research shows that ADHD can't be that prevalent. ADHD, a problem once thought to affect a small percentage of children, has exploded into one of the most misdiagnosed psychiatric conditions. Now doctors and Big Pharma are targeting children and adults worldwide to get the diagnosis and take medications that will, they say, transform their lives. In ADHD Nation, acclaimed New York Times journalist Alan Schwarz takes readers behind the scenes to tell the full story of this billion-dollar industry. There's the father of ADHD, Dr Keith Conners, who spent fifty years promoting the disorder in the US and pills like Ritalin before realising just what he had wrought; a troubled young girl and studious, teenage boy who get entangled in the ADHD machine and are prescribed medications that lead to serious problems; and the pharmaceutical industry that promoted the disorder and continues to earn billions from the rampant mishandling of ADHD. An investigation of how Big Pharma and medical professionals are complicit in the creation, maintenance and continuing expansion of the ADHD industry, this book sounds the alarm for UK readers and demands we wake up to the problem that we too could face in the future.
Debunks myths and misconceptions about ADHD, and discusses the controversies surrounding skyrocketing rates of diagnosis and medication treatment as well as the condition's cost to society.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER “Brilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.”—Beth Macy, author of Dopesick, as heard on Fresh Air This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption. In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain . . . and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.
Blake Taylor's mother first suspected he had ADHD when he, at only three years of age, tried to push his infant sister in her carrier off the kitchen table. As time went by, Blake developed a reputation for being hyperactive and impulsive. He launched rockets (accidentally) into neighbor's swimming pools and set off alarms in museums. Blake was diagnosed formally with ADHD when he was five years old. In ADHD and Me, he tells about the next twelve years as he learns to live with both the good and bad sides of life with ADHD.
In the first book to describe empirically-supported early intervention with children aged 2-5 years who have or are at risk for ADHD, the authors present a three-tiered model for prevention and intervention that can be implemented at home or in preschool settings. This promising model can be adjusted to the degree of difficulty the child is experiencing and consists of universal intervention strategies, small group skills instruction, and assessment-based behavioral interventions. Lively case examples drawn from the authors' clinical experience illustrate common challenges of implementation. The authors also describe how to foster children's early academic skills and promote their physical safety.
A veteran clinical psychologist exposes why doctors, teachers, and parents incorrectly diagnose healthy American children with serious psychiatric conditions. In recent years there has been an alarming rise in the number of American children and youth assigned a mental health diagnosis. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control reveal a 41 percent increase in rates of ADHD diagnoses over the past decade and a forty-fold spike in bipolar disorder diagnoses. Similarly, diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, once considered, has increased by 78 percent since 2002. Dr. Enrico Gnaulati, a clinical psychologist specializing in childhood and adolescent therapy and assessment, has witnessed firsthand the push to diagnose these disorders in youngsters. Drawing both on his own clinical experience and on cutting-edge research, with Back to Normal he has written the definitive account of why our kids are being dramatically overdiagnosed—and how parents and professionals can distinguish between true psychiatric disorders and normal childhood reactions to stressful life situations. Gnaulati begins with the complex web of factors that have led to our current crisis. These include questionable education and training practices that cloud mental health professionals’ ability to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior in children, monetary incentives favoring prescriptions, check-list diagnosing, and high-stakes testing in schools. We’ve also developed an increasingly casual attitude about labeling kids and putting them on psychiatric drugs. So how do we differentiate between a child with, say, Asperger’s syndrome and a child who is simply introverted, brainy, and single-minded? As Gnaulati notes, many of the symptoms associated with these disorders are similar to everyday childhood behaviors. In the second half of the book Gnaulati tells detailed stories of wrongly diagnosed kids, providing parents and others with information about the developmental, temperamental, and environmentally driven symptoms that to a casual or untrained eye can mimic a psychiatric disorder. These stories also reveal how nonmedical interventions, whether in the therapist’s office or through changes made at home, can help children. Back to Normal reminds us of the normalcy of children’s seemingly abnormal behavior. It will give parents of struggling children hope, perspective, and direction. And it will make everyone who deals with children question the changes in our society that have contributed to the astonishing increase in childhood psychiatric diagnoses.
Everyone who works with children should read this book. This book is a summary of “ADHD Nation: Children, Doctors, Big Pharma, and the Making of an American Epidemic,” by Alan Schwarz. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a biological disorder of the brain that can be treated with medications when appropriate. In the 1980s, only 3 percent of American children were diagnosed with ADHD. But now that number is 15 percent—three times what the experts have said is appropriate. Meanwhile, the prevalence of ADHD in other countries such as France, Finland, and Japan, has remained low at below 1 percent. This means that millions of American kids, some as young as three years old, are misdiagnosed and taking powerful stimulant medications like Adderall and Ritalin for a psychiatric condition they probably do not have. This complete summary of Alan Schwarz’s book reveals the powerful forces fueling its widespread diagnosis and drug treatment through the experiences of three people. One is the father of ADHD and its medications, who now regrets its current misuse. The second is a 7-year-old girl who was misdiagnosed with ADHD. The third is a 14-year-old boy who faked symptoms to get the drug. Both kids spent ten years suffering the consequences of using the medication. Read this book if you are a parent, professional or individual who is dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. This guide includes: * Book Summary—helps you understand the key concepts. * Online Videos—cover the concepts in more depth. Value-added from this guide: * Save time * Understand key concepts * Expand your knowledge
