Guest Author - Megan Dlugokinski

Anyone that either has this disorder or knows someone who does can tell you with a resounding “YES, it is.” Only someone who doesn’t have personal experience with the disorder could claim it can’t exist. Anyone who has struggled with the daily challenges of life caused by ADHD knows how devastating its effects can be. The people who question the validity of ADHD claim that there is no blood test or lab test that can show absolute proof that it exists and therefore it is just a fraud.

Do these same people claim that depression isn’t real? When I was diagnosed with depression, I never felt the need to defend the validity of that diagnosis because I wasn’t given a blood test. Psychological diagnoses generally are not based on lab tests. So, the same argument could be used to claim that all mental disorders are ‘made up’ and not real then, couldn’t they?

So why then do critics claim that ADHD is just a list of common bothersome symptoms that are not really a medical disorder? All disorders have a list of common symptoms associated with them, and they are obviously bothersome or people wouldn’t seek treatment. The arguments of these critics that ADHD is not a legitimate disorder have more hype and lack of proof than they are claiming for this disorder. They obviously haven’t done their homework on the subject or they would see how wrong they are.

The fact that diagnosis of ADHD has increased substantially over the last few years is not even a relevant argument. Depression and anxiety diagnosis have risen almost as rapidly, along with many other disorders and illnesses. Recent Media attention has just brought the topic to the surface for many people who didn’t know it existed.

One commercial for ADHD medication has been focusing on adult attention deficit disorder and the many symptoms that continue past childhood. Prior to this, many people had mistakenly believed this was only a problem of young hyperactive boys. We need more, not less, of these educational messages to dispel the myths that continue to plague this disorder.

The rate of all disorders and illnesses has increased astronomically. Yet ADHD is the one of the few that has been singled out as not being legitimate. So not only do those who suffer from ADHD have to deal with the perceived stigma of having it, but now they also feel they have to prove it even exists.

It’s time the critics find some other worthless cause to take up. ADHD has been scientifically proven to exist. So instead of debating whether it is legitimate, why don’t they look for ways to help those that suffer from the debilitating symptoms caused by this disorder?

For more information on the legitimacy of ADHD, I suggest you read the
International Consensus Statement on ADHD.


You might also want to check out these books to learn more about ADHD:

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment

Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood

Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: Adhd, Bipolar, Ocd, Asperger's, Depression, And Other Disorders

ADHD is a legitimate disorder.(LETTERS) : An article from: The Washington Times [HTML]